Unusually for a group named after an individual, Dave Clark was the drummer. He played with his drums at the front of the stage, relegating the guitarists and keyboard to his rear and sides.

Clark formed the band around 1957, originally as a partnership, but from 1963 to 1968 he employed the other members, paying their wages and also paying for the recordings. He owned the copyright in the recordings for this period.

Lead vocals were provided by Mike Smith, who also played the keyboards. The rest of the band was Lenny Davidson on lead guitar, Rick Huxley on bass guitar, and Denny Payton on saxophone, harmonica and guitar.

Songwriting credits went to Clark, Clark and Smith, Clark and Davidson, and Clark and Payton. Some early songs were credited to Clark and Ron Ryan, who was the brother of early group member Mick Ryan.

Originating in North London, the band was promoted as the vanguard of the 'Tottenham Sound', a response to the Mersey Beat stable managed by Brian Epstein. They had a series of memorable hits, including "Glad All Over" that in January 1964 knocked the Beatles from the number one position on the UK Singles Chart.

The Dave Clark Five had 17 records in Billboard's Top 40, with 12 Top 40 United Kingdom hits between 1964 and 1967. Their song "Over And Over" went to number one in the U.S. on the Billboard Charts Hot 100 at the end of December 1965, despite less than impressive sales in the UK, and they played to sell-out crowds on their tours of the U.S. Heavily promoted as having a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five made 13 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than any other UK group.

The group was unique in the British Invasion because it was not an exclusively guitar-based sound. The beat was prominent and the DC5 was one of the few groups of the era to feature a saxophone. Smith's growling, blues-tinged vocals were in the lead on almost all of the hit singles.

After the success of the Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night in 1964, the DC5 released their own film, Catch Us If You Can, directed by John Boorman, in 1965. It also starred Barbara Ferris, and was released in the United States as Having a Wild Weekend.

The song "Bits and Pieces" was sometimes banned from live concerts, as fans would jump up and down in time to the song's stomping beat and promoters feared this would damage dance hall floors.

In spite of their huge success for a period, bolstered by the movie and a television special, the major hits dried up after 1967's "You Got What It Takes". The DC5's efforts to embrace the prevailing trend of psychedelia were not successful. They disbanded in 1970, having placed a further three singles on the UK chart that year.