QMI Agency files: Dave Clark – leader of the Dave Clark Five music group – goes home from the London nursing home, where he has been having treatment for a duodenal ulcer. He said goodbye to Sister Margaret Jones.
There are a bunch of great songs in here . . . No. 51, No. 53, No. 56, No. 57, No. 59, No. 60 to run just the first 10 are all possible all-time No. 1 contenders.
As we go along, No. 64 is still a Top 10er in my life any time. The Byrds continue to enchant me.
The fans also picked Dinah Washington, Ben E. King, Acker Bilk, Moon River, Rescue Me (Fontella Bass, who was married to the late Lester Bowie, died last month at the age of 72). All classics.
Oddly, the one piece of junk in the bunch is by my childhood faves, the DC5 . . . Because. Ugh. Soupy. No wonder Dave Clark had that ulcer. (Anybody have a suggested date for that photo? Dave certainly looks to have had a classy ride waiting for him).
DC5 superfan Herman Goodden & JBNBlog recently argued over which Dave Clark Five song was the best of their best . . . Try Too Hard said Herman . . . can’t agree but I respect him for hearing something not audible when the 45 is spinning in our basement . . . Anyway You Want It was my choice. Neither of us would have mentioned Because. The only thing it has going for it is the classy way The Kards cover it.
Still, the CKLW fans, hippest in the world back in the day, liked it. Why?
Because.
| 51 | I Want to Hold Your Hand | The Beatles | 1964 |
| 52 | Unchained Melody | Righteous Brothers | 1965 |
| 53 | Heartbreak Hotel | Elvis Presley | 1956 |
| 54 | You Really Got a Hold of Me | Miracles | 1963 |
| 55 | Sherry | Four Seasons | 1962 |
| 56 | (I Left My Heart) in San Francisco | Tony Bennett | 1962 |
| 57 | All My Lovin’ | The Beatles | 1964 |
| 58 | Barbara Ann | Beach Boys | 1966 |
| 59 | What the World Needs Now | Jackie DeShannon | 1965 |
| 60 | (Oh) Pretty Woman | Roy Orbison | 1964 |
| 61 | Stranger on the Shore | Mr, Acker Bilk | 1962 |
| 62 | See You in September | Happenings | 1966 |
| 63 | Michelle | The Beatles | 1965 |
| 64 | Mr. Tambourine Man | Byrds | 1965 |
| 65 | What a Difference a Day Makes | Dinah Washington | 1959 |
| 66 | Pied Piper | Crispin St. Peters | 1966 |
| 67 | Where Did Our Love Go | Supremes | 1964 |
| 68 | Raindrops | Dee Clark | 1961 |
| 69 | Don’t Be Cruel | Elvis Presley | 1956 |
| 70 | Moon River | Henry Mancini | 1962 |
| 71 | Silhouettes | Herman’s Hermits | 1965 |
| 72 | Rescue Me | Fontella Bass | 1965 |
| 73 | Ticket To Ride | The Beatles | 1965 |
| 74 | Because | Dave Clark Five | 1964 |
| 75 | Stand By Me | Ben E. King | 1961 |
*An occasional series devoted to the rediscovery of the Radio 8 CKLW All-Time Top 300 (dated May, 1967), apparently mailed to JBNBlog as a lad of 14 by the legendary Windsor radio station. Missing in the Reaney family attic for most of the 45 years since its arrival, the Top 300 always stayed in my mind because My Generation was No. 285. The song is one of my all-time favourites & its place on the list, while low, was at least in there, proving there were other Who fans around. Never forgot that. When the Top 300 turned up again, & JBNBlog was wondering how to type all those details in, it turned out Tom Bonner over vintage-nitro.org had put in online recently. JBNBlog is indebted to his work in putting together list in its original form. A few editing changes have been made. Thank you, Tom. Nitro nitro nitro.
| 51 | I Want to Hold Your Hand | The Beatles | 1964 |
| 52 | Unchained Melody | Righteous Brothers | 1965 |
| 53 | Heartbreak Hotel | Elvis Presley | 1956 |
| 54 | You Really Got a Hold of Me | Miracles | 1963 |
| 55 | Sherry | Four Seasons | 1962 |
| 56 | (I Left My Heart) in San Francisco | Tony Bennett | 1962 |
| 57 | All My Lovin’ | The Beatles | 1964 |
| 58 | Barbara Ann | Beach Boys | 1966 |
| 59 | What the World Needs Now | Jackie Deshannon | 1965 |
| 60 | (Oh) Pretty Woman | Roy Orbison | 1964 |
| 61 | Stranger on the Shore | Mr, Aker Bilk | 1962 |
| 62 | See You in September | Happenings | 1966 |
| 63 | Michelle | The Beatles | 1965 |
| 64 | Mr. Tambourine Man | Byrds | 1965 |
| 65 | What a Difference a Day Makes | Dinah Washington | 1959 |
| 66 | Pied Piper | Crispian St. Peter | 1966 |
| 67 | Where Did Our Love Go | Supremes | 1964 |
| 68 | Raindrops | Dee Clark | 1961 |
| 69 | Don’t Be Cruel | Elvis Presley | 1956 |
| 70 | Moon River | Henry Mancini | 1962 |
| 71 | Silhouettes | Herman’s Hermits | 1965 |
| 72 | Rescue Me | Fontella Bass | 1965 |
| 73 | Ticket To Ride | The Beatles | 1965 |
| 74 | Because | Dave Clark Five | 1964 |
| 75 | Stand By Me | Ben E. King | 1961 |
Categories: General
London
“Catch Us If You Can?” “Havin’ a Wild Weekend?” “Bits & Pieces?” “Glad All Over?” Fantastic string of hits from the purveyors of the “Tottenham Sound.”
And Dave Clark was clever and prescient enough to retain ownership in perpetuity of his band’s output, unheard of at the time.
Dave Clark is your hero? The guy is a phoney he didn’t even play on any of the DC5 records and never wrote one word of any song, it was contracted that his name would be on songs as joint writer. You guys need to speak to Ron Ryan ,the guy who actually wrote the songs DC claimed he wrote
Thanks for this Bjorn . . . Ron Ryan is a new name to me & there are certainly conflicting reports about his involvement with the DC5, which does seem to have been substantial if uncredited in many areas. In one interview he insists Dave Clark did play the drums — for some reason No Time to Lose is singled out as a test case — on the hits.
His role as a ghost-writer on some early songs & such hits as Anyway You Want (their masterpiece) and Because (bleh) . . . anyway, thanks for bringing Ron Ryan’s name into the discussion here. There are some online suggestions the Ryan-Clark disputes were settled out of court.
More details, as always, are welcome.