Aired on Treasure Island Oldies –Feb 12, 2012
Sometimes in music careers you have to take risks in order to sustain your presence. This was definitely the case for Ray Charles who leveraged his success in R&B and crossed over to Rock & Roll and country during his prolific career.
At the height of their career, an English group took a risk at releasing a ballad in North America after having four, now classic, Rock & Roll hits.
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The biggest threat to the Beatles during the early days of the British Invasion, this group appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a record 18 times (13 times live and 5 pre-recorded), the most of any English musical act. In fact, they were more popular in North America then they were in England during the period from 1964 thru 1967.
Their timing in North America was immaculate. In 1964, five of their first six Billboard Hot 100 releases were huge hits, including “Glad All Over,” “Bits And Pieces,” “Do You Love Me” (a remake of the Contours smash 1962 hit), and “Can’t You See That She’s Mine.”
Yes, we are talking about the Dave Clark Five.
The four hits mentioned were hard driving, get up and dance numbers. It was their 6th release on the charts where the leader of the group, Dave Clark, took a risk and had the group release a ballad that went to #3 on the charts.
And many of us are glad he did. A perfect song often played on Valentine’s Day, here’s the Dave Clark Five with “Because.”
YouTube listing of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpKWpUJybng
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.
