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ALBUMDidn't We - SingleJames Darren
Albums by James Darren
ALBUMJames Darren Live! For the First TimeJames Darren
ALBUMBecause of YouJames Darren
ALBUMThis One's from the HeartJames Darren
ALBUMLove Songs From the Movies (Remastered)James Darren
ALBUMMammy Blue (Remastered)James Darren
ALBUMJames Darren At His BestJames Darren
ALBUMAllJames Darren
James Darren's Popular Music Videos
Your Eyes
James Darren
Artist Biography
Even more than the typical teen idol, James Darren's roots in authentic rock & roll were tenuous. Darren began recording for Colpix in the late '50s at the beginning of a screen career that saw him star in numerous films, most notably Gidget. More at home with standard MOR, show tune-like material than rock, and not much of a singer in any case, Darren was nonetheless marketed as a pop/rock performer to his predominantly young female constituency. He ran off quite a few novelty-tinged hit singles in the early '60s, of which "Goodbye Cruel World," which made number three, was the biggest and best. Top Brill Building pop songwriters -- including the Goffin-King, Mann-Weil, and Pomus-Shuman teams, as well as Bob Crewe, Gloria Shayne, and Howard Greenfield -- gave Darren material, albeit material that was well below their usual standards. He recorded quite a bit after his early-'60s heyday, reaching the Top 40 in 1967 with "All" and charting as late as 1977 with "You Take My Heart Away." During the '90s, Darren co-starred on the Star Trek spin-off Deep Space Nine as hologram crooner Vic Fontaine, reprising songs from the series on the 1999 album This One's From the Heart. ~ Richie Unterberger
Hometown
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Genre
Pop