Silence is still golden for a Sixties original
Dave has been the band's drummer, man and boy, since 1958.
"I've been in the band since the beginning – the original," he laughs.
When he joined, he was just an Essex boy of 15 who sang in the school choir and played guitar.
He says: "I was interested in singing and I used to go round to a few parties where I met two of the guys – our former singer Brian Poole and Alan Blakely.
"They were singing Buddy Holly and Everley Brothers stuff. I joined in with them.
"A few weeks later Alan came round and asked me if I'd be interested in playing the drums for them."
The only problem was Dave couldn't play the drums – but he wasn't going to let a little fact like that put him off.
"I went round to Alan's house that night and he sat me down at the drums and taught me the rudiments.
"I did find it hard at first because I was left-handed. You can set a drum kit up left or right-handed but I didn't know that.
The rest, as they say, is history – with one of the most well-recorded pop history facts being that the Tremeloes were signed by Decca on the day they turned down The Beatles.
"We didn't know they'd gone for an audition on the same day as us. I think they were turned down by a few of the record companies actually. But let's face it, they did quite well," he concedes, chuckling.
Like many bands of the era, The Tremeloes cut their teeth at Butlins.
"We wanted to go to Butlins in Clacton, which was our local one, but unfortunately we were sent up to Ayr in Scotland – which couldn't have been further away. We played there for three months and that was our apprenticeship.
"We came home and never looked back."
Dave has seen many line-up changes over the years, most notably when the band split from lead singer Brian Poole in 1966.
Dave says: "It was a mutual feeling. Brian wanted to go his own way and had already recorded a couple of songs when he was still with the band."
Bucking the trend, the backing band went on to achieve more success than the front man and the band's first hit without Brian was the Cat Stevens song Here Comes My Baby which reached No 4 in the charts. Their biggest hit, though, was their No 1, Silence is Golden.
"Yeah we've been quite comfortable without Brian," says Dave.
But there are no hard feelings and a few years ago the band enjoyed a reunion tour with Brian, for old time's sake.
Dave still sings and plays with The Tremeloes, currently touring with The Marmalade and The Dreamers in The Sensational 60s Experience.
The show opens with The Dreamers – "they're quite funny, they do a comedy routine as well", says Dave – followed by The Marmalade and The Tremeloes before a finale featuring all three bands in a rock 'n' roll medley.
And, while the shows are popular with fans of all ages – "a lot of the younger kids have been indoctrinated with the 60s songs by their parents" – audience reaction is a little calmer these days.
"We don't have screaming women trying to pull us off the stage any more – but I'm quite relieved in a way. At my age it would be too much to handle," laughs Dave.
Dave is 65 now but has no plans to retire.
"While people still want to come and hear the band and see us and we've still got fans out there, we'll carry on going. It's still a great job – there's nothing like getting on stage and getting the buzz from the audience when they sing along with all the words – it's brilliant."
THE SENSATIONAL 60S EXPERIENCE
WHAT: The Tremeloes, The Marmalade and The Dreamers.
WHERE: Derby Assembly Rooms.
WHEN: Thursday, October 29, 7.30pm.
TICKETS: £21.50 (£19.50 concessions).
BOX OFFICE: 01332 255800 or www.derbylive.co.uk.
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