After Edwin Jackson gave up four runs in the top of the first to the Pirates, I flipped the channel and landed for the rest of the evening watching a documentary about The Dave Clark 5.
For anyone under 40, you may not know about this respected English band. I was aware of the band but not its full history. It was part of the British Invasion of the early 1960s. But one has to go back in time to understand the gravity and legacy of five musicians from Great Britain. After World War II, there was a stark contrast between America and Europe. Europe had a long recovery from the war damage (physical, mental, emotional). The U.S. had pushed through to the new American Dream: a college education, a job for life (professional careers), a house in the suburbs with a picket fence, a car and a family. After World War II, music began to be defined by the singer like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. However, hip middle class kids began to gravitate toward jazz clubs and blues. It took Elvis Presley to meld the styles of his gospel upbringing with R&B to find a mainstream audience in rock 'n roll. As every child tries to separate himself from his parents, music is often the vehicle of choice and change.
So when England was in the midst of reconstruction, the new American music of rock n roll of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Motown and the blues made a similar impression on British youth. Dave Clark and his fellow young gym rats heard this new music decided to form a band. Now, historians today look back at the 1960s as a turbulent time, but for those who were actually living in that decade found it to be a place of hope, inspiration, opportunity and change. Musically, those were the notes for DC5. They had a British pop style that was accented by strong harmonies, R&B vocal riffs and a mellow sax tone. Clark and keyboardist-vocalist Mike Smith were unheralded great songwriters of their generation. They compiled 13 hit albums in their first 4 years. They appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show 18 different times. They were as popular as the early Beatles, as the DC5 record label stated they had more than 500,000 people signed up in their U.S. fan club alone.
Current musicians continue to be in awe about DC5. First, the band's songs were written from drum beats (Clark was the drummer). Most bands develop their songs with chords on guitar or piano. Second, they sounded the same live or on their vinyl records which meant they were all very good musicians. It also meant that Clark was a master studio recording technician. Third, they were very polished with a clean cut image which helped with their global popularity. Part of the reason also was that every song they wrote had a catchy "hook" which fans in any land could sing. Fourth, Clark was light years ahead of other music superstars in the business side of the industry. He was the first to "lease" the band's recordings to record companies, thereby holding on to both the copyrights and publishing rights to all their songs. Even Paul McCartney laments to this day that he does not have the publishing rights to his songs. Clark was also smart in how the band toured - - - they had their own airplane to go from city to city. They also made it clear they would have two days off a week to relax while on tour. They would also take week vacations between long segments of their live tours. The road was a grind but they scheduled enough off time to make it work. This common sense approach to the business side was made possible by the fact that the band did not have a manager or a team of professionals guiding them in the process. Clark handled it himself which protected the band from the usual pitfalls and downfalls of successful acts in this era. Fifth, Clark was very inventive with the stardom that fell upon him. He worked with all artists from Sinatra to Motown singers. He is also credited with having the first "music video" played on American television on the Ed Sullivan Show. Sixth, the band decided early on that they would stop performing while they were on top (in popularity). The did so, and went on to make a couple of well received movies and television specials.
The Dave Clark 5 is not forefront in popular culture today is that they had basically the same run as the Beatles (ending in 1970), but DC5 stayed away from the politics that would define the last stages of the Beatles and other rebellious British bands. Those artists would garnered headlines for political action and the current vision of what the 60s were all about have been kept alive in the cultural consciousness. DC5 kept to their upbeat vision of their world. And since they controlled their own music, they did not allow it to be split into commercial advertising snippets. So Clark and his band members faded into the annals of music history.
Gene Simmons was quoted in the documentary about the influence of DC5. He said you can hear their influence in any major band today; the chord progressions to the build up of snare drum beats into group harmonies. Even Bruce Springsteen said his band was like DC5. DC5 was a musician's music band. Looking back at his career, Clark was years ahead of his time.
This was a success story from an era where freedom of expression, limitless possibilities and talent willing, popular success were all available to anyone. Prior to World War II, England was a very class based society. But once the blitz hit the country, everyone was the same in the ruins of their great cities. From the worst moments came the hope of a better future.
Once the documentary was over, I turned back to see the Cubs had tied the game 6-6. But baseball did not interest me at that point. There were too many new facts to process on the influences of one band to the current music scene.
When the Cubs game started last night, there was probably less than 2,000 people in the stands. It seemed like another cold and listless night for the home team. Here in the 20teens of history, there is a growing vision of a dystopian future. Higher unemployment, low paying jobs, bankrupt cities and states, high crime rates, failing education skills; the end of the traditional American Dream. In this current backdrop, the Cubs continue to try to sell the upbeat hope, optimism and future of the franchise. But they are trying to catch a star in a bottle when the team's popularity is sinking like a stone in an ocean of apathy.
In most areas of life, timing is everything. People have at least one grand opportunity. It is those people who understand the opportunity and clear vision on how to achieve what they want to do will succeed to their expectations. It seems more and more people now see that the Ricketts family had a grand opportunity when they purchased the Cubs, but did not fully understand the opportunity or how to achieve lasting success. As a result, more people see the franchise through dystopian glasses.
