The Dave Clark Five facts: Members, songs and break-up of the British Invasion legends

14 January 2026, 09:37

The story of the band who knocked The Beatles off the top.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks may have been the biggest British bands of the 1960s but they weren't the only groups from these shores who made major waves at home and abroad.

Right up there was The Dave Clark Five, who were key players in the British Invasion and enjoyed a healthy smattering of hits on both side of the Atlantic, including a chart topper in both the UK and the US.

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The DC5 actually started getting together before The Beatles were a thing, and successfully knocked the Fab Four off the top once, too.

But do you know where the band were formed, what instrument Dave Clark played in the group, and what their biggest hits were?

Read on for all the facts you need about The Dave Clark Five.

When did The Dave Clark Five form and who was in the band?

When they first started getting together, Dave Clark wasn't the name on the marquee, though he was always a key figure.

All the way back in 1958, there was a north London-based singer called Stan Saxon. His backing band was a revolving cast of musicians, but Clark was an ever-present on drums and backing vocals. In one of those lineups you also had guitarist Rick Huxley.

By 1962, Stan and his band had gone their separate ways. There were further lineup shuffles as the group found themselves setting up at South Grove Youth Club in Tottenham. Mick Ryan (lead guitar) and Chris Walls (bass) came and went.

Now called The Dave Clark Five, the settled lineup was:

• Dave Clark (drums and backing vocals)
• Rick Huxley (bass)
• Lenny Davidson (lead guitar)
• Denis Payton (saxophone, and rhythm guitar and harmonica)
• Mike Smith (keyboards and vocals)

While he wasn't the frontman, Dave Clark was the band's primary songwriter (sometimes collaborating with Smith, sometimes with Davidson, and sometimes with Payton), and also producer alongside sound engineer Alan Kerridge (under the name Adrian Clark).

He managed the group, too, so probably earned top billing despite being "only" the drummer.

When did The Dave Clark Five break through?

I Knew It All The Time

While the capital was always buzzing, in the early 1960s it felt like the centre of gravity had definitely moved north. To Liverpool in particular.

It wasn't just The Beatles, either.

Other exponents of the Merseybeat sound included the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Remo Four, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Johnny Sandon and The Searchers, Billy Kramer and the Coasters and countless others.

The DC5 had their own style and, with Clark's drumming propelling everything, they were sold as serving up the Tottenham Sound. It wasn't a label that really endured, but it did do its bit to make them stand apart from the Scouse crowd at the time.

Still, success was far from overnight.

Do you Love me - Dave Clark 5

Written by Mitch Murray, 'Wimoweh' rewrite 'I Knew It All the Time' failed to chart in 1962. As did the band's next three singles.

In 1963, they finally cracked the top 40 when their version of 'Do You Love Me' peaked at number 30 in the UK and number 11 in the US.

Originally a massive hit on the Gordy label for The Contours in the US, the song had already topped the UK charts when performed by beat band Brian Poole and the Tremeloes.

Glad All Over Dave Clark Five COLOR Widescreen HiQ Hybrid JARichardsFilm 720p

The Dave Clark Five had every right to feel pretty miffed. They were due to release their version before Brian Poole and co, but the Dagenhamers rushed out their version first.

What's more, they had been prevented from releasing their version of 'Twist and Shout', despite recording it before The Beatles. That song was a smash not just for the Fabs, but once again Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, too.

No matter. They followed up 'Do You Love Me' with their own Dave Clark/Mike Smith original 'Glad All Over', which became their first (and only) UK number one single, and a number six hit in the US, too.

What were The Dave Clark Five's biggest songs?

NEW * Over And Over - Dave Clark Five {Stereo}

The Dave Clark Five scored a dozen top 40 UK hits. As a big part of the British Invasion, they did even better Stateside, racking up 17 top 40 Billboard appearances.

While their cover of Bobby Day's 'Over and Over' stalled at number 45 in the UK, it went all the way to number one in the US on Christmas Day in 1965.

