Dave Clark: The 1960s rockstar Elton John called a “stone-cold genius”
For any band that makes it big, they have to worry just as much about business as they do about musical skill. It’s still a music industry most of the time, and even though it provides a never-ending headache for anyone who has ever worked in the field, there are artists who tend to be outstanding business people while pumping out the hits. Although Elton John seems more like a musical enterprise than a meagre business these days, he admits that Dave Clark is one of the biggest figures he has ever seen in the industry.
Then again, saying that about what some consider an also-ran of the ‘British invasion’ seems strange coming out of Elton John’s mouth. He may hold someone like that in high esteem at the time, but are we talking about the same guy who shared a stage with John Lennon being intimidated by Dave Clark?
First of all, let’s clarify that last statement about him being an also-ran. Compared to the other bands in that first wave of English hitmakers, it’s hard to see the raw data in just numbers. Clark may have been decently successful in singing from behind his drumset, but what he was able to do with his group had a much greater influence than many people realise.
For better or worse, Clark’s gritty vocal style was undoubtedly a switch-up for the time, especially considering how much gravel was in his throat. The Rolling Stones may have had a gritty pin-up star in Mick Jagger, but Clark was the first one to actually sound menacing, practically paving the way for the kind of raw vocals that would come later in the 1970s with acts like AC/DC.
Clark also had the one thing that most musicians only dream of – control of his music. Whereas most clueless bands tend to sign away the rights to their songs for pennies, Clark held onto the publishing rights of nearly all of his tracks, which probably doesn’t hurt when the royalty checks from works like ‘Any Way You Want It’ keep rolling in.
Although Clark tends to fade into the background of 1960s rock history half the time, John thought that he was the ultimate model for what a musical giant should be, recalling in The Dave Clark Five and Beyond – Glad All Over, “He is an absolute stone-cold genius. Dave Clark is the most extraordinary man in the music business. He owned all those early masters (tapes). He had complete control of his destiny.”
As much as someone like John might admire Clark for holding onto his songs, there’s probably a bit of jealousy in there as well. From Tom Petty to The Rolling Stones, every band has found themselves signing a bad deal and letting the rights to their tracks slip through their fingers, but Clark’s business mindset was as steady as his drumming most of the time.
So whenever you listen to a Dave Clark Five song on your own time or hear one of his tracks in a car commercial, you will only be hearing it on his terms. In an industry that’s meant to be a bit cutthroat and cut people down at almost every opportunity, Clark may be the one example of a musician who stuck to his guns and walked away better for it.
