Because (1964)

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By: The Dave Clark Five.

The group consisted of drummer Dave Clark (born December 15, 1939 in Tottenham, North London, England), singer and keyboardist Mike Smith (born December 6, 1943 in Edmonton, North London), guitarist Lenny Davidson, bassist Rick Huxley, and saxophonist/guitarist/harmonica player Denny Payton.

For a very brief time the DC5 were considered the biggest threat to the popularity of the Beatles, when they knocked "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from #1 in the UK with "Glad All Over" in 1964. They were the second British Invasion group to have a Gold record (with "Glad All Over") in the US, after the Beatles. They disbanded in 1970, the same year as the Beatles' disbandment.

Though Dave Clark was the leader of the group, the lead vocals on all their hit singles were distinctively sung by Mike Smith.

In October 2003, Mike Smith accidentally fell in his home in Spain, causing severe injury to his spinal cord, leaving him partially paralyzed in his left arm and permanently paralyzed in his right arm and from the waist down. After four years of treatment, Smith was released from the hospital on December 6, 2007 (his 64th birthday).

On February 28, 2008, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Mike Smith died of pneumonia, a complication from his accident. He died only 11 days before he and the Dave Clark Five were to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"Because" was, unlike their other hits, a soft ballad in the style of the Beatles' early work. In fact, the organ part being similar to an early Lennon/McCartney tune recorded by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ("I'll Be on My Way", which reached #2 in the UK in 1963.)

"Because" was only a B-side to "Can't You See That She's Mine" in the UK. Clark insisted that the song be released as an A-side in the US despite resistance from Epic Records. He wanted to prove that they could have a hit without their usual arrangement of loud drums, saxophone, and screaming vocals, all drenched in heavy reverb.

Chart position: #3 (US). It peaked in September 1964.

It was their sixth charting single in the US, and their highest charting US single up to that point.

Between 1964 and 1967 the Dave Clark Five had 17 Top 40 US and UK hits.

The Top Ten Songs: September 12, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "The House of the Rising Sun" (Animals)
2. "Where Did Our Love Go" (Supremes) 
3. "Because" (Dave Clark Five)
4. "Everybody Loves Somebody" (Dean Martin)
5. "Bread and Butter" (Newbeats)
6. "C'Mon and Swim" (Bobby Freeman)
7. "G.T.O." (Ronny and the Daytonas)
8. "A Hard Day's Night" (Beatles)
9. "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)" (Shangri-Las)
10. "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison)
    

Written by: Dave Clark.

Clark also wrote/co-wrote such songs as "Any Way You Want It", "Bits and Pieces", "Can't You See That She's Mine", "Catch Us If You Can", and "Glad All Over".

Buy the album from Amazon.com:

• The History Of The Dave Clark Five (CD)

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