Their popularity in the US was underlined by their regular appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. They popped up a massive 18 (eighteen!) times, more than any other British Invasion group.

The Dave Clark Five's biggest songs include:

• Do You Love Me
• Glad All Over
• Bits and Pieces
• Can't You See That She's Mine
• Thinking of You Baby
• Because
• Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)
• Any Way You Want It
• Come Home
• Reelin' and Rockin'
• I Like It Like That
• Catch Us if You Can
• Over and Over
• At The Scene
• Try Too Hard
• You Got What It Takes
• Everybody Knows
• No One Can Break A Heart Like You
• The Red Balloon
• Good Old Rock 'n' Roll
• Everybody Get Together

What was The Dave Clark Five's film all about?

Catch us if you can (1965) - the opening credits

Back in the 1960s, most artists ended up in their own movies, often playing themselves, a fictionalised version of themselves, or a band quite like themselves.

Elvis Presley had 31 movies, varying wildly in quality. The high watermark was probably The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and The Monkees' Head.

The Dave Clark Five got in on the act with 1965's Catch Us If You Can.

It was written by playwright Peter Nichols (who would later go on to write A Day in the Death of Joe Egg) and the feature film debut of director John Boorman, who would later pick up a brace of Best Director Oscar nods for Deliverance and Hope & Glory.

Starring Barbara Ferris as actress/model Dinah, Catch Us If You Can took its title from the DC5's song of the same name (a top five hit on both sides of the pond). In the road/chase movie, the band played (sort of) themselves, as stuntmen rather than rockers. Dave was renamed as Steve, for some reason (everyone else got to keep their name).

It wasn't a hit, with its questioning, pessimistic tone maybe failing to hit with a broad audience, but it was a critical success. Even if it didn't help The Dave Clark Five much at the time, it certainly did its bit for John Boorman and has definitely endured.

When and why did The Dave Clark Five split up?

Dave Clark & Friends Southern Man 2010 remaster

By the end of the 1960s, things had slowed down for the DC5 in the US, where they had enjoyed much of their success.

They were still racking up hits in the UK till the end of the decade, with 'Good Old Rock 'n' Roll' in 1969 and 'Everybody Get Together' in 1970 both making the top ten.

Nevertheless, the band called it a day in 1970, with Davidson, Huxley and Payton leaving the group for good.

Clark and Smith enlisted Alan Parker (lead guitar) and Eric Ford (bass) and rebranded themselves ad Dave Clark & Friends. This spinoff failed to breach the charts and released only the Dave Clark & Friends album before calling it a day for good in 1973.

Did The Dave Clark Five ever have a reunion?

Induction of The Dave Clark Five

The full Dave Clark Five never reunited.

Along with a scattershot approach to reissues and their music not being available on Spotify until 2019, that's perhaps why they have faded somewhat in the public consciousness despite scoring so very many hits during their 1960s heyday.

But that didn't mean that the members didn't keep themselves busy in the years after the split.

Ever the entrepreneur, Clark set up a media company that would buy the rights to Ready Steady Go! But that didn't mean that he stopped creating. He wrote and produced London stage musical Time – The Musical and would direct the last ever performance of Sir Laurence Olivier.

The soundtrack of the play featuring an all-star singing cast including Julian Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Stevie Wonder and Cliff Richard.

"Glad All Over" (Dave Clark Five) - John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, Joan Jett & John Fogerty

Meanwhile, Mike Smith would record an album with Manfred Mann's Mike d'Abo, his own solo album It's Only Rock & Roll. Lenny Davidson became a guitar teacher.

Payton died in 2006. Smith suffered a seizure fall in 2003 and died from pneumonia in 2008. Huxley died from emphysema in 2013.

In 2008, The Dave Clark Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by actor and fan Tom Hanks. In attendance were then-surviving members Clark, Davidson and Huxley.

Joined by John Fogerty, John Mellencamp,= and Billy Joel Joan Jett played the band's 'Glad All Over' in their honour.