Someone once said that a generation is defined not by the most outstanding popular music it produces, but by lesser examples that manage to capture its collective imagination. Wait, nobody ever said that-I just made it up. Still, as I scrolled through my iTunes master 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 of 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 their parents, who saw groups like The Monkees, Gerry and The Pacemakers, and The Dave Clark Five as less threatening. It would be a mistake to dismiss the output of these bands, though. Some of the songs-The Pacemakers’ “Ferry Cross The Mersey,” the first Monkees 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 and under Dave’s direction the drum set was moved to the forefront, where he banged away freely without any apparent concern for timekeeping. Keyboardist and lead singer Mike Smith was the kid with musical training, however, 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, which ultimately leads the final chorus up a semitone), “Glad All Over” is a quintessential example of this, the 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, “Glad All Over” retains its appeal today, nearly a half century after it entered the charts. It peaked here 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 “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 numbed Beatles fans felt when that illustrious quartet called it quits. Still, for those of us who were there- and the rest of you who wish you were!-Glad All Over” remains a signature song from the sixties.

“Glad All Over”
Columbia DB (UK), Epic (USA)
Writers: Mike Smith, Dave Clark
Producer: Adrian Clark