The early sixties were glorious times.  There were sock hops, Elvis, cherry cokes, Fizzies, bike-riding without spandex or a stupid helmet, American Peoples encyclopedias, root beer floats, candy cigarettes, Herman’s Hermits,  Ed Sullivan, American Bandstand,  Drive-ins,  Wolfman Jack,  and Chef Boyardee pizzas (awful).  What I wouldn’t give for our society to go back to those innocent days.

At a very early age, I was introduced to pop music through my little white AM radio beside my bed.  I listened to disc jocky Art Roberts every night on WLS  radio out of Chicago.  I would keep it very low (so my parents couldn’t hear) and listen to Art’s “top three songs” every night at 9 o’clock (I was supposed to be asleep).  Seems like two out of the three were always Beatle songs, but in ’63 and ’64  a British group called The Dave Clark Five were giving the “fab four” a run for their money.  The song I am featuring here is a warm ballad entitled “Because”.  This was a far cry from the raucous hits Dave Clark and the boys had put out before – e.g. Glad All Over and Bits and Pieces.  This was a whole new dimension for this band – melodic with great vocal harmonies and superb chord changes.  “Because” quickly climbed to #3 on the U.S. charts and many thought they would surpass The Beatles in popularity.  Not even close.  Dave Clark was a good-looking chap (for a drummer) but Paul McCartney had cornered the market on “cuteness”.  And, after 1964, Lennon and McCartney took song-writing to whole new heights.

So, if you’re doing a “sixties set”, this song should be included.  It’ll bring back alot of memories to a whole lot of people.  I can still hear it coming out of my cheap little radio and thinking it sounded just wonderful!