I have absolutely no memory of the song in 1965, but my feeling is that, while it was a huge hit, it was seen as kiddie stuff. Am I right?
Never was a big DC5 fan, and even among their catalog "Over and Over" isn't a favorite. Just for starters, they left out the last verse which brought the story at least a touch of resolution, so that their version has none to speak of. They also got the first verse not only wrong but rendered it nonsensical: of course everybody there was there! (The correct line was "Everybody there went stag".) I'd say at least it saved the original (by Bobby Day) from obscurity, but really, it didn't. I do like the harmonica solo. But that's about it.
He's also not the drummer (at least not on this song, nor on most of their hits). It's quite obviously the work of the prolific Bobby Graham.
It's the repetition of the word "over" that gets to me. Terrible song. Don't like the original by Bobby Day, can't stand the remake by the DC 5. Both acts have done better.
Written by Pete Seeger in 1959, first put to record by The Limeliters on their 1962 LP Folk Matinee... ...soon thereafter by Seeger himself on his 1962 LP The Bitter And The Sweet... then recorded again by Judy Collins in 1963 on her Judy Collins #3 LP... Some pretty solid folk pedigree behind Turn! Turn! Turn! I'd say. YMMV.
You beat me to it! Right? Seeger writes it, The Limelighters cover it, Judy Collins covers it...and it's not folk. Hmm.
Odd for this one to be a #1. I like it, but I like many of the DC5's others better. Any Way You Want It is probably my favourite.
Here are the other 1965 records that made #1 in Cashbox and/or Record World but not Billboard: Love Potion #9 - The Searchers (RW) Can't You Hear My Heartbeat - Herman's Hermits (CB) Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (RW) Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan (CB) A Lover's Concerto - The Toys (CB & RW) 1-2-3 - Len Barry (CB) Let's Hang On - The Four Seasons (CB & RW) Taste Of Honey - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (CB) Cheers, chips, n crisps...
Additionally, McGuinn played with The Limeliters and served as musical director for Judy Collins #3, arranging and playing on Turn, Turn, Turn.
I remember The Dave Clark Five being introduced on Ed Sullivan as being the next big thing and perhaps a better band than even The Beatles. After all they had *five* guys and a *bigger beat* sound. True enough, my teenage sisters and their female friends all went into swoon mode when they appeared on the show - they were prettier than The Beatles.
I liked a lot of the DC Five at the time. GLAD ALL OVER was probably my favourite. I see it made No 1 in England, but only 6 in North America.
Over & Over is an odd choice for their sole #1 record in America. I much prefer Can't You See That She's Mine, Catch Us If You Can, Because, Glad All Over or Do You Love Me . Mike Smith was a great singer, loved his raw, guttural rock voice. Apparently, Dave Clark was/is somewhat of a, shall we say, jackass and took a lot of credit for the group's success. I've read some unflattering accounts about him over the years.
That song sure sounded like a No. 1, much like California Girls, Wooly Bully, Louie, Louie, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, many CCR tunes, etc.
I always thought "Because" sounded more like a No.1. "Over And Over" is good, though. I just wish they would've added the extra verse from the Bobby Day version.
Dave Clark combines Pete-Best-level musical talents with Allen-Klein-level managerial instincts. The best that can be said about him is that he had a good eye for talent, since he knew enough to hire Mike Smith, Bobby Graham, Ron Ryan, and Adrian Clark, the people most responsible for the quality of the band's music.
Clark's -- ahem -- Graham's drumming was superior and one of my favourite things about many of those records.
Graham was fantastic. Aside from Mike Smith, he's the single most important ingredient in the DC5 sound. And he's amazing on those early Kinks hits too. Basically the British Hal Blaine.
Before it had been concretely established around here that he was indeed the drummer on lots of those, I steered people to compare his drum rolls on All Of The Day And All Of The Night with any any number of DC5 hits, Bits And Pieces for example. Identical style, though the DC5 records were recorded much better. In fact, DC5's UK Columbia sides 1963 ~1967 were among the best engineered mono records ever from the era IMO. They sound great and they have some bass guitar power on some cuts that was very rare for the era. Unfortunately the US Epic releases got that Epic Records mastering pinch that gives them an unpleasant tinniness to my ears, which is a real shame since far more of the bands recordings were released in the US than in the UK...
