Just gimme some DC5.

It should also be noted that the cartoon version of Paul McCartney looks more like DC5 lead vocalist/keyboardist Mike Smith than like Paul.

I luvs me some DC5!

I was alarmed to read that Mike Smith was paralyzed from the chest down, with limited movement in his arms, when he fell off a fence three years ago. This came a week after his adult son died. He seems in good spirits, though.

http://www.mikesmith1964.com

BUMP, because Linda thought a Beatles vs. DC5 thread would get some traction now that the ICE folks are actually here.

I'll actually expand on my thoughts here for a bit - I don't think the Five were competitors to the Beatles. Musically, I think they're too different. But for a short period, the DC5 were the hardest-rocking clean-cut band in the universe. I'll stack Bits & Pieces up against Satisfaction any day. Any Way You Want It can go head to head with You Really Got Me, in my book.

But, unfortunately, they zigged when they should have zagged and wound up as a band that tried to compete against other bands that couldn't get arrested in the late '60s, either.

Most chalk it up to Dave Clark's style emphasizing management over creativity, and I agree with that assessment.

All the same, I think the DC5's 5 best singles are as good, if not better, than the 5 best of anybody else in '64-65.

I agree that DC5 had 5-10 really good singles. (Catch Us If You Can was the first single I purchased!) The problem is that that's all they had. To this day, I've always maintained that what set the Beatles apart from their contemporaries was that their albums contained no filler. Until about 1966 most pop & rock acts put 1-3 singles on an album & filled the rest of it up with junk. Along with jazz artists, The Beatles were the major exception to this.

By 1964 The Beach Boys' albums were virtually filler-free too. The Rolling Stones were filler-free from the start, but relied on R&B and blues covers.

That's true of Meet The Beatles, but that's 'cause they stripped out most of the covers and stuck them on The Beatles' Second Album, which is largely filler. The first two British albums have a fair amount of filler - Anna, Chains, Devil In Her Heart, anyone?

As much I love the DC5 (and I really do!), they can't compete with the Beatles.

I don't agree. When I was a little kid, I had the VJ Introducing the Beatles which is basically the UK Please Please Me & has the songs you mention. I liked them all.

Beatles 2nd is actually my favorite of their early U.S. Albums.

I love the Dave Clark Five. I actually prefered them to the Beatles in 64-65. Their singles, and many album tracks, still sound wonderful and exciting to me. I wish (as many do) that their records would be remastered into CD's.

Kid Bailey,

I read on another board that it's Dave Clark asking too high a price to license out the albums for reissue.

I know he has done very well for himself. I wonder how much more he's looking to squeeze out of the deal. If he waits much longer, either he or we(who grew up listening to them) will either die or be too old to really enjoy.
I wonder if, when I'm around 70 or so, I'll still have the same passion for the music. I hope so.

"Anna (Go To Him)" is one of the great covers by The Beatles. John turns in one of his great vocals. It's also nice that composer Arthur Alexander benefitted financially from their recording, and, inspired the great drum arrangement for "All I've Got To Do" and "In My Life".

Yes, The Beatles are far and away on a different level of recording success. The Dave Clark 5 never attempted to create the kind of consistent album packages that The Beatles and such did. I don't think it was their intent or in Dave Clark's mindset.

The Dave Clark 5 were great and should be considered such. For a variety of reaasons, they didn't have the staying power of many rock acts. But, boy, did they turn out some great recordings.

I have both the EMI UK and Hollywood Records releases of a few years ago. Besides the usual, some of my favorite tracks are "I'll Be Yours My Love", "I Miss You", and "All Night Long".

On a desert island, The Beatles win. In reality, I'm glad they both exist.

Barry

This is a key point. Just because something is a cover does not necessarily make it filler. And, conversely, there's a lot of self-penned filler material on some groups' albums.

