The final week of May, 1960 was a busy week for me: Jackie Wilson was headlining a week at The Apollo, Annette was opening at Radio City Music Hall, and Bobby Darin was making a June 2nd debut at The Copa.
Annette was my date, ringside for Bobby Darin – and Bobby was brilliant. Darin’s shows were always high-energy; his up-tempo hits with the horn modulations, were designed to trigger excitement. But, surprisingly, Bobby’s show was a riot; Bobby decided to speak his between songs patter in the voice of W. C. Fields – “go away little girl … you bother me, yeah.” He was hilarious.
When Bobby signed with Roz Ross at GAC, she was booking the bus tours for Dick Clark, but Bobby wanted to make the transition from teen-idol to being a nightclub singer.
He wanted to get booked into the Copa.
Roz Ross told Bobby, "Jules Podell won’t book rock ‘n’ roll; he doesn't understand songs like 'Splish Splash' and 'Queen of the Hop'; he doesn't get it. You have to give me a demo, something for me to show Julie to get you into the Copa.”
Bobby initially had recorded and paid for the session for "Mack the Knife" and three other songs for an EP – (Extended Play 45-record with four songs, at the Fulton Studios on West 40th Street on December 19, 1958 with Tom Dowd engineering.) So, Bobby told Ahmet Ertegen at Atco Records that he could never get into the Copa unless they released the EP. He pleaded with them, saying he'd give up his royalties on 'Splish Splash' and 'Dream Lover.’ He took a gamble.
The EP went through the roof and then Atlantic/Atco released it as a single. In 1959, Darin's ‘Mack the Knife’ reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 and earned Bobby a Grammy Award for “Record of the Year.”
Bobby loved to tell the story, that it was Dick Clark who advised him not to record the song because it wouldn't appeal to a teenage rock ‘n’ roll audience.
Annette, Dick Roman and our gang were all gathering at the Harwyn Club when a call rang out from The Copacabana – Bobby Darin was incapacitated, unable to perform.
“Are you kidding,” Annette screeched, in a gag-reflex laugh. “Me replace Bobby? Get my coat!”
Annette, Dick and I dashed over to The Copa, and went on with Louis Prima and Keeley Smith, introduced by Walter Winchell. These were exciting times.
