#2: Nineteen Days by the Dave Clark Five

City: Saguenay, PQ
Radio Station: CKRS
Peak Month: November 1966
Peak Position in Saguenay ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
YouTube: “Nineteen Days”
Lyrics: “Nineteen Days”

The Dave Clark Five were formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London, England. Dave Clark played drums and contributed background vocals, alongside a frequently changing line-up. Clark and guitarist Rick Huxley both participated in the 1958 line-up. Clark and his bandmates eventually split with the lead vocalist, Stan Saxon, and reconstituted themselves as a standalone concern in January 1962, making their home in the South Grove Youth Club in Tottenham. After a little more evolution, a lasting ensemble was settled, with Clark on drums, Huxley moving to bass, Lenny Davidson on lead guitar, Denis Payton on saxophone (and harmonica and rhythm guitar), and Mike Smith on keyboards and lead vocals. Davidson’s previous bands were the Off Beats and the Impalas.

Dave Clark was born in 1939 in Tottenham, England. He left school without qualifications at the age of 15 and claims to have become a film stuntman, performing in over 40 films in that capacity. In the late 1950s he bought a set of drums, taught himself how to play them, and formed a skiffle band to raise funds so that his football (rugby) team could travel to the Netherlands. The skiffle band grew into the Dave Clark Five, with Clark their leader, co-songwriter, manager and producer.

Michael “Mike” Smith was born in 1943 in the northern London suburb of Edmonton. His parents found he had a natural ability as a pianist that surfaced as early as age five. Smith started lessons in classical piano, and at age 13 passed the entrance exams at Trinity Music College in London. Smith met Clark when there were on the same football team at the St. George’s Boys Club. At age 17, while working for a finance company, Smith was invited by Clark to join his band, which was busy rebuilding itself around the core of Clark and rhythm guitarist (later bassist) Rick Huxley, after having recently lost its lead singer.

Rick Huxley was born in Dartford, Kent, England in August 1940. He began playing guitar at a young age and later switched to bass. At 16, he answered an advertisement to join a beat group led by Dave Clark, marking the beginning of his professional music career.

Lenny Davidson was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England, in 1944. He learned to play guitar and joined the Dave Clark Five in 1961.

Denis Peyton was born in Walthamstow, London in 1943.

The Dave Clark Five released “I Knew It All The Time” in 1962, featuring lead vocals by Mike Smith. The single charted to #53 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #9 in Peace River (AB). In 1963, the band covered the Contours’ “Do You Love Me”. It peaked at #5 in Canada, and #11 on the Hot 100.

In early 1964, “Glad All Over” spent nine weeks in the Top Ten on CFUN (#3) in Vancouver, and on CHUM (#2) in Toronto. It topped the pop charts in New Zealand, Ireland and the UK, reached #4 in the Netherlands and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next single, “Bits And Pieces”, topped the pop charts in Canada and Ireland, reached #2 in the UK, #3 in New Zealand, #4 in Australia and America, #6 in the Netherlands, and #9 in Sweden. A third Top Ten hit in 1964, “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” also reached #4 on the Hot 100 in the USA, climbed to #3 in Canada, #7 in New Zealand, and #10 in the UK. A fourth hit in ’64 was “Because” which climbed to #3 in Canada, New Zealand and the USA.

In the winter of 1964, “Anyway You Want It” reached #7 in Canada, and #14 in the USA. Another single, “Come Home” also reached #14 on the Hot 100 in the USA at the start of 1965. That year the Dave Clark Five released covers of Chuck Berry’s “Reelin’ And Rockin'” – which peaked at #3 in Calgary; Bobby Day’s “Little Bitty Pretty One”; Chris Kenner’s “I Like It Like That” which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart, and #12 in Australia; and Bobby Day’s “Over And Over” which topped the RPM chart in Canada and the Hot 100 in December 1965. The Dave Clark Five’s cover of “Over And Over” also climbed to #2 in Sweden, #3 in Malaysia and New Zealand, and #6 in Singapore.

From the Dave Clark Five film Having a Wild Weekend, the band released “Catch Us If You Can”. The single peaked at #2 in Singapore, #4 in Malaysia, the UK and the USA, #5 in Canada and South Africa, #6 in Hong Kong, #7 in Rhodesia, and #9 in Sweden.

In 1966, “Try Too Hard” was a Top Ten hit in a number of Canadian radio markets, though it stalled at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. After this release, the band struggled to crack the Top 30. One of the singles that got passed over in America was “Nineteen Days”.

“Nineteen Days” was cowritten by Dave Clark and Dennis Payton. The song is about a guy who has been working his finger to the bone on work assignments that keep him away from home. It will be nineteen more days before he gets to go back home and he hopes to find his sweetheart waiting for him. Will she be waiting for him, or has she met another fella?

