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On recent releases.

 March 6, 2010 • 50 Comments
 
 
1993 was a good year for DC5 fans since two cds were released.  Yes -  two !  “History” and “Glad All Over Again” were released in several countries and were available to most DC5 fans. Apart from the odd choice of songs and the microscopic writing on the History booklet all was right with the world. Promises were made that the full catalog would follow as would a boxed set containing outtakes and unreleased material.  And so, we waited.
  
By 1998 the internet was starting to take a foothold, 60′s bands were back in vogue and  Babyboomers wanted the DC5 on CD. No official products appeared. Mr Clark was remarking “It’s all in the past”.  Enter the bootleggers.  At first CDs started to appear from Australia, Holland, Japan and Czechoslovakia. The quality was poor. Then, a firm in Hungary started to produce cds with two US albums on each plus a few bonus tracks. The sound quality was good and the liner notes and color pictures excellent. Not to be outdone a Czech firm introduced a 7-CD set called “The Complete History Of The Dave Clark Five”. Again, the sound quality was good and the color booklets in each one were excellent. Many DC5 fans made the set the the centerpiece of their collection.
 
Russia chipped in and a CD-ROM was issued with the complete DC5 catalog on one disc. At the same time sites sprang up all over the internet where fans could download any DC5 song, including a few unreleased ones or the full catalogue for free. Those sites are still there.
 
In 2009 Mr Clark wised up and released “The Hits”. The choice of songs was poor as some weren’t even DC5 recordings and the booklet was disappointing.  It was all about him and his acheivements. Lenny and Rick got one mention each and Mike and Denis two, each receiving an extra mention as they’d sadly passed away.
 
Although it jumped into the UK charts at a creditable #15 it slipped quickly and was soon in the remainder bins. At this time it still hasn’t reached silver record status,  meaning less than 30,000 copies were sold.
 
In late 2009 ”The Ballads” was released as a download. Again the choice was curious. Dave Clark & Friends tracks were passed off as DC5 tracks. Songs claiming to be “unreleased”  quite plainly had been released before. I have to question DC’s choice. He hasn’t learned. In the 60′s he could put things out and without question  fans would snap them up. But we fans aren’t teenagers anymore Mr C!  We’re 50-70, retired, have families, grandchildren and we’ve lived active lives in a wide-range of professions. We are adults, we know what we want and it isn’t this stuff!
 
The first two US albums were available by download next. For some reason history was altered and the track listings changed. A 1968 track was stuck in a 1964 album. I have my own theory on why but that’s not important.  Why do that Mr C? It isn’t what we wanted!
 
Also Mr C seems to think that as these records were originally released in Mono, they should be still released in Mono today . WRONG! dammit we want stereo. Get with the times, we aren’t listening to them on a portable transistor radios.  We have high-end surround sound systems. Stop giving us your choice give us what we want or the project will fail.  Nobody wants that to happen.
 
The truth Mr C is that none of your products so far have been as good as the bootlegs. It is still possible to download the full DC5 catalog from the internet for free so why should we pay for this poor effort on your behalf? I know you are a man who likes to be in control but you need to take notice of what your few remaining fans are saying. I know you want the DC5 legacy to be something to be proud of when all is said and done.  Do something about it. Take notice of the people who know.  You might even try consulting them, you may be surprised what you learn.

Just My Opinion

 February 28, 2010 • 4 Comments

It is clear from the short time this site has been active that the rancor in DC5 fandomcontinues to run deep on both sides of the equation.  Any attempt at piercing the veil of secrecy and/or correcting past information is met with derision from a certain percentage of fans no matter what the evidence shows.  It’s as bad as political debate in the U.S.A. and the UK.   Nothing but instant disagreement.  If one side says it the other automatically throws a fit.

Folks this is simply discussion about a band that we all loved .   Dave Clark is not a monster - he is a driven, very-private guy that likes to control everything he can about the band.  And that he has – good bad or indifferent.  He had NO obligation to promote the band.  He has finally begun releasing the original albums and regardless of the reason it is happening.  Outtakes and alternative mixes?  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  I’m certainly not counting on it but a pessimistic friend of mine says it is better to be occasionally surprised than continually disappointed. In this instance I agree with him.

