When we told The Bobby Darin Website Team that we were permanently posting our 2003 - 2004 Bobby Darin Series, we got this back. (They quickly jumped on board and posted it to all their social media sites, too!) kk
This is Tanfastic News!
Thanks so much for letting us know.
We wanted to let you know that we just posted your info on Bobby's official facebook https://www.facebook.com/Bobby-Darin-689385574446896/ and official twitter page Bobby Darin (@bobby_darin2) | Twitter
We'll definitely be checking for the promo pieces and go down memory lane with the complete series! We will get the word out to let everyone know! http://www.bobbydarin.net/whatsnew.html
Thanks again for rekindling this series and for helping to keep Bobby Darin out there for everyone.
Warm regards,
Bobby Darin's Website Team
Kent ...
According to Ron Smith's book "Eight Days A Week":
This is Tanfastic News!
Thanks so much for letting us know.
We wanted to let you know that we just posted your info on Bobby's official facebook https://www.facebook.com/Bobby-Darin-689385574446896/ and official twitter page Bobby Darin (@bobby_darin2) | Twitter
We'll definitely be checking for the promo pieces and go down memory lane with the complete series! We will get the word out to let everyone know! http://www.bobbydarin.net/whatsnew.html
Thanks again for rekindling this series and for helping to keep Bobby Darin out there for everyone.
Warm regards,
Bobby Darin's Website Team
Kent ...
According to Ron Smith's book "Eight Days A Week":
1/3/1960 = Bobby Darin and Connie Francis appeared on Ed Sullivan.
Didn't you promise me you would re-print the Bobby Darin Story?
Sorry, force of habit ... you already did it.
Didn't you promise me you would re-print the Bobby Darin Story?
Sorry, force of habit ... you already did it.
Frank B.
All kidding aside, knowing your work, I expected The Bobby Darin Story to be very good.
After reading it, I have to raise my revue to great, excellent.
I'd like to take a small amount of credit. If I wasn't such a pain in the ass the last couple of years, it would've taken you another two years to get around to Bobby Darin.
"Gyp The Cat" ... Any information on this song? As far as I know, it was supposed to be a follow up to "Mack The Knife." For some reason it was never released. Years later it was put out as an
album cut.
Frank B.
album cut.
Frank B.
No doubt about it, Frank, your incessant nagging made me get Bobby Darin back out their for the public to enjoy. (lol) Hey, I've been wanting to post it for EIGHT YEARS ... but just never had the time to do so. The holidays this year finally allowed me to do it right ... so now you have it ... so thanks again for your patience. (Now you can go back to challenging me to solve Bobby Fuller's murder again!!!)
"Gyp The Cat" certainly pays homage to "Mack The Knife" ... it's nearly a note-for-note rip-off!!! ... but it wasn't recorded as a follow-up to Bobby's biggest hit. According to the Capitol Records recording log, Bobby didn't record this track until March of 1965, some six years later! (Thank God they DIDN'T release it as the follow-up ... it may have killed his career!) "Beyond The Sea" was a FAR greater choice ... and has gone on to become yet another one of Bobby's signature tunes. (kk)
Gary Theroux sent us the chapter on Bobby Darin from his History Of Rock And Roll to share with our readers.
And how cool is this???
Kent ...
Jeffrey Beals is a friend of mine who lives in Seattle. He was an original member of the Kingsmen and played on "Louie Louie". He's still very much involved in the Pacific Northwest music scene. Thought his comments on two of Bobby's recordings might be of interest to you.
Best and Happy New Year,
Denny Diante
From: Jeffrey Beals
> Subject: Bobby Darin
Denny;
I SO appreciate the link on Bobby Darin. His picture hung in the halls of William Morris for years. The new owners could care less about “old clients”, including Elvis and, of course, Bobby. I loved him. I guess the new guys don’t care about history, and the clients who were big earners. Oh well …
Best and Happy New Year,
Denny Diante
From: Jeffrey Beals
> Subject: Bobby Darin
Denny;
I SO appreciate the link on Bobby Darin. His picture hung in the halls of William Morris for years. The new owners could care less about “old clients”, including Elvis and, of course, Bobby. I loved him. I guess the new guys don’t care about history, and the clients who were big earners. Oh well …
The demos for Dream Lover and Bullmoose were done here in Seattle by the late Joe Boles by my old friends, THE FRANTICS, who backed Bobby for years in the Northwest. I’ve heard them and they sound, as far as the rhythm tracks, just as good, but Atco insisted that Bobby recut them in New York which, of course, he did. The Frantics were a brilliant group of early Northwest musicians. Bobby was thrilled with their studio performance.
