Sunday in New York - Bobby Darin

Sunday in New York - Bobby Darin
2:30

From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie, 1964

Written by Carroll Coates & Peter Nero, 1963

This song was written for a romantic comedy film of the same name (which was itself based on a stage play).  Darin belts out the optimistic lines with his usual confident cheeriness: "If you've got troubles / Just take them out for a walk / They'll burst like bubbles / In the fun of a Sunday in New York."  The song assures us that love is just around the corner, that maybe you'll see the face of the love your life reflected in a shop window, that time will stop, your new life in love begins.  It's a vision of New York as benevolent matchmaker, bustling but tender, glamorous without menace.  The band is just fine, with bright brass accents punctuating the verses, but it's Darin's warm voice that carries the song and invites you to share its sunny outlook.

Queen Of the Hop - Bobby Darin

Queen Of the Hop - Bobby Darin

2:14

single, 1958

Written by Woody Harris

Listening to this early rocker with its Fats Domino horns and rattling percussion, it's hard to imagine that Darin would develop into a velvet-voiced Sinatra-lite singer of great expression and range.  It's a very era-typical paean to a sweet little sixteen, with short shorts, dancing in the bandstand, lollipops, and so forth.  Like many songs of the era, it references other hits and dance crazes of the time: "Well you can talk about your Julie and your Peggy Sue / You can keep your Miss Molly and your Mary Lou / When it comes to the chicken or to doing the hop / I've got a girl they call the queen of the hop."  The name "Julie" might reference a 1958 hit by the Crescendos, "Oh Julie."

Dream Lover - Bobby Darin

Dream Lover - Bobby Darin

2:31

single, 1959

Written by Bobby Darin

Two fun facts about this song: it features Neil Sedaka on piano, and it was kept out of the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 by "The Battle of New Orleans."  This song is about yearning for the right girl, even though the narrator hasn't met her yet.  Somewhere, she might be out there for you, is the hope here.  "Someday, I don't know how / I hope she'll hear my plea / Some way, I don't know how / She'll bring her love to me."  This reminds me of the Blues Traveler song "Conquer Me," the part that goes "Whoever she is now, and whoever she'll become / I'd like to ask her to hurry please and if she's walking could she run."  On this song, there's male and female backing vocals, rattling percussion, thrumming guitars, and silky strings.  As in "Beyond the Sea," Darin's crisp, clean voice here has a gravitas beyond his years.  

Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin

Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin

2:52

That's All, 1960

Written by Jack Lawrence, adapted from Charles Trenet, 1945

Darin can be written off by some, perhaps, as the off-brand Sinatra, but his vocals here are a masterclass in swagger and sophistication. His voice, crisp and confident, glides effortlessly over the energetic big band arrangement, creating a version that is both smooth and dynamic. His youthful exuberance makes the song feel fresh even sixty-five years later. While the Chairman may have exuded a more effortless cool and measured phrasing, Darin leans into this song with an infectious verve, almost playful in his delivery.