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Daz Sampson | |
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 Sampson in 2005 | |
| Born | Darren Sampson (1974-11-28)28 November 1974 (age 50) Stockport,Greater Manchester, England |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1998–present |
Darren "Daz"Sampson (born 28 November 1974) is a Britishsinger-songwriter, rapper,record producer, andfootball manager. Sampson is known for his commercialdance music, as part of several groups, and his television appearances. He has had nine Top 30UK singles.
In 2006, herepresented the UK in theEurovision Song Contest with "Teenage Life", a top 10 hit. He also established Sporting Riff Raff Records and has continued to perform and release recordings.
He has been involved as a professional football manager in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Asia, and theUnited States. In May 2016, he became theNorth West of England scout forScottish Championship teamAyr United F.C. He also has close links to English teamStockport County F.C.
In February 2020, he accepted the role as first team manager ofPhuentsholing United FC[citation needed], a team in theBhutan Premier League. Sampson was due to undertake his duties at the start of April 2020; however, with the outbreak of theCOVID-19 pandemic, he remained in the UK.
Sampson was born inStockport,England, and went into radio broadcasting at 17 after an injury halted a potential career as a pro footballer. He spent several years working within commercial radio as well asRadio Luxembourg; from there he made the transition from playing music to making music.
Sampson had his first chart success with the groupBus Stop (with Graham Turner, Mark Hall, and Nikki Reid (Lane)). Bus Stop had four UK hits, the most successful being "Kung Fu Fighting" featuringCarl Douglas, which sold 250,000 copies in the UK and over one million worldwide.[citation needed]
BBC Radio 1 DJChris Moyles responded to a letter from Sampson by championing his records on the station and inviting him to contribute comedy moments on his radio show. During this period, Sampson was almost a daily guest on the Radio 1 show, and from this came a deal with BMG for his act Blown Out.[clarification needed]
Other Bus Stop hits included remakes of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" featuringRandy Bachman, "Jump" byVan Halen, and "Get It On" byT. Rex.
Many of the Bus Stop songs and remakes have been featured on theDancemania series.[1] Because of the deal that Konami had withToshiba EMI back then, some of Bus Stop songs made it to the popular game seriesDance Dance Revolution, including "Kung Fu Fighting", "Kick the Can", "Swing It", "One Two (Little Bitch)", "Na-Na", "Swing It", and "Long Train Runnin'"
As the Bus Stop project was folding, in 2000, Daz Sampson formed a duo with JJ Mason. As Fraud Squad, the duo released "Together (We Can Make It)" which was popular in European night clubs, and was a hit single in France, spending seven weeks in the official French singles chart.[2] JJ Mason made many remixes of Daz Sampson and Rikki and Daz songs, including "The Woah Song" and "Teenage Life".[3]
Daz Sampson and JJ Mason would return in 2006 with two releases under the name Sampson & Mason, "The Crown" and "The Feeling".
In this period, Sampson formedRikki & Daz with John Matthews (akaRicardo Autobahn, hence "Rikki") of theCuban Boys. Their 2002 single "Rhinestone Cowboy (Giddy Up Giddy Up)", featuring a new vocal from country music legendGlen Campbell, reached No. 12 in the UK. Another release as Rikki and Daz was the remake ofDJ Bobo's hit "Chihuahua". credited to "Rikki & Daz Vs. JJ Mason Remix".
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 ofBaltimora's "Tarzan Boy"). Matthews later co-wrote Sampson's Eurovision song, "Teenage Life".
In 2004, Sampson returned to the Liverpool dance music scene, and he formed a partnership with producer Paul Keenan and under the nameUniting Nations. They released "Out of Touch", a remake of aHall & Oates hit, which sold 150,000 copies of the single in the United Kingdom and became a European hit. Other big hits included "You And Me" (which reached No. 15 in the UK), proving yet another hit in Europe, and "Ai No Corrida", which reached No. 18, also in the UK.Smash Hits readers andT4 viewers voted Uniting Nations "Best Dance Act" at the last everPoll Winners Party in 2005. Sampson also had three number one singles in Poland with Uniting Nations.[citation needed]
On 4 March 2006, Sampson won theBBCshowMaking Your Mind Up[4] with the song "Teenage Life", written and produced with his long-time collaboratorJohn Matthews. The accompanying dance routine involved four young women dressed asschoolgirls, dubbedThe Sampsonites.
The song was a commercial success prior to Eurovision becoming a Top 10 hit for him on theUK Singles Chart with the single released on 14 May 2006 just prior to the contest. Sampson represented the UK in theEurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2006 inAthens, 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.
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 theUK Top 40. In the week following the contest, the publicity he had gained from this exposure helped his single to climb to number eight in the UK chart. Sampson claims that his performance may have raised the popularity of Eurovision in the UK, with the 2006 contest attracting half the UK TV audience.[5]
After Eurovision, he said he would like to return to try forEurovision Song Contest 2007. However, he 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.[6] Still he produced the song entitled "Do A Little Dance" but it did not makeBritish Eurovision: Your Decision shortlist of songs for consideration.[7]
Sampson, along with British singer Nona, attempted to representBelarus in theEurovision Song Contest 2019 with a song entitled "Kinky Boots". It was not selected for the live final, which was won byZENA.