Happy New Year
Regards, and Thanks,
Jeffrey
Regards, and Thanks,
Jeffrey
Just checked out your Bobby Darin series and it’s great! I have the books you worked with, too! Nice job sorting out the info.
Be well my friend. See you in Chicago!!!
Dennis Tufano
Thanks, Dennis ... coming from a guy who pays tribute to Bobby's music on stage, that means a lot. (Check out tomorrow's posting for some of Dennis' upcoming gigs.) kk
Outstanding! Let me start out by saying that I have never been a Bobby Darin fan. Like many, I found him brash and conceited - more annoying than entertaining. Reading your article shed some new light on why he pushed so hard to get where he got - I had no idea he was on that type of pre-determined timeline.
Listening to your Bobby Darin Hit List proved what a wide and diverse talent he really was - able to take any style and put his own spin on it to create a hit record. I didn't know about his movie career either - I always thought of him more as the lightweight costar to wife Sandra Dee, probably only securing those roles by riding on her coattails. But after watching his Academy Award-worthy scene in Captain Newman - and then finding out that he nailed that scene in just one take (and booked a lunch date to insure that he would) is simply incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjsOF8V3J8w
(Bobby's big scene comes in right after the one hour mark)
The article was well researched and well written - and while I'm not quite ready to declare myself a Bobby Darin fan, I did come away from it with a greater appreciation of the diversity of his talent.
Congratulations on a job well done.
Steve
Outstanding! Let me start out by saying that I have never been a Bobby Darin fan. Like many, I found him brash and conceited - more annoying than entertaining. Reading your article shed some new light on why he pushed so hard to get where he got - I had no idea he was on that type of pre-determined timeline.
Listening to your Bobby Darin Hit List proved what a wide and diverse talent he really was - able to take any style and put his own spin on it to create a hit record. I didn't know about his movie career either - I always thought of him more as the lightweight costar to wife Sandra Dee, probably only securing those roles by riding on her coattails. But after watching his Academy Award-worthy scene in Captain Newman - and then finding out that he nailed that scene in just one take (and booked a lunch date to insure that he would) is simply incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjsOF8V3J8w
(Bobby's big scene comes in right after the one hour mark)
The article was well researched and well written - and while I'm not quite ready to declare myself a Bobby Darin fan, I did come away from it with a greater appreciation of the diversity of his talent.
Congratulations on a job well done.
Steve
Kent,
First I thoroughly enjoyed the video montage you are on Saturday of the various songs that Bobby Darin had through the years. I was reminded of a few things about him as pertaining here in the OKC area. His 1967 song LOVIN' YOU was the "B" side of the record with the song AMY being the "A" side of the record. AMY did make it to number one.
Even though it wasn't big here in the OKC area, I always did like his version of TALK TO THE ANIMALS, also on Atlantic out of 1967. Finally I was reminded of his two non-hits later on, LONG LINE RIDER from 1969 on Direction Records and HAPPY out of 1973 on Motown.
Kent, to be honest with you, I was not familiar with and had heard before his BULLMOOSE. I listened to it and in a way it reminded me of a record out of 1958 by Roddy Jackson on Specialty Records with a song called MOOSE ON THE LOOSE. Are you familiar with that one, Kent? In my opinion there were certain melodies in both songs.
Enjoyed Sunday's FH as usual with the continuation of Bobby Darin tunes you posted. Got a question, though, about a Bobby Darin tune you didn't post. It's his 1961 song MULTIPLICATION with the flip being IRRESISTIBLE YOU. If you are familiar with MULTIPLICATION, you know at the end of the song Bobby says "They Better". Now I have heard it with and without those words. I am going to assume that maybe the one without the two words is an LP version, but I don't really know. Also I am quite fortunate in that I have four of Bobby Darin's earlier records when he was with Decca.
Enjoyed Sunday's FH as usual with the continuation of Bobby Darin tunes you posted. Got a question, though, about a Bobby Darin tune you didn't post. It's his 1961 song MULTIPLICATION with the flip being IRRESISTIBLE YOU. If you are familiar with MULTIPLICATION, you know at the end of the song Bobby says "They Better". Now I have heard it with and without those words. I am going to assume that maybe the one without the two words is an LP version, but I don't really know. Also I am quite fortunate in that I have four of Bobby Darin's earlier records when he was with Decca.
Keep up the great work and hope you and yours has a fantastic 2016.
Larry Neal
"Amy" was apparently the chosen hit side in several markets ... yet "Lovin' You" (written by The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian) was the actual A-Side of the record. In fact, "Amy" never officially charted nationally at all ... so surprised to hear it was a #1 Hit in Oklahoma City!
