The Dave Clark Five — Try Too Hard

So I’ve been dumping on the DC5 a little bit, despite owning quite a number of their records. Part of that is just time . . . over the decades, I’ve become less enamored with what they represented — another British Invasion sound — and found their music to be all right, but not inventive. Meaning, if The Dave Clark Five had been The Beatles, the ’60s would never have happened, because the DC5 found a groove (or a rut) and stayed in it.

Nevertheless, of the five albums I’ve talked about here, this is my favorite. This is really quite good. For one thing, I love album titles that are also sentences. Don’t know why, just do. “The Dave Clark Five Try Too Hard” has a great ring to my ear. But . . . did they, really?

This one, their eighth album of new material in two years, was released in 1966. Coming on the heels of a greatest hits record that reached #9, this only got up to #77 on Billboard (but #25 on Cash Box). That would be the highest chart position for a DC5 album from that point on. In 1966, bands were supposed to be turning on, tuning, in, dropping out, expanding their minds. This does none of that — it just delivers more hard-driving, sax-laden rock. It is probably the best of their albums that I own, but yeah, it’s a time capsule.

I love the heck out of that cover, though.