| Daz Sampson | |
|---|---|
Sampson in 2005 |
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Daz, DJ Jaz |
| Born | 1974 (age 37–38) Stockport, Greater Manchester, England |
| Genres | Pop, hip hop, dance, europop |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Unsigned |
| Associated acts | Bus Stop Rikki & Daz Barndance Boys Uniting Nations Ricardo Autobahn |
| Website | http://www.dazsampson.co.uk/ |
Darren "Daz" Sampson (born 1974) is a British dance music producer, musician and singer-songwriter.
Up until 2006, when he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, Sampson was best known for his commercial dance music, often reworkings of older songs as a solo act (Daz Sampson, DJ Daz) and as a member of various formations, Bus Stop, Rikki & Daz, Barndance Boys, Uniting Nations.
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Sampson has been in various groups, most notably Bus Stop (with Graham Turner, Mark Hall, Liam Midson and Marlon Cooper). Bus Stop had four UK hits, the most successful being "Kung Fu Fighting" featuring Carl Douglas that sold 250,000 copies.
Chris Moyles, broadcaster with BBC Radio 1 responded to a letter from Sampson by championing his records on the station inviting him for comedy moments on his radio show.
In this period, Sampson formed Rikki & Daz with John Matthews (aka Ricardo Autobahn, hence "Rikki") of the Cuban Boys. Their 2002 single "Rhinestone Cowboy (Giddy Up Giddy Up)" featuring a new vocal from country music legend Glen Campbell reached No.12 in the UK. The pair continued to work together under various names, including The Barndance Boys (for the minor hit single "Yippie I Oh") and DJ Daz ("The Woah Song", a remake of Baltimora's Tarzan Boy). Matthews also co-wrote Sampson's Eurovision song "Teenage Life".
In 2004, Sampson returned to the Liverpool dance music and he formed a partnership with producer Paul Keenan under the name Uniting Nations and released "Out of Touch" a remake from Hall & Oates hit and selling 100,000 copies of the single in the United Kingdom becoming a European massive hit. Other big hits included "You And Me" (reached No.15 in the UK) proving yet another hit in Europe and "Ai No Corrida" that reached No.18 also in the UK. Smash Hits readers and T4 viewers voted Uniting Nations "Best Dance Act" at the last ever Pollwinners Party in 2005.
On 4 March 2006, Sampson won the BBC show Making Your Mind Up[1] with the song "Teenage Life", written and produced with his long-time collaborator John Matthews. The song entered the UK Singles Chart on 14 May 2006.
The accompanying dance routine involved 4 young women dressed as schoolgirls, dubbed The Sampsonites, which led to criticism from some sections of the media due to the apparently inappropriate sexuality of his performance of his Eurovision entry. In his defence, he was quoted as saying "the teenage girl dancers were fully clothed ... there was no sexual innuendo".[2]
As a result of winning Making Your Mind Up, he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2006 in Athens, but only 10 of the 39 eligible countries voted for Sampson and his total score was 25 points, placing him 19th out of the 24 acts (winning act Lordi, from Finland, amassed 292 points). When asked before the event whether Finland could win, he replied "No way. They're way too scary."[3] Sampson professed to have great confidence that he would win the Eurovision, dismissing previous contestants for not having enough respect for the competition and having poor quality songs.[4]
Despite saying that previous contestants' songs failed simply because they were not good enough, and not because of political voting, following the contest he claimed to have been "the victim of a touch of neighbourly voting".
Although he finished low down the rankings in the Eurovision Song Contest, he enjoyed success in the British charts. "Teenage Life" entered at number 13 in the UK Top 40. In the week following the contest, the publicity he had gained from this exposure helped his single to climb to number 8 in the UK chart, reaching the highest chart position of any Eurovision song since Precious peaked at number 6 with "Say It Again" in 1999. Sampson claims that his performance may have raised the popularity of Eurovision in the UK, while others say "The peak audience would appear to be mainly due to audience switchover from the Prince's Trust charity concert broadcast on ITV1" – in any case the 2006 contest claimed to have attracted half the UK TV audience,[5] and led to the highest viewing figures in the UK in Eurovision history.[6] The viewing figures were in fact only 1/3 of those achieved consistently in the 1970s when the show was regularly amongst the top 20 shows for the entire year.[7]
After performing at the Eurovision Song Contest, Sampson revealed plans to become a TV presenter, and claimed that "I have already been approached to appear on a celebrity reality show but I can't really say much about it – other than the fact it is set in Australia."[6] This could be seen as an allusion to the popular ITV show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!. However he has not, as of 2010, appeared on the show.
He also claimed that he would be performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and although he had said earlier that he would not try to represent the United Kingdom again, and saying that he had been asked to perform for another country.[8] However, later he announced that the BBC decided it was too soon for him to enter again, but he would be welcome in a few years time.[9] Still he presented the song entitled "Do A Little Dance" but it did not make British Eurovision: Your Decision shortlist of songs for consideration.[10][11]
On 22 April 2007, Sampson released a new download only single release in support of his football team Stockport County. The song by Daz Sampson and the Cheadle Enders is titled 'The County Song' (Jim Gannon's Army Goes Marching On). (UK#182) The song pays tribute to Stockport County's football league record of nine consecutive wins without conceding a goal. The song namechecks several Stockport County players including Anthony Elding, Adam Griffin and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey not to mention former player and current manager Jim Gannon. On the occasion, with Sampson donating part of the proceeds from the single to the Stockport County Supporters Trust, the trust made him its first-ever life member in recognition of his efforts.[12]
| Year | Artist/Group | Song | UK Singles Chart | UK Download Chart | Irish Singles Chart | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Rikki & Daz | "Rhinestone Cowboy" | 12 | - | 16 | Originally by, and featuring Glen Campbell |
| 2003 | Barndance Boys | "Yippie I Oh" | 32 | - | - | |
| DJ Daz | "Jump" | - | - | - | Originally by Van Halen | |
| "Woah Song" | - | - | - | Originally by Baltimora and titled "Tarzan Boy" | ||
| 2004 | Uniting Nations | "Out of Touch" | 7 | - | - | Originally by Hall & Oates |
| 2005 | "You and Me" | 15 | - | - | ||
| Ai No Corrida | 18 | - | - | |||
| 2006 | "Music In Me" | - | - | - | ||
| Daz Sampson | "Teenage Life" | 8 | 11 | - | UK Eurovision entry | |
| 2007 | "Do a Little Dance" | - | - | - | Download only | |
| "The County Song (Jim Gannon's Army Goes Marching On)" |
182 | 17 | - | Download only | ||
| Uniting Nations | "Do It Yourself" | - | - | - | ||
| 2008 | "Pressure Us" | - | - | - | Featuring Lucia Horn |
| Preceded by Javine with "Touch My Fire" |
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 |
Succeeded by Scooch with "Flying the Flag (for You)" |