Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin was the US born crooner and folk rock singer who sang classic tunes including “Mack the Knife” and “Splish Splash”.

Darin was a gifted musician and was a multi-instrumentalist as a youth. Determined to pursue a career in music, he left college and became a night club singer. In 1956 his agent got him a contract with Decca, where he met, and began writing songs for, Connie Francis. After Francis’ father intervened in their romance, Darin moved to Atlantic Records, where tracks he had written, including the million-selling “Splish Splash” and “Dream Lover”, propelled him to teen idol status.

He turned to a swing style for an album of standards, and had a No.1 in 1959 with the Grammy-winning “Mack the Knife”, followed by a Top 10 with reworking of French singer Charles Trent’s “La Mer”, renamed “Beyond the Sea”. The success of the tracks made Darin one of the biggest entertainers in the US, and during his lounge singer period in the early 60s, he played sell-out performances on the Las Vegas night club circuit.

Hollywood beckoned and Darin took roles in number of films, giving acclaimed performances in Pressure Point and Captain Newman, M.D..

In addition to his pop hits he released some country music tracks and made the Top 5 with “You’re the Reason I’m Living”. Ever keen to diversify he teamed up with Roger McGuinn (who would go on to form the Byrds) in 1963, to add a folk element to his nightclub set. He concentrated more on the folk element, covering tracks by Bob Dylan. As the 60s wore on, his chart appearances diminished, and his cover of “If I Were a Carpenter” was among his last.

Darin returned to the nightclub circuit in the early 70s and had his own TV series, The Bobby Darin Amusement Company. By 1973 Darin’s life long heart condition caught up with him and he died after an operation.

Darin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2000 a biopic of his life called Beyond the Sea, was made with Kevin Spacey.