Glad All Over: The Dave Clark Five and Beyond

This is a lovely production that will absolutely, mesmerizingly transport you back in time to the incredibly insane universe of the British Invasion. With a perfect balance of music, original black and white and color film clips and photos, and interviews with modern but rockingly aging stars, PBS's Dave Clark Five tribute justly honors the greatest of the second-tier British groups of the 1960's.

Like the Beatles, the DC5 worked for hard for their success. They practiced and played thousands of hours, developing a tight sound and teamwork, gradually growing in local fame in the English city of Tottenham, so that by the time they busted out into national, then international, fame, they had the stage polish of the veterans they already were.

Two noteworthy things really stand out in this production. First, notice the genuine modesty of the boys. They never took anything for granted, and were perpetually grateful for their success, and the joy they were able to bring millions.

Secondly, as the documentary dishes out generous portions of the DC5's music, pay attention to the fantastic voice of the lead singer, Mike Smith. The songs might be unhip by today's standards, but Mike's voice is powerful and soulful, one of the best of the 1960's, and I am glad that the several stars who were interviewed for this program recognized it as such.

After staying away from the stage for many years, Mike returned to it in the late 1990's. Sadly, he only had a couple of years of performing left: in 2003, he fell in a freak accident at his house in Spain, and became paralyzed. He never performed again, dying in 2008. I was lucky to have seen his band at the Mohegan Sun, in 2003 I believe, and he was incredible: he sang for 2 hours straight, blasting out every great Dave Clark Five song, his voice never faltering: he really sounded just like the records; it was awesome.

It is hard to find film of the DC5 performing their songs live; although everyone seems to agree that they were excellent live performers, most of their TV performances were lip-synced. So, during this program pay close attention to the DC5's Command Performance before the Queen, which is live; and shortly thereafter, a clip of them singing "You Got What it Takes": I believe Mike is singing live over the prerecorded backing.

Thank you PBS for making this program possible.

I love all 60's music, especially the British Invasion groups. The DC5 were never musically in the same league as the Beatles, Stones, Who etc, but I find a few of their tracks toe tappingly pleasant.

My real problem with the band is Dave Clark himself - a peculiar deluded control freak whose rewriting of history would make Stalin blush. I first became aware of this trait when I watched repeats of Ready Steady Go in the 90's. Clark (who owned the original RSG video tapes) notoriously inserted clips of the DC5 from other TV shows just so his band could be seen performing between groups who actually appeared on RSG. The clips were so badly shoehorned in too. You'd have a clip shot on video tape of The DC5 performing inside a TV studio on The Ed Sullivan Show cut to non-matching audience reactions shot on film of girls screaming taken from a Beatles concert holding up I Love Ringo banners! It's blatant flim-flam like this that pervades this airbrush of a documentary.

Please google search an excellent piece called The Curious Story Of The Dave Clark Five. It nails the shadiness of Clark's character brilliantly, from his dubious songwriting credits on the band's hits, his shabby treatment of the rest of his band (especially singer Mike Smith) and his clumsy handling of the DC5 legacy. Clark thought withdrawing the band's back catalogue for decades would create a huge interest in the combo when he finally re-released a best of album in the 90's. It didn't, and he withdrew all the DC5 music again. This bonkers behaviour means his band aren't as fondly remembered today as other 60''s groups because people couldn't hear or buy their music for years. Sadly this documentary reeks of being Clark's last desperate attempt to try and stop The DC5 being largely forgotten from music history. An unfortunate case of too little, too late.

Through stills, vintage footage and recent, celebrity interviews - This 2-disc DVD-set offers the viewer the thrill of 2 solid hours of the Dave Clark Five (DC5, for short), one of Britain's most influential pop music sensations of the mid-1960s.

Back in 1964 DC5 undoubtedly hit the jackpot, big-time, with their #1, chart-topping song "Glad All Over", which sent all their adoring fans (on both sides of the Atlantic) screaming into the aisles for more.

For a brief flash of time in pop music history (1964-1966) DC5 were considered to be a very serious threat to the vast popularity of The Beatles, rock-n-roll's undisputed kings of the day.

With such sensational, toe-tappin' tunes like "Bits & Pieces", "Catch Us If You Can" and "Do You Love Me?", how could DC5 not put a few worry-lines into the brows of songwriters, John Lennon & Paul McCartney?

So, if you really enjoy classic rock-n-roll, then you're sure to be thrilled to pieces by "DC5 And Beyond".

A lot of re writing of history here - admittedly they sold a lot of records in the USA but credibility in the UK was never gained. Mike Smith remains as the only real talent and this film is decidedly suspect in giving him credit for the songs. He was the lead singer and made each song his own with a powerful voice. I guess this film was made for the American market because there is little to say in rock history about them over here. The Tottenham sound came and went in a comparatively short time. Any why has he been so over protective about the song catalogue that he exclusively owns. Watch the movie and make your own mind up.

I wish I could be more complimentary about this documentary. The Dave Clark Five originated from Tottenham, North London, and initially made their name performing live shows in dance-halls to ecstatic audiences.

With hits such as "Glad All Over," and "Bits and Pieces," they hit the big-time in Britain, and (according to this documentary) managed to crack the American market as well. They were much more dedicated to live performance than The Beatles, which helped to enhance their popularity.

Sadly the facts don't stand up to scrutiny. The group were certainly more popular than The Beatles for a time in the mid-Sixties, but by the late Sixties they had dropped out of favor. They enjoyed a brief renaissance between 1967 and 1970, but then disbanded. The eponymous leader of the group then made it as something of a tycoon; he bought the rights to the ITV series READY STEADY GO, and arranged for selected episodes to be re-broadcast on Channel 4 in the Eighties.

At times this documentary veers towards the self-parodic - a kind of serious THIS IS SPINAL TAP, perhaps. Celebrities of various ages and professions are wheeled on and off to contribute their reminiscences, which seldom depart from the usual collection of mealy-mouthed clichés ("oh, yes, they were great"). The narrative is often lost amidst the sheer amount of reminiscence, while Dave Clark (who directs the piece) makes sure he appears frequently in archive footage as well as interviews.

This is a self-indulgent documentary, of interest, perhaps, to aficionados of Sixties British bubblegum, but few others.