Originally Posted by
bri160356:
“That’s very true; Clark is/was undoubtedly a businessman first, musician second.
He was probably the first to realize that many of the early super-groups and solo artists were doing all the work for little financial gain. Most (if not all) of them were being robbed blind by unscrupulous ‘management’ companies.
Clark however, owned his own song writing rights, publishing rights and he also produced the records. That’s the three areas were most of the money from record sales emanates.
He was also the DC5 ‘manager’;… I think it’s safe to say he was a bit of a control freak!
”
Very safe to say that! That was the conclusion i quickly came to after watching the documentary as i'd heard nothing of them since the 60s'.
Many of DC5's hits were co-written with Mike Smith yet when Smith died in 2008 he left just £66k.
Quote:
“Although the Beatles weren't getting much royalty money they were given access to a studio 24 hours a day for as long as they wanted,… to ‘experiment’ and diversify to their hearts content.
That probably explains why the DC5 never really progressed ‘musically’;…they had to get in and out of the studio as quickly as possible because they were ‘independent’.”
Where i used to think Paul McCartney was a bit of a control freak, compared to Dave Clark he wasn't, possibly because John was also an assertive character and just as sharp so Paul wasn't ever going to get all his own way.
As a result George had little input with The Beatles and Ringo, less still. However whilst Lennon & McCartney were credited on the majority of Beatles music, all four lived
extremely comfortably. Just look at George's neo-Gothic pile, Friar Park, where his widow still lives, not to mention homes he had in Switzerland and Australia.
Quote:
“How many studio hours did it take Pink Floyd to produce ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ ? (amusingly, its original working title was ‘Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics.’)”
A phenomenal masterpiece of musicianship
and studio engineering!
Quote:
“However, DC5 didn’t progress but Clarks personal fortune did,…enormously.
A lifelong bachelor with no children and no known romantic liaisons Clark lives alone in his £15M west London house.
Clark may be out of the public eye, but insists he is not reclusive;…he has many close friends including Elton John and Ian McKellen.”
Though never publicly declared i think Clark is gay isn't he? I may be wrong but his associations seem to suggest that. As you say, he's had no known romantic liasons. Even in later life there are plenty of photographs of him with men friends, but rarely any women.