Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Dave Clark was certainly one of the most brilliant businessmen in the history of rock music. But he has no interest in having the true story of the Dave Clark 5 told and so in the guise of such a story, he, instead simply demonstrates what an egomaniac he was. The Dave Clark 5 was the first great "boy band." It was not a real group. Rather, Dave Clark hired four musicians, rehearsed them for several months and then had them record about 12 great pop singles between 1964 and 1967. Dave Clark was a better than average drummer and a great record producer, but the only reason he made it as a pop star was that he lucked into Mike Smith, one of the great pop/rock vocalists of the mid-60s who also happened to have a real talent for writing catchy pop songs. Dave Clark simply put his name on any song written by any other member of the band, and the bulk of the hits were by Mike Smith. This documentary pretends the DC5 was a real group, similar to the Beatles, the Stones, or the Who. This is utter nonsense. Dave paid the other members a salary keeping all meaningful earnings for himself. Indeed, despite the fact that the "group" sold millions of records, shortly after Dave ended the group, none of the other members made more than a small percentage of the millions the group's music generated. (As a result, Mike Smith died with an estate worth perhaps $100,000. Apparently, however Lenny Davidson and Rick Huxley had successful second careers -- which Dave neglects to mention.) And Dave's control of the masters and publishing rights prevented Mike Smith from making any money because Dave refused to allow any of the group's music to be released for twenty years. As you watch this movie, and hear the group spoken of as one of the three great British rock groups of the 1960s, consider the fact that the group was not admitted into the Rock n' Roll hall of fame for almost twenty years after they first became eligible. The reason is two fold: (1) they were not anywhere near as good as the front line groups and (2) those inside the rock music establishment, must have known that this was not a real group and Dave Clark was the sort of smarmy business man that Traffic was singing about in "Low Spark of High Heel Boys." I was a BIG fan of the DC5's singles in the mid 60s. And i still listen to a "greatest hits" collection on my iPod. They were infectious, high energy pop music. But to claim, the DC5 were in the same category as the Beatles or Stones is equivalent to claiming that Bon Jovi was in the same echelon as Led Zeppelin. The only thing that this movie gets right is that Mike Smith never got his due as a great rock vocalist. (It must be mentioned that when Mike Smith toured in the years before his tragic accident, Dave Clark threatened to sue if Mike Smith mentioned the DC5 in any advertisements for Mike's performances.) Perhaps someday, someone will be able to pull Mike Smith's legacy out from the clutches of Dave Clark. It is worth noting one of the cruelest aspects of this saga is that the DC5 was actually to be admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year earlier, but the group's induction was postponed. Mike Smith passed away just days before the ceremony and so did not live to see himself properly lionized. Dave Clark has much to be proud of, but the fact that he was not willing to have this film made independently demonstrates his fear of what the truth would reveal about him. I wasn't surprised that one of the great schlockmeisters of all time, Gene Simmons in full Kiss make up, was one of the featured talking heads. What confused me was the willingness of Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt to sing Dave Clark's praises. It was troubling to hear one of the major rock figures known for his utter integrity celebrate one who was lacking in that quality. One hint was that it was evident that the Boss was unaware that Dave Clark had little, if anything, to do with the writing of the group's great songs. Perhaps one day, Dave Clark will allow a dvd of the DC5's live performances to be released. That is what the other four deserve and what will allow the group's fans to enjoy the true legacy: an hour of amazing pop music.