| Clark Five "Inside and Out" (Dave Clark, Mike Smith) (Epic Records) released Dec. 24, 1967 on the B side of "Everybody Knows"
"Maze of Love"
"Live In the Sky" |
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For two years the DC5 was one of the Beatles' fiercest rivals, churning out a staggering 17 Top 40 hits in the US. The lads weren't Merseybeaters, mind you, but the sole proponents of the "Tottenham Sound," a welcome if lunkheaded counterpoint to the Beatles' ever-accelerating artistic ambitions. The paucity of intellect in DC5 music, however, became immediately apparent with the group's botched attempts at psychedelia. However adept the quintet were at recreating manic Little Richard rockers, Little Richard wasn't even remotely where it was at by 1967. This was the era of lengthy "Moby Dick" drum solos and Clark's time-keeping technique, which might generously be described as someone driving a nail through a wall, proved an outstanding liability. The DC5 habitually padded its albums with slavish Beatle rewrites, yet grew evermore confused as the Fabs' music became more complex than say, "I'll Follow The Sun." Unable to get past Sgt. Pepper's title track, Dave and the boys kept rewriting it over and over and over again in the hopes of becoming enlightened, or at least mistaken for groovy. So don't be fooled by the first two downloadable sound bytes we've included here--"Inside and Out" and "Maze of Love" are two completely different songs! |  Typical DC5 hyperbole: Delusion, thine initials are DC5! |
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Believe it or not, "Inside and Out" was actually commissioned by Italian director Franco Zefferelli for his film, Romeo and Juliet. Not surprisingly, the Zeffer gave the "Tottenham Sound" two thumbs down after hearing Shakespeare translated by the Dave Clark 5: "Two little villages on their own Each lot taking care of his own One with a son that never looks happy The other with a daughter that dresses so sna-ppy! They love each other and they're trying to get together But the feud between their parents isn't getting any better! |  "Inside and Out" |
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At least "Inside and Out" was mercifully buried on the B-side of a
flop single, unlike "Maze of Love", which was allowed to flop on its
own merits as a designated A-side. Fuzzy distorted guitars? Present! A
philosophical bridge about "finding oneself"? Present! Apparently, DC5
lead singer Mike Smith was pushing his cart through the grocery and
was suddenly seized by this startling bolt of enlightenment:
"Too many people are running around and trying to find themselves | "Maze of Love" |
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"Maze of Love's" equally Neanderthal follow-up was "Live in the Sky" [394K aiff sound file], a song which sounded so uncannily like "All You Need Is Love" that an ebullient Mike Smith couldn't help but chime in "all together now" every chorus and sing "all you need is love" about halfway through. This kind of stupidity in song-stealing is not unlike a guy who robs a 7-11 and holds up written directions to his house in front of the security camera. While "All You Need Is Love" quoted snatches of the French national anthem "Les Marseilles" and the Beatles' own early signature hit "She Loves You," the DC5's lower IQ opts for "I've Been Working On the Railroad" and the DC5's own recent flop single "Red Balloon." Thankfully, "Live In the Sky" was dead in the water in no time. |  "The Red Balloon" deflated immediately but would live on in "Live In the Sky". |
| All three songs are available on Hollywood Records' otherwise highly recommended two-CD set, The History of the Dave Clark Five.
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