Fans of The Dave Clark Five must be completely overjoyed with this really well done box set that collects 20 tunes across ten 10 45rpm 7” records encased in individual picture bags. The 20 singles present sold north of a million copies each, which isn’t too surprising since The Dave Clark Five were staples on the Top 40 charts for many years.
“Glad All Over” starts the listen with the thumping drums and firm guitars, as the band’s inimitable harmonizing is quite memorable, and “Bits And Pieces” follows with a hint of surf-rock populating the snappy and gritty rock’n’roll flavor.
Deeper into the listen, the calmer and soulful “Because” is quite romantic and benefits much from elegant keys, while “Over And Over” will instantly get your body moving and shaking to the punchy and highly melodic highlight track that recruits harmonica to the Bobby Day original.
Closer to the end, “Nineteen Days” is a bit gruff and rugged in its precise and timeless delivery, and “Everybody Get Together” has frontman Mike Smith’s vocals sounding quite bright and expressive in the quintessential ’60s rock song, that, even now, is quite relevant.
Along with The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five were leaders of the British Invasion, and they often traded spots on the charts and appeared on the same TV shows as The Fab Four. They would eventually be inducted into Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, though at that point two members of the classic line up had passed away (Mike Smith and Denis Payton).
Today, just two members—Dave Clark and Lenny Davidson—are alive, and I’m sure they’re quite pleased with how this set turned out. Fans willl be as well.
