Life lessons with Sixties star Dave Clark
Sixties sensation DAVE CLARK (77), from the group The Dave Clark Five, chats about making music, new challenges and a very special band anniversary
■ Anything was possible
Back in the Sixties, I never imagined I’d still be involved with music in 2020! When you’re young and having a ball
– like we did in the Dave Clark Five – you don’t think about the future. None of us did – not The Beatles, the Stones nor any of the other groups who were successful at the time. It never occurred to me that more than 50 years on, people would still be interested in the music we’d made. The Sixties was such an amazing, optimistic era. It felt like anything was possible.
■ Life is bitter-sweet
I’ll never forget the first time I heard our hit song Glad All Over playing on the radio. Mike Smith, our keyboard player and vocalist, and I, were driving in an old banger when the song came on the car radio. It was thrilling! But halfway through came the announcement that JFK had been shot. That was horrific.
■ Count your blessings
I feel very blessed to have made a living from doing something I love. It feels a bit like I’ve never done a day’s work in my life because I’ve enjoyed it so much – and still do. I’ve achieved more than I ever dreamed I would. We were the first British group to tour the USA and had 15 consecutive Top Ten records in two years.
■ I love new challenges
I love the excitement of not knowing what’s around the corner. Last summer I released a Freddie Mercury track that had never been heard before and was streamed online 30 million times – Freddie was a good friend of mine. And this month sees the release of the Dave Clark Five All the Hits album which I re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It’s available on CD, vinyl and to stream online. It’s amazing to put our music back out there on magical vinyl 60 years after we formed the group.
■ Forever missed
As life goes on, you start losing people. Sadly, out of the five members of the Dave Clark Five, there are only two of us left – myself and guitarist Lenny Davidson. We stay in touch but Lenny lives in the countryside while I live in London. Sax player Denis Payton died in 2006, Mike in 2008 and bassist Rick Huxley in 2013. I really miss them. We lived near each other, spoke practically every day and saw a lot of each other. We all met at school and were a big part of each other’s lives.
■ We have too much choice nowadays
The internet is wonderful in some ways but not so good in others. Today it’s like we have too many options, too much choice. When we started out, there were only two TV channels in the UK and buying a record was a really special event – as was going out shopping for clothes or going to a football match or concert. Sitting in front of a screen all the time isn’t a good thing. We need to get out there and enjoy life.
■ Dave Clark Five’s All the Hits is out now
■ Dave was talking to Alison James