British beat group The Dave Clark Five perform for a large audience, circa 1965.

Although they were one of the top selling pop acts of the British invasion—just under the Beatles with sales of over 100 million records—The Dave Clark Five is little-remembered today. Despite a (belated) 2008 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the airing of a documentary about them several times on PBS, if you are much younger than say 60, then chances are that you’ve never heard of them, or heard any of their music. Which is really too bad, because they were an awesome band. Their sound was exciting. The guitars buzzed, the vocals were frenzied and the drummer (Dave Clark) was a right thumper. Lead singer Mike Smith was a great frontman and songwriter. They weren’t exactly that hip, I will grant you, but most rock snob aficionados of 60s garage bands will come around to The Dave Clark Five eventually—sometime after exhausting the Paul Revere and the Raiders catalog down to the last B-side I would imagine—but the civilian, the man on the street? Nope, no idea who you are talking about. Dave Clark? The name might ring a bell but they think that maybe Dick Clark had a band,...

English musician Dave Clark of British beat group The Dave Clark Five, circa 1965.

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