Dave Clark Five catalog finally being reissued By Ed Christman
Fri Apr 4, 7:40 PM ET

After more than a decade out of print, the Dave Clark Five's catalog looks set to return to circulation in the wake of the band's recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Drummer/producer Clark owns the British Invasion band's master recordings and publishing. After the occasional greatest-hits package in the '70s, Clark waited until 1993 before unleashing the band's catalog on CD. In the United States, Hollywood's double-disc set "The History of the Dave Clark Five" went on to scan 120,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan; internationally, EMI issued the two-disc "Glad All Over."

Since those deals ended in 1996, the band's catalog has been out of print worldwide.

But in anticipation of the Hall of Fame induction in early March, Clark partnered with iTunes for the 28-track "The Hits," which has sold 7,000 units in the States. Songs from the album have accumulated more than 48,000 downloads, led by "Because" with more than 9,000.

Now, Clark is looking at how to get the band's catalog albums back into retail stores as well. "I will get a package out by the fall," he says. "I have been approached by three of the majors and a few retailers."

Would those retailers be Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart, and are they looking to sell the albums exclusively? "No comment," Clark replies.

Clark says he will lead the relaunch with "The History Of . . .," then move to a single-disc hits album and a spread of studio catalog releases, which number 23 albums in all. That was supposed to be the plan with Hollywood, but Clark says he became disillusioned with the Disney-owned label.

In coming to market this time, Clark has remixed everything into "pristine" condition for the digital format. The albums might have been in stores sooner, but when Clark looked at the state of the U.S. marketplace, he hesitated, "rethinking the decision," he says.

But the quick digital success, in tandem with the Hall of Fame induction, has been music to Clark's ears.

"Good things are worth waiting for," Clark says. "I wish Mike (Smith) and Dennis (Payton) were around when it happened, but at least Mike knew it was going to happen." Singer/keyboardist Smith died two weeks before the induction; saxophonist Payton died in December 2006.

Reuters/Billboard

He's been "rethinking the decision" for 12 years? Good plan--wait until nobody (but us) buys CDs anymore.

I guess the prices of the oop catalog will drop a bit now.

"Remixed???"

"pristine"?

This is good news, but my response to it is somewhat tempered considering the past proceedings. I hope this time around,rather than just doing the compliations, he really goes ahead with the entire catalog.

pristine, according to dictionary .com:
1.having it's original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied
2.of or pertaining to the earliest period or state:primitive

I actually don't mind my DC5 a bit sullied. I do hope Clark leans toward the primitive aspect.
I'm hoping "remixed" is supposed to be remastered.

I think the DC5's albums on vinyl are some of the most pristine-sounding records of their era, and "The History of..." sounded fantastic to me. It worries me a little to think that they could be any more pristine sounding than they've already been in the past.

Well, he could have brought in Steve Levine to overlay some drum machines and synths. Remember the Beach Boys' eponymous album?

I found a VG copy of the original 1963 UK single of Glad All Over on UK Columbia at a record store (remember those?) this weekend for $2.00!

The Rock N Beat stereo greatest hits has really good sound quality (much better then the Hollywood) & I assume it came from vinyl, so I assume/hope that the master tapes are high quality.

Meanwhile, 11 years later, The Dave Clark Five catalogue is "finally being reissued and on digital only" ... again.

Tricky Kid has passed along the news that HD Tracks is now listing a bunch of DC5 albums as 2019 remasters, all with BMG as the label. WAN can only hope that the same label will be issuing proper CDs in the foreseeable future ... "finally".

Not holding my breath here. Sure would like to see CDs here.

Ha! Ha! I'm so tempted to say that this will never happen. I really don't think that it will. Seeing as the Davies brothers are supposedly recording together though,. I have a slight sliver of optimism, a very slight sliver.

There's been 6 hi-res digital releases so far. The best bargain is a 28 track set called "The Hits" that came out about a month ago. I paid under 11. It varies between 44/24 & 96/24. It as all the hits & a bunch of filler.

I haven't heard any of the 5 originals that came out this week yet. They are more pricey & very short (as most albums were in those days). All 28 are labeled (2019 remaster) on "the Hits" & the sound varies from fair to acceptable.

All including the comp are label copyright Dave Clark London under exclusive rights to BMG limited.

Available titles include:

The Hits (Released a few weeks ago)

& this week::

Catch Us If You Can
Coast To Coast
American Tour
Glad All Over
Everybody Knows (I'm 100% unfamiliar with this one)

They each have 1-3 hits & a ton of filler. I always said the reason The Beatles were the band that first really made it in 60's rock was because there was little-no filler on there early albums, especially the USA editions.

Possible warning: a poster on the "Top 40 Music on Compact Disc" website attests that these are the same track lineup versions as the 2010 itunes releases, in that some album tracks were changed out with non-LP b-sides.

And supposedly these 2019 remasters are not in stereo. And then again, maybe they all sound ger-reat!

geff,

so very true.

most 60's non-best-of albums were loaded with filler (covers of other bands hits, bad bad bad songs, and were probably less than 25 minutes in total lengtth, about 12 - 15 a side.

the beatles, on the other hand, gave you 10+ good songs on each and every album.(well, maybe not the first 3, 5+ )

renny

Sometimes in the 60's you were better off buying a couple of hit singles (45's) if they had good B-sides, rather than wasting money on a "filler filled" album. I remember doing that a few times.

there was a retail plaza near us that had a store called "plaza records"....albums were $3.33 for stereo and $2.98 for mono......45's were $0.99

right across the plaza was a store called 'hills". their album prices were exactly the same, but their 45's were $0.69. always did exactly what you said, why buy the album for 1, maybe 2 hits, when you could get 4 45's for less money. and if you were really lucky, you got he 45's with picture sleeves!

probably why 60's albums were always in demand, even back in the day at the record shows.

Plaza sounds like a 60's West Coast chain I used to frequent, "White Front" They were more of a Target type store, but with a huge record department.

The albums are exactly the same as the 2010 releases. They are available on Amazon Music and also again on iTunes.
The few tracks I listened to don't sound any different in the 2019 " remastered" versions.
This appears to be much ado about nothing, and I doubt it will lead to Clark releasing anything on disc.
At this point, I don't expect that the albums, as I and many others first heard them, will ever be officially released.

The "ado" is we have 24 bit & Vinyl, which both are much higher quality than MP3.

Which may be a big deal for some.
If so, enjoy, by all means.