The accessible pop sound of the Dave Clark Five, with its driving percussion and chanting vocals, made it one of the most popular "British invasion" bands of the mid-1960s. A savvy publicity campaign promoting their rivalry with the Beatles stimulated sales and generated a string of hits for the band from 1964 to 1966 that was second only to the Fab Four. During their career, the Dave Clark Five sold an estimated 50 million records and had 30 hit singles worldwide.
While guitar riffs were the focus of most British pop bands of the time, drums drove the Dave Clark Five. Their strong percussion section was characteristic of the so-called "Tottenham Sound" that differed from popular Merseyside, London, groups like the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. The band's strong identification with this sound would cause their popularity to wane when psychedelic rock and other new trends began drawing listeners in the late 1960s. The Dave Clark Five's extremely clean-cut image also hurt their career during the rise of "bad boy" groups like the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks, which had more raw appeal.
The Dave Clark Five was created in 1958, an attempt by a young Tottenham football player named Dave Clark to help fund his team's traveling expenses. He and soon-to-be bassist Chris Walls ran an ad in Melody Maker to locate other musicians. After the ad brought in rhythm guitarist Rick Huxley, Stan Saxon as singer and saxophonist, and Mike Ryan on lead guitar, the "Dave Clark ...
