Editing Bobby Darin (section)

=== 1950s ===
Darin's career took off with a songwriting partnership, formed in 1955 with [[Don Kirshner]], whom he met at a [[candy store]] in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]].<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=628/9}}</ref> They wrote [[jingles]] and songs, beginning with "Bubblegum Pop".<ref name="Kirschner Times obituary">{{cite news|last1=Sisario|first1=Ben|title=Don Kirshner, Shaper of Hit Records, Dies at 76|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/arts/music/19kirshner.html|access-date=April 25, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 18, 2011}}</ref> In 1956, Darin's agent negotiated a contract with [[Decca Records]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The songs recorded at Decca had minimal commercial success.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

A member of the [[Brill Building]] gang of struggling songwriters, Darin was introduced to singer [[Connie Francis]], with whom he helped write several songs. They developed a romantic interest, but her father was not fond of Darin and did not approve of the relationship, and the couple split up. At one point, Darin wanted to elope immediately; Francis has said that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life.<ref name=":2">Autobiography ''Who's Sorry Now'' by Connie Francis</ref>

Darin left Decca to sign with [[Atlantic Records]]' [[Atco Records|Atco subsidiary]], where he wrote and arranged music for himself and others. 

Guided by Atlantic's star-maker [[Ahmet Ertegun]], Darin's career finally took off in 1958 when he recorded "[[Splish Splash (song)|Splish Splash]]".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Darin co-wrote the song with radio DJ [[Murray the K|Murray Kaufman]] after a phone call from Kaufman's mother, Jean, a frustrated songwriter. Her latest song idea was: "Splish, Splash, Take a Bath". Both Kaufman and Darin felt the title was lackluster, but Darin, with few options, said: "I could write a song with that title." Within an hour, Darin had written "Splish Splash".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhino.com/article/stay-tuned-by-stan-cornyn-my-friend-bobby-darin|title =Stay Tuned By Stan Cornyn: My Friend Bobby Darin |website=Rhino.com |access-date=September 5, 2013}}</ref> The single, Darin's first successful foray into the rock-and-roll genre, sold more than a million copies.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Splish Splash Session - Session Notes |author=de Heer, Dik |publisher=Bobbydarin.net |date=April 10, 1958 |url=http://www.bobbydarin.net/sn_041058.html|access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref><ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/100 100]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/100
}}</ref> His partnership with Kirshner, who was not involved in the writing of that song, ended at that time.<ref name="Kirschner Times obituary"/> Darin made another recording in 1958 for [[Brunswick Records]] with a band called the Ding Dongs.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> With the success of "Splish Splash", the single was re-released by [[Atco Records]] as "[[Early in the Morning (Bobby Darin song)|Early in the Morning]]" with the band renamed as the Rinky Dinks.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> It charted, and made it to number 24 in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Jones, Peter |date=August 1981 |title=The Bobby Darin Story: Stylish Vocalist Who Made Many Collectable Records in the Fifties and Sixties |journal=Record Collector |url=http://www.bobbydarin.com/recordcol81.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622031038/http://www.bobbydarin.com/recordcol81.htm |archive-date=June 22, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title="Early In The Morning," The Rinky-Dinks |magazine=Billboard |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/418986/rinky-dinks/chart |access-date=September 3, 2015 |archive-date=March 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319015149/http://www.billboard.com/artist/418986/rinky-dinks/chart |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1959, Darin recorded the self-penned "[[Dream Lover]]", a ballad that became a multimillion seller.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> With it came financial success and the ability to demand more [[artistic control|creative control]] of his career; Darin meant for his ''[[That's All (Bobby Darin album)|That's All]]'' album to show that he could sing more than rock and roll as a result.<ref name=popc/> Darin's next single, "[[Mack the Knife#Popular song|Mack the Knife]]", the standard from [[Kurt Weill]]'s ''[[The Threepenny Opera|Threepenny Opera]]'', was given a vamping jazz-pop interpretation.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Although Darin was initially opposed to releasing it as a single,<ref name=popc>{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19762/m1|title=Show 13 – Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 3&#93;: UNT Digital Library|publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu|last=Gilliland|first=John|author-link=John Gilliland |work=[[Pop Chronicles]]|date=April 27, 1969|access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref> the song went to number one on the chart for nine weeks, sold two million copies, and won the [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year]] in 1960. He was also voted the [[Grammy Award for Best New Artist]] that year, and "Mack the Knife" has since been honored with a [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award]].

Darin followed "Mack" with "[[Beyond the Sea (song)|Beyond the Sea]]", a jazzy English-language version of [[Charles Trenet]]'s [[French-language|French]] hit song "[[La Mer (song)|La Mer]]".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Both tracks were produced by Atlantic founders Ahmet and [[Nesuhi Ertegun]] with staff producer [[Jerry Wexler]], and they featured arrangements by Richard Wess.

The late-1950s success included Darin setting the all-time attendance record at the [[Copacabana (nightclub)|Copacabana]] nightclub in Manhattan and headlining at the major [[casino]]s in [[Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas]].