We featured both "Long Line Rider" and "Happy" (Bobby's version of a tune from the Diana Ross movie "Lady Sings The Blues" about the legendary Billie Holiday) ... but skipped them for the recap. "Happy" was Bobby's last charted record ... it reached #59 in early 1973 on the Motown label.
"Irresistible You" was one-half of a two-sided hit Bobby enjoyed in early 1962. Because it charted higher, it was considered the A-Side, peaking at #15. The flip-side, "Multiplication" peaked just below it at #20 ... not too bad at all! (Check out our Top 200 Two-Sided Hits Of All-Time list and you'll find that that pairing was good enough to rank as the 139th biggest two-sided hit ever!) You can check out the complete list here: http://forgottenhits.com/the_top_200_two-sided_hits_of_all-time.
As far as the "they better" line at the end, I really don't know. I listened to about seven versions on YouTube and they ALL ended with "they better" ... but it sounds like something that easily could have been clipped off the end, almost as a studio ad-lib (which is what it kinda sounds like to me.) Anybody know for sure??? (kk)
Hey Kent,
Happy New Year!
There is nothing like an original, in this case, Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea", which happens to be my favorite song of his. One cover of it, that I like very much, is by Bobby Caldwell. You can't beat Bobby singing with a big band. Give it a listen!
- John LaPuzza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jQzR05o6gZM
Hola Kent,
Awwwww ...never too much Bobby Darin!
The Bobby Darin piece was great ... certainly it will engender other topics of relevance such as how many of his titles seem to be responses or include titles of other songs (Little Girl, Rainin') of course the title subjects were all part of the dialogue of the era so it isn't unique. I couldn't help but think of Carole King's "It Might As Well Rain Until September" while listening to Bobby's "Rainin'" ... in fact there were quite a few songs written around rain.
I also feel certain that pre-Rod Stewart, Tim Hardin had great success with 'Reason To Believe' as well as being its writer.
Ricky Nelson is my favorite 'Teen Idol' yet I feel his version of 'Dream Lover' is inferior to Bobby's ... personal taste I suppose.
What about the use of songs in movies, which adds to the fabric of the music and increases the enjoyment when recalling the song and the particular movie or scene? Some of my favorites are from "Pulp Fiction" ... the dance scene with Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" ... or a beautiful Spanish Version of Ivory Joe Hunter's "Since I Met You Baby" from John Sayles' "Lone Star", "Wild Thing" from Major League, "I Wonder Why" from Peggy Sue Got Married ... there are many others ... even Jimmy Durante's version of "I'll Be Seeing You" during the closing credits of 'The Notebook'.
Heck, I'll bet we could go on forever! (ha ha that's a song title, too!) Oh boy, Music Is My Life.
Keep it coming in 2016, Kent !
CharlieOFD
I enjoyed your Bobby Darin series. My one complaint is that you didn't section it off into chapters ... it's too much to read in one sitting and coming back and finding where I last left off was a challenge. (The photos helped break it up nicely, however.) I am glad I stuck with it 'though because it's a fine piece of work.
Rich
Funny thing is, I started off doing it in chapters ... but by the time I started adding photos it began to reach the limits of what could be posted on a single page (and I really didn't want to break it into two ... although I also toyed with the idea of running a comments page similar to what I did with our CCR / John Fogerty piece.) In the end, my hope was that the photos WOULD help break it up a little bit and act as a "return reader" guide ... glad to hear that that worked.
Thanks for sticking with it ... and your kind words. I appreciate it. (kk)
Kent ...
I thoroughly enjoyed the Bobby Darin series.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Bobby Darin series.
I want to say that your research and tireless approach
to these articles and the response to them is Friggin' incredible!
Thanks so much for all you do.
May everyone have a safe, Happy, And Healthy New
Year.
Pete Garrison
Kent;
Excellent job on the Bobby Darin story. A first class reporting job on a first class talent. He had begun to unravel both health wise and career wise by the late 60’s and it was so sad to see. I mc’d a concert starring Bobby and Peter, Paul and Mary, along with the American Breed in 1969 at the South Bend Armory. When I arrived, Mary Travers informed me that Bobby was in no condition to perform. Sure enough he was under the influence of drugs and we had about an hour and a half to sober him up. So Travers and I filled him full of coffee and walked his legs off trying to get him out of his stupor by show time. Just before the show started, he insisted on doing the show sans his hair piece. So I intro Darin and the audience sees a bald guy sitting on the stage with his guitar. To make matters worse Darin insisted on opening his act with a mournful song about the death of Bobby Kennedy! The South Bend audience was stunned and didn’t know what to make of it. Backstage I’m yelling at him that he better rock it up because the audience didn’t give a rip about Kennedy. He finally got into a Splish Splash mode and finished a very lame show. It was grim!
