The Dave Clark Five: "Over and Over"

December 27, 1965 (1 week)

Bloody Americans. Amazing how they make everything about themselves and still manage to act aggrieved all the time. But enough about that ghastly, disgusting fool in the White House. 

The Dave Clark Five had a respectable eight Top 10 hits in the United States. They had the same number of hits in their native Britain though only four of them managed to do so on both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile in Canada, no less than fifteen of their singles made the upper quadrant of the charts, including three numbers ones (yes, there's still one more to go). The DC5 did solid business in many territories around the world but Canada was certainly their strongest market. Yet you'd never know it given their tour itinerary.

Out of curiosity, I looked up The Dave Clark Five's tour schedule for 1965. According to Setlist.fm, they played seventy shows that year. Not bad but I would've expected closer to double that, not unlike the one hundred and fifty-four they played in '64. Assuming the records are complete (and that's by no means a guarantee), they only played once in their native Britain during that twelve month period and it happened to be at the Royal Variety Performance in November (The Beatles having once again turned down their invitation to perform after having stolen the show in '63). They started the year off with a five day residence at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines before returning to the UK presumably to rest and do some recording — and possibly to play more gigs that haven't been accounted for over on Setlist. They returned to the Far East in May, doing one off shows in both Singapore and Hong Kong and then headed Down Under. They did seven shows in Australia and then nine in New Zealand. Hey, if you're going to go that far you might as well make it worth your while.

The DC5 finally made it to North America on June 18 with a show in New York. Two days later they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Soon after that they were north of the border in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada's mining capital and the place that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were sent prior to their mission to the Moon so they could experience something approximating Lunar conditions. The next day, they were in "nearby" Sault Ste. Marie, a border town where Lake Superior and Lake Huron meet. (Actually, it's a pretty nice place considering much of northern Ontario is so bleak) They then headed back down south before playing a show in my hometown of Calgary just as the city was hosting its annual Exhibition and Stampede. After that it was back to touring the shit out of the USA.

Considering all the chart success they were having, it's worth asking why they never went on a lengthy Canadian tour. I know it's never been an especially lucrative market, particularly back in the sixties, but still they would've cleaned up. And with singles like "Over and Over" it was as if they were begging fans to go out and see them. While just a reasonably good rock 'n' roll song, you've got to think they would've torn the roof off of every arena they played from Victoria to St. John's.

Looking back at the last time they came up, I'm struck by how I could've stood to have been a little more generous towards the DC5. Then, I gave "Bits and Pieces" another listen and I stand by every word of what I wrote. Clark could pound the crap out of a drum kit and the stomping is a nice touch but there's nothing else worth mentioning about it. Fortunately, they got better over the previous two years. Clark's bandmates stay out of his way for the most part, keeping a steady, rumbling pace during the verses and allowing their beloved leader to make his case for being the British Invasion's finest drummer. Mike Smith sounds a great deal more confident in his singing too.

Critical consensus agrees that the original by Bobby Day is much better but I'm not so sure. While the message of the song about being a giant party pooper is better communicated by the more mellow Day, I quite like the fact that the DC5 are undermining their point. The song they're playing suggests everyone's having a good time and that Smith doesn't even seem all that bothered that the girl he's been chatting up isn't digging his moves. Rather than wallowing in teen angst, these guys are just going to show up at another party the next night and try to impress the shit out of everyone all over again. I wouldn't have the nerve to do the same myself but I applaud them for their spirit. It's just a pity they chose not to share this spirit with a few more of their devoted Canadian fans.

Score: 6