“Nineteen Days” reached #3 in Saguenay (PQ), and Seattle,#5 in Little Rock (AR), #6 in West Palm Beach (FL), #7 in Edmonton (AB), and Stevens Point (WI), and #9 in Oshawa (ON).

In 1967, the Dave Clark Five scored one last Top Ten hit in North America with a cover of the 1960 Marv Johnson hit “You’ve Got What It Takes”. Johnson reached #7 in the UK in 1960, and #10 on the Hot 100 in the USA. While in 1967, the DC5 cover climbed to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

While in Europe, the Dave Clark Five continued to chart into the Top Ten. In 1968, “Everybody Knows” reached #2 in the UK, #5 in the Netherlands, #6 in Ireland and New Zealand, and #7 in South Africa. Later that year, “The Red Balloon” topped the pop chart in Singapore, climbed to #5 in Rhodesia, #6 in Denmark, South Africa, and the UK, #8 in Ireland and New Zealand, #10 in Sweden, and #13 in West Germany.

Late in 1969, the Dave Clark Five covered Cat Mother & the All-NIght News Boys “Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll”. It reached #7 in the UK, #10 in Ireland, and #16 in South Africa. And in 1970, the band released a cover of the Youngblood’s “Get Together” (released as “Everybody Get Together”) which climbed to #8 on the UK pop chart. They released a cover of the 1959 Jerry Keller tune “Here Comes Summer”, but it stalled at #44 on the UK pop chart.

Between 1964 and 1972 the Dave Clark Five released sixteen studio albums. Internationally, they had twenty singles reach the Top Ten in one or more countries.

In the late 1960s, in addition to managing his band, Dave Clark began directing and producing for television. In 1968 he made a television production, Hold On, It’s the Dave Clark Five. In the 1980s he acquired the rights to the 1960s UK variety music show Ready, Steady, Go!

Clark later wrote a science fiction stage musical, Time, which debuted in 1986. Playing in London’s West End for two years, it starred Cliff Richard. Dave Clark was also a close friend of Freddie Mercury of Queen, and among the people near him at the time of Mercury’s death.

After the band split up in the year 1970, Lenny Davidson opened an antique shop and organ-repair shop. He also taught guitar in Buckinghamshire, UK.

In 1976, Mike Smith recorded an album titled Smith & d’Abo, with former Manfred Mann singer Mike d’Abo. Most of Smith’s work in the 1970s and 1980s, however, was as a producer and songwriter, and Smith was successful working on commercials (commercial ads), authoring jingles for many products. As well, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice recruited Mike Smith to sing on the recording of their musical, Evita, before it ever hit the stage. This earned Mike Smith another gold record.

Now based in Spain in the 1990s into the early 2000s, Mike Smith formed Mike Smith’s Rock Engine. The band began appearing in August 2002, and went on occasional tours generated very enthusiastic responses from audiences.

In September 2003, nearing his 60th birthday, Mike Smith was injured in an accident in his home in Spain which severely damaged his spinal cord. He tried to climb a seven foot gate after locking himself out of his villa. He fell heavily, and landed on his head. His spine fractured in three places leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down and in his right arm, with very little movement in his left arm. He died of pneumonia in January 2008, which was a complication from his accident.

After the Clark Five split in 1970, Denis Peyton worked in real estate. Peyton died in 2006 at the age of 63 of cancer.

Rick Huxley died at the age of 72 in February 2013, of emphysema.

The Dave Clark Five made the list of nominees for the class of 2008, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year. The band appeared in a record-setting 18 occasions on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Dave Clark Five also made twelve appearances at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. During the zenith of their career, the band conducted six tours to North America, and five world tours.

The Dave Clark Five made the list of nominees for the class of 2008, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year. The band appeared in a record-setting 18 occasions on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Dave Clark Five also made twelve appearances at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. During the zenith of their career, the band conducted six tours to North America, and five world tours.

March 4, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Dave Clark Singer Mike Smith dies,” CBC, February 29, 2008.
Gary James, “Dave Clark Interview,” Classic Bands.com.
James Brinsford, “Freddie Mercury’s closest friends recall the moments immediately after his death,” Mirror, London, December 4, 2019.
“Rick Huxley Obituary,” Legacy.com.
“Rick Huxley Biography: Life Story, Achievements, and Legacy,” Mabumbe.com, January 15, 2025.
Michael Jack Kirby, “Dave Clark Five,” Way Back Attack.
“Dave Clark Five star Payton dies,” BBC, December 18, 2006.

CKRS 590-AM Saguenay (PQ) | November 9, 1966