Dream Lover

Darin wrote this song, which is about a guy who wishes and prays for the girl of his dreams to come to him so that he doesn't have to dream any more - or as he puts it in his grammatically incorrect but lyrically - no more. Darin wasn't so sure of the song when he demoed it for his bosses at Atlantic Records, but it became a huge hit and earned him more creative control as a songwriter and artist - his next single was the unlikely "Mack The Knife," which stayed at #1 in the US for 9 weeks. In the '90s, Darin was inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

"Dream Lover" appealed to adults who appreciated the conservative lyrics and Darin's wholesome image - he came off as a guy you wouldn't mind dating your daughter at a time when Elvis was singing "A Big Hunk O' Love." Most songs that pulled this off were written by New York songwriters and crafted for mass appeal, but Darin managed to compose his own song securing his teen idol image. He was 22 when the song was released.

Neil Sedaka played piano on this track, and also the B-side of the single, which was a song called "Bullmoose." Sedaka had a song on the charts called "The Diary," but was not yet widely known as a solo artist. Along with his songwriting partner Howard Greenfield, he had written "Keep a Walkin'," which Darin recorded in 1958. Darin was comfortable with Sedaka's style, and gave him the leeway to play what he thought was right for the track.