Glad All Over
Someone once said that a generation is defined not by the most outstanding popular music it produces, but by the lesser examples that manage to capture the collective imagination. Wait-nobody ever said that; I just made it up. Still, as I scrolled through my iTunes playlist just now and tapped on the Dave Clark Five’s (semi) classic single “Glad All Over,” the thought popped into mind.
For those of you who lived through that era (“Glad All Over” was released in November 1963), no explanation of the times is required. As for the rest of you-ha ha, you missed a real treat! Seriously, folks, the sixties were gear.
The marketing machine quickly recognized that well-scrubbed alternatives to the Beatles would appeal to kids and to their parents, who found groups like the Monkees, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the Dave Clark Five less threatening. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the output of these bands. Some of the songs-the Pacemakers’ “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” the Monkees’ debut single “Take the Last Train to Clarksville,” for example-were finely crafted and well produced.
Dave Clark was the drummer and business mind behind the group that bore his name. He had an ego large enough to shatter established performance practice; under his direction the drum set moved to the forefront, where he banged away freely without any apparent concern for keeping time. Keyboardist and lead singer Mike Smith was the kid with actual musical training, and it was Mike who wrote and delivered “Glad All Over.”
Rock writers dream of unearthing three-chord hits, and apart from the bridge-which introduces a fourth chord (the lowered sixth, leading the final chorus up a semitone)-“Glad All Over” is a quintessential example of this Holy Grail of pop artifacts.
A simple anthem to puppy love (“You say that you love me. You say that you need me”), delivered in call-and-response fashion, the song retains its appeal today, nearly half a century after it entered the charts. It peaked in the States at number six.
The Dave Clark Five had a couple of other successful singles. The best of the bunch, “Catch Us If You Can,” came from the film of the same name-a weak facsimile of A Hard Day’s Night. Like all the other groups that piggybacked on top of the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five had a limited upside, and when they disbanded in 1970 it was without the hysterical sense of loss that benumbed Beatles fans when that illustrious quartet called it quits. Still, for those of us who were there-and for the rest of you who wish you were—“Glad All Over” remains a signature song that helped define the sixties.
1/3/2012
