Last week PBS televised what has to be one of the most
self-indulgent pieces of film-making since Eddie Murphy decided to write, direct
and star in a movie (you all remember Harlem Nights, right?). The Great Performances episode dedicated to
the wonderfulness of the Dave Clark Five (DC5 to friends and fans) ran like a Bizarr-o
world version of This Is Spinal Tap, set in a universe where the band had
actually been competent instead of, um, not.
People like Bruce Springsteen and Elton John extolled the greatness of
the Dave Clark Five unreservedly, and said their influence was wide spread (even
though they get virtually no air play on the oldies radio station I listen to). Such fawning over a little remembered band
from the mid-60’s was puzzling until all was explained at the end when the
credits rolled and it was revealed that the two hour extravaganza was written,
produced, directed, and starred Dave Clark.
To paraphrase a line from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy, if there is anything out there larger than Dave Clark’s ego I want it
hunted down and shot now.
The show made some valid points. DC5 wasn't a one hit
wonder, although from Tom Hanks’ spirited speech at their induction into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they clearly must have been part of the inspiration
for his film That Thing You Do about a fictitious one hit wonder band. They are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
despite having a limited shelf life in the United States (one thing I loved
about the show was the way they cited chart action in the UK and tried to make
it sound like they were talking about the American charts), so they must have
some credentials. And their music was
quite distinctive.
So, were fans in the mid-60’s crazy to be so nuts over the
Dave Clark Five, or are we ignorant for not equating them with the Beatles, as
was done at the time? The truth lies
somewhere in the middle, I suppose. They
weren’t a one hit wonder, but their US career consisted of less than 10 trips
to the Top 40, so putting them in the same class as The Beatles and the Rolling
Stones is revisionist history. They did
have an infectious beat, a unique sound due to their combination of guitar,
organ and sax, and a dedicated fan base at the time.
But the truth is that you really couldn't even call them the
best of the British Beatles wanna-bes, a distinction reserved probably for
Herman’s Hermits. Their biggest US hit,
Over and Over, is a typical piece of mid-60’s two-minute magic that is not
really remembered today (except it plays on an endless loop in Hell for
classical musicians who were also EVIL).
The most amazing thing about the show was the revelation
that Dave Clark was an actor who starred in a movie. Not only does he lack charisma, he is a
charisma vampire, sucking charisma away from people who are
interesting. He is so wooden and stiff
on screen that the idea of him going to acting school is one of the funniest
things I've seen on PBS in a long time.
When archival footage shows him being asked how it feel for the DC5’s
first hit to knock the Beatles out of the #1 spot on the charts (again, in the
UK, not America) he pauses three seconds, smiles stiffly and says, “Glad all
over,” which of course was the song’s title. Any comparison to Clark and the
natural screen ebullience of the Fab Four is absurd.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the Dave Clark Five despite their
current lack of air play (the show made a note that Clark wisely owned all of
the band’s masters; is this why they don’t get airplay, because he’s “protecting
their brand” by not licensing air play?).
But for PBS to waste two hours that could have been better spent
watching dying polar bears or Rick Steves visiting a Norwegian brothel, well
they’ll have to give me a lot of tote bags to make it up to me.
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