Celebrating Lenny Davidson on his 80th birthday. —Ed.
The Dave Clark Five may be one of the most underrated groups of the British Invasion. While it was one of the many groups from the era who faded away after its hit success in the early and mid-’60s, they scored many hits and their music holds up extremely well.
The group had eight top ten hits in the UK and the US, and one number one in the UK and the US. Unlike most of the artists who hailed from the original British Invasion, the group was not from Liverpool, but was instead from Tottenham, in North London. The group’s powerful sound was led by Clark on drums and keyboardist Mike Smith, and also sometimes included honking brass from Denis Payton. The other two original members were Rick Huxley and Lenny Davidson. The group was most well-known for its hits “Glad All Over,” “Bits and Pieces,” “Anyway You Want It,” “Because,” and its powerhouse cover of “Do You Love Me,” but also for such singles as “Catch Us If You Can,” “Having A Wild Weekend,” and “Over and Over.”
Dave Clark has been an attentive curator of the group’s legacy and the last few years have seen a number of excellent reissues. The latest reissue is All The Hits: The 7″ Collection. The box set includes 10 seven-inch, 45 RPM releases. Rather than duplicating UK or US singles from the 1960s, these 10 records are reconfigured “double-A” sides, with newly conceived picture sleeve cover art and labels that are new BMG labels of various colors. The music was remastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell under the supervision of Dave Clark in 2019. As can be expected, the sound quality is superb and listening to these dazzling British Invasion hits on 45-RPM, seven-inch vinyl is the way to go.
In some cases, this box set goes against the way more and more reissues are formatted. Typically, new mixes of original albums or individual tracks are presented, along with B-sides, outtakes, demos, and various studio takes. Also, album jackets, gatefolds, inner sleeves, labels, and original extras usually are preserved with great attention to detail, or in some cases are augmented with additional new materials and lavish books.
While the original sound of these classic singles is superb, there was no effort to preserve in sequencing or packaging the original UK or US singles and, other than a one-sheet insert with some quotes about the group’s legacy, an advert for other editions of this collection and minimal original group member information, there are no detailed liner notes.
These packaging choices seem either misguided or careless. Fans of these ’60s reissue packages buy these kinds of releases as much for the packaging and historical information as for the music. It would have been more thorough to have some detailed liner notes, which would have been another step in placing the group’s music in a more significant musical context, which it so richly deserves. While reissuing UK singles can sometimes be a challenge, as picture sleeves were uncommon in the UK until well past the mid-’60s, including picture sleeves from the US or even from other countries, as was done with The Beatles’ singles box, would have been a great idea.
This All The Hits release has already been issued in a single vinyl set with only 16 tracks, and as advertised in the booklet, on double vinyl, although it doesn’t say how many tracks. It has also been issued on CD, with 28 tracks—eight more than on the 7-inch box—and with a 30-page booklet. These were all released in 2020.
Regardless of the packaging misstep, hearing these near-perfect British Invasion hits on 45-RPM, seven-inch singles is still worth the price of admission, and die-hard fans of the group will simply have to have this set.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B-