So pointing out that the Beatles did not write all the material on their earlier albums does not really make a convincing case that they relied upon filler. Their version of "Twist and Shout" can probably be considered the definitive version -- it's certainly more well known, etc. than the Isley Brothers'. Anna, as Brownlie pointed out, is another killer cover. And the list doesn't stop there.

All in all, I think it's fair to say that the Beatles relied less upon filler than any act at that time. Even the Beach Boys padded out their albums with humorous cuts and the like.

I just listened to Anna and Chains again. I still think they're both unworthy of the rest of the album.

And I don't think that cover = filler. Please Mister Postman RAWKS. But, for the most part, their self-penned stuff is better.

Mr. Moonlight was kinda tough to take.

The Beach Boys only relied on filler on the first albums. With the curious exception of "Bull Session With Big Daddy", The Beach Boys recorded a string of virtually perfect albums from 1964 to 1973, an even more impressive run than what The Beatles accomplished.

I don't know about this thread on filler,

For many of us who were around, and quite young, at the time when these albums originally came out, this was our introduction to these compositions.

It made many of us search out and listen to the original recordings. Some we found immensely better than "our heroes" versions, opening our ears up to other artists. Some were much better than the original artists.

Nit-picking about specific tracks only serves to illustrate personal taste. If Hank thinks the DC5 is better, in some ways, than The Beatles, so be it. That the general consensus is that "Twist And Shout" is a much better recording by The Beatles than The Isley Brothers, that's perfectly legitimate (and count me in, but, as a collector, I have both versions to enjoy).

Personally, I think you gotta be nuts not to hear how wonderful "Anna (Go To Him)" is by The Beatles. "Chains" is a nice tribute to The Cookies, but it ain't The Cookies. "Mr Moonlight" is just one bizarre song to perform; I don't think Dr Feelgood does it much better. If you can't hear Mike Smith's beautiful vocal on "I'll Be Yours My Love", I just have to wonder what is you're missing in musical appreciation, even if you like the DC5's "big hits". The Beach Boys albums show such growth, but I can't help but be amused by and enjoy the comedy tracks (no other major act had the gall to put those type of things on their albums?).

All in all, if you're a casual listener, most of this won't matter very much, but, if you are so inclined, music should turn you on to more music, Then you can be as nuts as the rest of us.

Barry

Mike Smith's vocal prowess is criminally underrated. He had leather lungs, yet could handle ballads equally well. He even looked good! Mike should have been a HUGE star.

"Bull Session With Big Daddy" is indeed an amusing track, but when you compare it with the overall ambience of the rest of "Today", you wish it would have been on a separate single together with the album. Speaking of gall, how about the fairytale EP that came with "Holland"? That one included on the CD version always makes me get out of bed and reach for the stop button. Courage is fine and laudable, but common sense should tell you that comedy tracks and fairytales don't hold up well to repeated listenings. How many times have I played Jan and Dean's "Filet of Soul"? Once.

GoogaMooga,

I can't disagree with your personal take. I know many agree with you.

All I know is that I'm not so apt to touch the "stop" button on any releases when I'm in the mood for listening to an entire album.

For me, an artist's rendering or presentation of their work is, hopefully, testimony to their own take on what constitutes a recording. Brian and the rest of The Beach Boys must have had (and probably still have) quite a personal view that their own sense of humor would translate well to the rest of the public. I can certainly understand why, after repeated listenings, it would get old.

I like those recordings and I like the fairytale recording for 'Holland'. I don't go skipping around albums or am disgusted by this or that - when I listen to an album I want to hear the whole thing.

I certainly do skip around when I need a "fix" that can only be satisfied by listening to a particular track(s). Believe me, those comedy bits don't get played when I'm doing that.

I don't buy into the revisionist theories of what make a better 'Sgt Pepper' or 'White Album'. I have always been a supporter of the artist presenting their work the way they want to dictated by their own head place, time, abilities and business demands.

In the CD world, I don't buy into those who don't like bonus tracks. I say bring 'em on.

Barry