Thousands and thousands of people heard them play LIVE, and reported on their authentic and wonderful performances. This fact remains the strongest argument. In fact, in 1963, they won a trophy called the "Gold Cup" for being England's #1 live pop band!!!! Their recording engineer, John Mackswith, was quoted as follows in the "Bits & Pieces" magazine, Feb 2004: "The recordings were never difficult as they were seasoned, professional musicians, and capable of putting down several tracks per session."
No further response is really required, since the eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses have testified! But some people still argue the point, and so I respond in specific to some of their silly arguments:
Then why so many rumors that they didn't play their own instruments? Any why so many "experts" even today insisting that the band was practically a money-making hoax? Several reasons:
1.) The DC5 recorded "Do You Love Me?", (a song proviously done in the USA by the Contours) in late 1963. They invited all sorts of people to the recording session. But someone there apparently recognized that the song had great UK potential, took the material to another band, and rush-released it ahead of the DC5, who settled for #30 in the charts. In reaction to that, access to recording sessions was greatly limited, and some reporters chose to speculate as to why.
2.) The DC5 netted lots of American TV appearances, and their first appearance on Ed Sullivan was LIVE. But for some reason, perhaps difficulties in mixing this new form of music, the DC5 and some other legitimate British Invasion groups opted for lip-sync performances. The DC5 chose that route nearly every time out, and so people began to wonder about their authenticity.
3.) The DC5's music is often more sophisticated in it's musical structure than many of the 3-chord merseybeat songs. But it's not rocket science. Nearly all of the parts, especially the drums, can be learned and played without continually employing "session musicians", (although some may have been used for certain things). Amateurs still cover these great songs today in their local hangouts. Why try to believe that Dave and the boys couldn't compose and then learn these parts, especially after they played live music together for three full years before Glad All Over?