A dancing bassist, playing...what bass?

Looks Gibson-ish for sure, but I don't recognize what model, the pickup's wrong for an EB-2.

 

this is their more well-known hit:

 

I'm going to go with an Epiphone Rivoli bass. They would have been more available in the UK than the EB2 at the time. Chas Chandler used one in The Animals.

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaah! My eyes! My EARS!

Why were they ever a thing???? The horrible lip sync! The cheesy dancing! The cartoon-ish music. Even for the time that's pretty bad. I mean, it's no Henry the Eighth, but it's bad.

 

You have to understand what passed for entertainment in those days. If anything, the British Invasion, once it got past the upbeat, people-pleasing innocent pop sound, did a lot to do away with all those old-time show-biz conventions. But, in the meantime, yes, those guys were a 'thing', they had a handful of hits, no, they didn't last; they were on a par with Gerry and The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, and all the other lightweights who didn't get past 1965. It was harmless stuff that appealed to 11-year old girls, non-sexual, non-threatening, goofy, a novelty. Freddy Garrity worked the Buddy Holly shtick(which the Brits loved). The Stones, on the other hand, were surly, refused to dress in matching outfits(at least past the very beginning), were dirty, and made girls tingle in places where they hadn't before. The Beatles, for a while, split the difference. But then their songwriting quickly evolved in leaps and bounds, and always had an undercurrent of cynicism. I'd even cut the DC5 some slack as their singles did rock and were exciting, in a cheeky way, but the meter was running on them too.

The Dancing? Well, just a trickle down from the UK band that was the big deal before the Fabs came along(even before the Ventures), their steps were part of what made them famous(plus they had the first UK guitar hero)...

They got their start as the backing band for the UK's first Elvis clone, Cliff Richard.

"Henry the 8th" actually dates back to 1910, from the British Music Hall era(their version of vaudeville), and was a hit back then.

 

Yes, due to some distribution issues, the Rivoli was used extensively in Britain; another notable player was Paul Samwell-Smith of The Yardbirds; the guy in Gerry and the Pacemakers, and so on. John Entwistle was seen briefly with one. Fenders were very difficult to get ahold of for a long time