Because – Challenge #183

In the late Fifties, Dave Clark and a group of four mates from the north London area formed a band called The Dave Clark Five.  Clark was the leader of this group, as well as the drummer and he saw the band as a business enterprise, so he made sure that every one of his fellow band members were paid a weekly salary.  By 1959, the group was comprised of Dave Clark (drums), Stan Saxon (vocals), Mick Ryan (lead guitar), Rick Huxley (guitar), Chris Walls (bass) and Jim Spencer (sax).  They built a great reputation as covers band, but Clark wanted more.  The lead guitarist Mick Ryan had a brother named Ron Ryan, who became a very good friend of Clark’s, and they discussed what the band needed to get them off the ground was to have its own original material.  When Clark asked where new material could be found, Ron suggested that he could supply it.

The band changed personnel in the early Sixties with Chris Walls and Mick Ryan leaving the group and Huxley switching over to bass; Lenny Davidson joined and brought along Mike Smith and finally Denis Payton joined on sax.  This became the classic DC5 line-up with Dave Clark (drums), Mike Smith (vocals/keyboard), Lenny Davidson (guitar), Rick Huxley (bass) and Denny Payton (sax).  At this time, Ron Ryan was lead singer and songwriter in a band called The Walkers, and although his brother was no longer a member of the DC5, Ron Ryan continued his association and friendship with Clark and his group.

In a highly unique move, Dave did a deal with EMI Records which was known as a “lease deal”, which gave him artistic control over the group’s music, in an era when record companies made all the decisions.  This meant that Dave Clark would be responsible for all the recordings and he would lease them to EMI for release.  After ten years, all the tapes, ownership and copyrights would revert back to Dave Clark.  This type of deal became common practice in the 70’s and beyond, but nobody else was doing this back in 1963.  Dave was a total unknown and this may have been how he managed to strike this lucrative deal with the major record company of the time.  To strengthen his position, he formed his own publishing company Spurs Music Ltd.  He then made deals with the band members and Ron Ryan dictating that every song that they wrote from then on, would be credited to Dave Clark as the songwriter.  Dave was doing all the business dealings so this was his way of ensuring that he would get paid royalties from all the songs.  Ron Ryan agreed to this, agreeing it was “fair” that Dave get half the songwriting royalties on songs he was writing.

The Dave Clark Five recorded this endearing song ‘Because’ in 1964 on their third U.S. studio album American Tour.  It states that this was written by Dave Clark and produced by Adrian Clark, but this song was written by Ron Ryan.  This song was originally the B-side of the rocker ‘Can’t You See That She’s Mine’ in the UK.  ‘Because’ is listed as the most viewed Dave Clark song and it was released as a single in the United States which reached #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.  It also charted at #3 in both Canada and New Zealand.  Julian Lennon released a version of the song which peaked at #40 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985.

‘Because’ was intended to be the Dave Clark Five’s fifth US single, but the bands label, Epic Records, was initially resistant, believing the ballad strayed too far from their usual style, an already tried-and-tested method which proved to be a hit-making formula, that had given them several previous upbeat singles.  Since Dave was independent, he had the final say on what would be released.  The Dave Clark Five made exciting records by throwing everything into their productions, even on their B-sides, taking risks and refusing to surrender, and this ambitious approach helped them to make beautiful music, like this romantic, tender tune.  In May 1964, the song was released in the UK as the B-side to ‘Can’t You See That She’s Mine’.  ‘Because’ was released as an A-side in the US, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #60 in August, and it became the bands fifth US single to sell more than one million copies.  Ron Ryan originally got shafted out of any royalties or credits by Clark, although the issue of royalties was eventually settled out of court where some money changed hands, but far from what Ron Ryan was expecting.  Clark has kept Ron Ryan’s name off of all the songs that he wrote for the group.

In ‘Because’ this guy really cares about his girl’s feelings and he seems willing to do almost anything do to make her feel better when she gets depressed, simply because he is in love with her.  It seems like she may have accused him of not thinking about her all the time and these accusations are making him feel blue.  He asks for a kiss to make him happy and the chance to be near her.  This guy clearly has a bad case of lovesickness.

It’s right that I should care about you
And try to make you happy when you’re blue
It’s right, it’s right to feel the way I do
Because, because I love you

It’s wrong to say I don’t think of you
‘Cause when you say these things
You know it makes me blue

Give me one kiss and I’ll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you

Give me one kiss and I’ll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you
Because, because I love you

 

The challenge today is to focus on this song and use it for a short story, a piece of flash fiction, or a poem that you can share with the WordPress writing community.  There is no need to stick with this song, as if you like to write about another Dave Clark Five song, or a Beatles song, or any song from the British Invasion.  You could write about caring for somebody and what you do to make them feel better when they are depressed, or what you think it feels like to be in love.  Maybe you could write a post about how much freedom people should have in relationships, or whether or not they should be required to be thinking of each other constantly.  If you would like to write about how kissing somebody makes you happy, or just the fact that you are nearby your loved one, that would make an interesting post.  You could write about an explanation, or reason, something due to the fact that, on account of, or inasmuch as, considering the situation, why reasons are necessary when we are searching for an answer.

The whole point of this MM Music challenge is to get you to think, to trigger something so that you can show how creative you are and everyone is welcome to participate.  This challenge is very loose, so pretty much whatever you come up with will be acceptable.  I try to throw some ideas out there for you and if they seem right, then go with it.  You could write about why the word “because” became recognized as more than just a subordinating conjunction.  Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie brings you a dose of fetish, good friends and an incomparable muse and next Friday Dylan Hughes will be here on June 4 with her First Line Friday.  I will be back on Friday, June 11 with another MM Music Challenge where we will discuss the song ‘LSD-25’.  You can either create a ping back to this post, or place your link in the comments section below.