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"Catch Us If You Can" is a 1965 song by The Dave Clark Five, written by the group's drummer Dave Clark and guitarist Lenny Davidson.[1] It was the title song for the film of the same name, which was retitled Having a Wild Weekend in the United States. The single reached number five in the UK and number four in the US.
| "Catch Us If You Can" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by the Dave Clark Five | ||||
| from the album Having a Wild Weekend | ||||
| B-side | "Move On" (UK) "On The Move" (US) | |||
| Released | 2 July 1965 (UK) 5 August 1965 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1965 | |||
| Studio | Lansdowne, London | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 1:54 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Dave Clark | |||
| The Dave Clark Five UK singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| The Dave Clark Five US singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Catch Us If You Can" on YouTube | ||||
Background
editStarting with guitar and finger snapping accompaniment, the hook was instantaneous [original research?]:
- Here they come again, mmmm-mm-mm
- Catch us if you can, mmmm-mm-mm
- Time to get a move on, mmmm-mm-mm
- We will yell with all of our might!
- [drums kick in]
- Catch us if you can ...
In contrast to most other songs of that era, the verses consist mainly of minor chords, while the instrumental break shifts to a rather conventional major chords structure [citation needed].
It served as the title song to John Boorman's well-regarded 1965 DC5 vehicle and pop scene film Catch Us If You Can (retitled Having a Wild Weekend in the U.S.). The title phrase was seemingly a take-off on the 1959 crime film Catch Me If You Can and similar phrases, with "me" turned to the group's "us".
Reception
editCash Box described it as a "rollicking, fast-moving rocker with a contagious, funky rhythmic undercurrent," saying it could be a "blockbuster."[2] Record World said that "it moves and grooves for the groovy movers."[3]
Chart performance
editThe song was one of DC5's top hits, reaching number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in the late summer of 1965,[4] and number 4 on the U.S. pop singles chart,[5] later that fall.
In the U.S., "Catch" remains one of the DC5's most played tunes on oldies radio stations. Billboard described the song as a "pulsating rocker."[6]
Cover versions
editGiven the song's significance to Shrewsbury Town F.C. – the club's fans consider it Shrewsbury's theme song – a local Shropshire band, Hello Cleveland, and Shrewsbury fans released a cover version in 2011, with a percentage of the proceeds going to children's charity Hope House.[7] The song was made available for purchase on Amazon and on the club's official shop webpage.
Popular culture
edit- On and off since the 1974-1975 season, "Catch Us If You Can" has been played near the start of Shrewsbury Town F.C. matches as the footballers run onto the pitch; the song is thus seen by home fans as Shrewsbury's de facto theme tune and is commonly sung by fans at matches.
- In Australia, the Candid Camera-style television show Catch Us If You Can was named after the song.
- Author Emlyn Williams used this song's lyric as an epigraph in Beyond Belief: A Chronicle of Murder and its Detection, his book about the serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. "Catch Us If You Can" was a hit song on British radio during part of the time the Moors murders were being committed.
- The song, by then thirty years old, was also used in a 1995 Walkers advert, for their now-discontinued (but new at the time) crinkle-cut range, which featured three flavours: Cream Cheese & Chive, Cheese & Ham, and Roast Beef & Mustard; the song seemed appropriate as it was saying "catch us crinkle cut crisps if you can". (The off-screen voice-over, as in all of Walkers' crisps commercials then, was by Hugh Laurie.)
- The song was also featured in the opening sequence of the ESPN broadcast of the 1989 Winston 500 NASCAR race, held at Talladega Superspeedway.[8]
- "Catch Us If You Can" was also used for video clips of baseball highlights on The George Michael Sports Machine.
- The song was also used in the opening sequence of the TBS broadcast of the 1987 NBA Playoffs, between the Los Angeles Lakers against the Seattle SuperSonics, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
- It is also used in the opening credits of the 1990 movie Look Who's Talking Too, when baby Julie is conceived.
- It was covered by the Mattel character Barbie in the 1987 animated television special Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World.
References
edit- ^ "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 21 August 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Record World. 14 August 1965. p. 12. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 129.
- ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 14 August 1965. p. 16. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ The song on YouTube
- ^ 1989 Winston 500 on YouTube