While some of what we have here on this site is contrary to published official history, it is still supported by the evidence.   I find it interesting that an individual with perhaps the greatest reason to hold Dave Clark in contempt has continually made positive statements about Dave from defending his drumming abilities to his business acumen.  Obviously I’m speaking of Ron Ryan.  Ron is just happy the back story is coming out.  It’s a fascinating look at those times. 

We’ll continue to dig and post information regarding the band.  Let’s just keep it in perspective.  While we welcome civilized discussion and dissent, we are not interested in in playing verbal whack-the-mole.  Our messageboard will soon be active.   While we believe the infamous Yellow Board serves DC5 discussion very well, we’ll have a place here for comments and questions as well.  But, it will require registration.  Free speech is one thing – shouting FIRE in a packed theater is another.  It’s easy to be civil.  Give it a try.

Session Players – Myth or Magic??

 February 25, 2010 • 8 Comments
In the DC5 world the subject of session players was initially met with derision, disbelief and downright hostility. As far back as the old green board days the subject was taboo and proponents derided and dismissed. But one individual persevered and the blanket of secrecy bagan to unravel. The names Bobby Graham, Vic Flick and Big Jim Sullivan leapt to the fore. All three are session players of high regard, Could it be true?Back at the time Bits and Pieces was released there was an accusation there was more than a single drummer on the record. It was quickly denied. Careful listening to Can’t You See That She’s Mine indicates either separate takes or separate drummers. Not a big deal really. Remember – recording studio time was expensive. It wasn’t/isn’t like playing live. And, not every musician can just turn it on and off at the whim of a little red light. That takes a special talent.

The DC5 as we know them were competent musicians so why use session players? As stated above, recording studio time was expensive. It made perfect sense to have session professionals lay down the music tracks whenever and wherever necessary.

That leads to the obvious. Who played on the DC5 tracks? So far we have verified Bobby Graham was the drummer, Eric Ford playd bass, Vic Flick and Big Jim Sullivan contributed as well. Why is this important? Does it alter your opinion of the music? Should it?

It’s important to keep the record straight and give credit and props to the appropriate artists. IMO it should not alter one’s opinion of the band. In spite of the apparent lack of live recorded material, it is clear from eyewitness accounts that the DC5 was an excellent live band. I personally saw them and concur. Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven and Max Weinberg agree. They certainly should know what they are talking about.

Folks – if one of the arguably best rock/pop albums of all time – Pet Sounds – was created almost entirely with session players and the Beach Boys doing vocals, what is the complaint? Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Association, The Byrds all used session players. And the difference? Usually the session players were credited for their work.

I for one will never understand Dave Clark’s reluctance to address this matter in a straightforward manner. Clearly he has his reasons and like so much, he simply refuses to share them with us. He is a very private man and that is certainly his prerogative. Could it be that the band was The Dave Clark Five and the revelation the leader wasn’t actually playing would have harmed their success?At any rate. we know for a fact who was on the records now.  We owe them our respect and gratitude for their part in creating the trademark sound we all enjoy.

More on this later.

Rick Spencer

Why We Are Here

 February 19, 2010 • Comments Off

       

Let’s be truthful friends, there’s absolutely no reason for this site to exist. After all there was a perfectly good DC5 site already in situ. Lots of info, carefully researched over many years, galleries of pictures, in fact everything any DC5 fan needed.
So what went wrong?
Like all of these situations someone gets greedy or in this case maybe a little starstruck. They want the glory for themselves so the easy way to achieve that goal is to ditch your partner. You know the guy, the one who actually did all the work on the site. The one who spent years researching everything DC5 and then uploading his lifetime’s work for all to see.You know the guy, the one you no longer need.
Things tend to backfire on man’s best laid plans and this is no exception. It wasn’t a difficult decision to stop visiting that old site, after all who’d want to be a part of it now? It will never be updated , it will no longer have the feeling it once had, in fact all it has left is a bitter taste in the mouth’s of thousands of DC5 fans.
So here we are, ready to start something new.We have permission to show all the files from that other site. You’ll still find them there of course even though they no longer have permission to show them and are in breach of the writer’s legal copyright but that’s how they work.
We’ll update them, bring you news as it happens and generally keep you well informed of all things DC5.

So stick around, you are very welcome here.

In next week’s blog we’ll have a look at the DC5 iTunes downloads that no one really wanted.

The Blogmeister