Saturday, September 04, 2010

Discerning Coolness

When I was in junior high in 1965-67, there was actually a debate whether the Dave Clark Five were bigger than the Beatles - whether they were going to last longer, whether they were better, whether they were cooler. The controversy was likely kept alive by pop music magazines like Tiger Beat, which needed something to write about that allowed them to run many pictures of many bands wrapped around some mindless text. But there were DC5 trading cards, posters, and stickers for your guitar case.

It all seemed rather force, even then, though. They were emphatically not cooler, as you will see immediately.

5 comments:

  1. Yes, you were right, I could "see immediately." I could tell from the moment they walked out and started those ridiculous motions, in fact.

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  2. Gringo8:13 PM

    AVI, this is not the first lame 1960s video you have exhibited. Instead of "The good old days," I detect a message of "We were just as lame in the good old days." Anti-nostalgia.


    I also recall the DC5 versus Beatles hype. "Move Over Beatles." Yeah, right.

    Though sometimes the hype is correct. The Beatles were hyped. The Beatles were also good. I originally didn't like the Beatles because of the hype, but their musicianship won me over.

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  3. I think I'm mostly trying to amuse my two oldest sons a few other younger readers here.

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  4. I don't miss the DC5, but I do miss the days when I could more easily hear and appreciate new pop music. Most of it can't penetrate now that I'm old and calcified in my tastes. If I had to pick out current music that was likely to be popular 50 years from now, I might as well use a dartboard.

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  5. If I'm not mistaken, the DC5 were the first band to knock the Beatles from their #1 spot on the charts, so this is probably where the debate got started.

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