The Band Tom Hanks’ Thought Was Better Than The Beatles!!!

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Tom Hanks is well-known as one of Hollywood’s biggest Beatles superfans, having grown up during the height of the band’s fame in the 1960s. His love for the Fab Four began early, and that passion has never faded. The Beatles even inspired Hanks’ feature-length directorial debut That Thing You Do!, which told the story of a fictional band’s rise and fall in the music industry.

Hanks’ deep connection to the Beatles is no surprise, especially since he’s found a kindred spirit in longtime collaborator Robert Zemeckis, another Beatles enthusiast. Zemeckis’ first film, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, was a full-on tribute to the band, and Hanks and Zemeckis would often bond over their shared obsession while working on movies like Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Polar Express, and Pinocchio.

Hanks has praised The Beatles endlessly, calling them “the greatest music of any generation” and describing A Hard Day’s Night as “the most joyful movie I’ve ever seen.” He’s often expressed admiration for their lasting influence on pop culture. However, during his youth, there was one band that briefly captured his heart even more than John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

“When I was eight years old in 1964, I was the youngest in my family,” Hanks recalled. “The house was always full of teenagers, and the radio was always on. The girls would argue about who their favorite Beatle was. As for me, I thought The Dave Clark Five were way better.”

For Hanks, it was almost sacrilegious to admit such a thing, especially considering his lifelong adoration for The Beatles. But the eight-year-old Hanks was adamant: The Dave Clark Five was the band to beat.

The Dave Clark Five were another English band that briefly captured the public’s imagination. Like The Beatles, they were part of the British Invasion of the early ’60s, and their song “Glad All Over” even knocked The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the UK singles chart in 1964. The two bands were on the same trajectory, appearing together on The Ed Sullivan Show, with The Dave Clark Five performing just weeks after The Beatles’ iconic debut.

Though The Dave Clark Five never reached the same level of lasting fame as The Beatles, they were a massive cultural force for a time—and for young Hanks, they were number one. Even though his allegiance to The Beatles would eventually eclipse that of his former favorites, the Dave Clark Five will always hold a special place in his heart.

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