Thank goodness for Peter, Paul and Mary!
He was a great talent but the business and a goofy marriage ate him alive!
Clark Weber
Kent;
Sadly, I am actually old enough to recall seeing Bobby Darin perform "Splish Splash" on Dick Clark's old Saturday night show back in the 50's. Bobby D. had more charisma than the law allows. His ability to tease, taunt and flirt with the camera made him a uniquely gifted live
performer. Darin was a musical blessing who left us far to soon. Have you ever heard a yarn that Dick once challenged Bobby to write a song in under 10 minutes and Bobby came up with "Splish Splash"?
The kid was a flat our, 24 karat gold star. No, Bobby would never have been Francis Albert but he would have been a combo of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis.
Log on to you tube, check out Eddie Cochran doing "Somethin' Else." Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Paul Anka were homogenized milk. Eddie was a bad ass rocker and, of course, an artist who died far too young.
Happy New Year, Kid.
Chet Coppock
Actually, it was legendary New York Disc Jockey Murray The K who was involved with "Splish Splash" ... thanks to his mother, no less! She had an idea for something like "splish, splash, take a bath" ... and Murray and Bobby Darin laughed over the mere suggestion. Then, just a few minutes later after playing around with that whole crazy notion, they cranked out a #2 Pop Hit and Bobby's career was off and running. The rest, as they say, is history. Which makes me wonder ... could that '70's standard "Rubber Duckie" by the incomparable Ernie EVER have been the huge hit it was without "Splish Splash" as an influence????? (kk)
Sadly, I am actually old enough to recall seeing Bobby Darin perform "Splish Splash" on Dick Clark's old Saturday night show back in the 50's. Bobby D. had more charisma than the law allows. His ability to tease, taunt and flirt with the camera made him a uniquely gifted live
performer. Darin was a musical blessing who left us far to soon. Have you ever heard a yarn that Dick once challenged Bobby to write a song in under 10 minutes and Bobby came up with "Splish Splash"?
The kid was a flat our, 24 karat gold star. No, Bobby would never have been Francis Albert but he would have been a combo of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis.
Log on to you tube, check out Eddie Cochran doing "Somethin' Else." Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Paul Anka were homogenized milk. Eddie was a bad ass rocker and, of course, an artist who died far too young.
Happy New Year, Kid.
Chet Coppock
Actually, it was legendary New York Disc Jockey Murray The K who was involved with "Splish Splash" ... thanks to his mother, no less! She had an idea for something like "splish, splash, take a bath" ... and Murray and Bobby Darin laughed over the mere suggestion. Then, just a few minutes later after playing around with that whole crazy notion, they cranked out a #2 Pop Hit and Bobby's career was off and running. The rest, as they say, is history. Which makes me wonder ... could that '70's standard "Rubber Duckie" by the incomparable Ernie EVER have been the huge hit it was without "Splish Splash" as an influence????? (kk)
Fantastic stuff, Kent.
I've posted a Songfacts link here: http://forum.songfacts.com/index.php?/topic/16076-the-bobby-darin-story/
The most comprehensive (and accurate) story we've seen on Bobby Darin is now posted in one place on the Forgotten Hits site. Their webmaster, Kent Kotal, posted the original version back in 2003 when Forgotten Hits was still just a newsletter, and now the story is refined with all the added bits he's accumulated since then. A great read on one of the defining singers of his era.
Wow! Just, wow! That is the textbook definition of a labor of love. Bobby was one driven individual, and with good reason. He sure packed a lot into his short time on the planet. I have to believe Ol' Blue Eyes saw some of himself in Bobby Darin. Excellent job, Kent!
- Larry Cave
50yearsagoonthehot100.blogspot.com
We got some great response to the series being posted again ... including a couple from people wanting to know where they could purchase the book (since buying that would be cheaper than the cost of the necessary number of printing cartridges required to print it out from the website!) But you don't HAVE to print it out from the website ... because it's now permanently posted there ... so you can refer to it ... or continue reading from it ... whenever you like.
- Larry Cave
50yearsagoonthehot100.blogspot.com
We got some great response to the series being posted again ... including a couple from people wanting to know where they could purchase the book (since buying that would be cheaper than the cost of the necessary number of printing cartridges required to print it out from the website!) But you don't HAVE to print it out from the website ... because it's now permanently posted there ... so you can refer to it ... or continue reading from it ... whenever you like.
That link again is: http://forgottenhits.com/the_bobby_darin_story
Only 39 at the time,