Sampson joined forces with the Belarusian singerKatya Ocean for an attempt to representBelarus in theEurovision Song Contest 2021 with a songGive you love. The song was not selected by the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC, and Belarus were later disqualified from the contest.[8]
In 2006, Sampson established his own record company, Sporting Riff Raff Records[9] with Ben O'Brien and Joe Taylor of Nuxx. The acts that recorded with the company, mainly hit pop/dance/disco bands were The Star Alliance, Spray, Mr. Fix It, Love Djs, Project 4.[10]
He collaborated with several artists and released in 2006 "The Crown" and "The Feeling" under the name Sampson & Mason in partnership with JJ Mason (of Fraud Squad).
Daz Sampson and his long term writing partner John Matthews created in 2009 a dance act under the name Bandito after landing a record deal with Ministry of Sound's Hard2Beat Records.[11] Bandito's debit solo "Rockin' At the Disco" featured vocals from Russell Graham of the boy band Pacific Avenue.
Sampson and John Matthews were to write the music score for a new Children's BBCCBBC animation show which was set to air summer 2013.[citation needed]
Since 2011, Sampson returned to a career in radio broadcasting in signing a deal with NBC/Universal where he stars in his own reality documentary show.
Sampson started his career as a footballer, spending his youth years atManchester City's Junior Blues side, before being spotted by ex-Brighton managerJimmy Melia whilst managing atStockport. Following injury Sampson then quit the game as a player going on to manage and coach at semi-pro level.[This paragraph needs citation(s)]
Following musical success in Poland withUniting Nations, Sampson took over the helm at a semi-professional club there and took them from bottom 3 to a Cup Final appearance in the3rd tier of Polish football.[citation needed]
In 2012, Sampson came out of retirement and played games for Guam Shipyard, based inGuam, an island in the Pacific Ocean. He then went on to coach and lead the Shipyard to a cup final win, and regular top 3 finishes. After two seasons Sampson moved toTampa in Florida to take charge of a new semi-professional team about to franchise intofourth tier of theMLS.[This paragraph needs citation(s)]
In 2015, Sampson returned to the UK and briefly took over a Step 6 Billinge FC in Cheshire,[12] and then toAshton Town.[13]
Following Sampson's stint in England, he moved back briefly to Guam to take over a second tier side Big Blue, where they finished top of the league with 100 points.[14]
| Year | Artist/Group | Song | Peak chart positions | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK (DL) | IRE | FRA | ||||
| 1998 | Bus Stop | "Kung Fu Fighting"(feat.Carl Douglas) | 8 | - | - | 25 | Originally by Carl Douglas |
| "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"(feat.Randy Bachman) | 22 | - | - | - | Originally by Randy Bachman | ||
| 1999 | "Jump" | 23 | - | - | - | Originally byVan Halen | |
| 2000 | "Get It On"(feat.T. Rex) | 59 | - | - | - | Originally by T. Rex | |
| "One Two (Little Bitch)" | - | - | - | - | Originally bythe Specials | ||
| "Footloose" | - | - | - | - | Originally byKenny Loggins | ||
| 2001 | "Kick the Can" | - | - | - | - | Re-working ofInfernal Gallop fromOrpheus in the Underworld byJacques Offenbach | |
| "Na-Na" | - | - | - | - | Remake of"Goodbye" bySteam | ||
| "Swing It" | - | - | - | - | Originally bythe Champs and titled"Tequila" | ||
| "Long Train Runnin'" | - | - | - | - | Originally byThe Doobie Brothers | ||
| 2001 | Fraud Squad | "Together (We Can Make It)" | - | - | - | 65 | |
| 2002 | Rikki & Daz | "Rhinestone Cowboy"(feat.Glen Campbell) | 12 | - | 16 | - | Originally by Glen Campbell |
| 2003 | Barndance Boys | "Yippie I Oh" | 32 | - | - | - | Re-working of traditional song "I'll Tell Me Ma" |
| DJ Daz | "Woah Song" | - | - | - | - | Originally byBaltimora and titled "Tarzan Boy" | |
| 2004 | Uniting Nations | "Out of Touch" | 7 | - | 5 | - | Originally byHall & Oates |
| 2005 | "You and Me" | 15 | - | 26 | - | ||
| "Ai No Corrida" | 18 | - | 37 | - | |||
| 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 | |
| 2009 | Bandito | "Rockin' At the Disco" | - | - | - | - | Featuring Russell Graham |
| 2019 | Daz Samspon & Nona | "Kinky Boots" | - | - | - | - | Belarus Eurovision 2019 Entry Submission |
| 2021 | Daz Samspon &Katya Ocean | "Give You Love" | - | - | - | - | Belarus Eurovision 2021 Entry Submission |
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
| Year | Song title | Credited to | Charts FR | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Roots (Feel Too High)" | Sunshine State featuring Daz | — | |
| 2000 | "Together (We Can Make It)" | Fraud Squad | 65 [15] | align=center |Made up of Daz Sampson and JJ Mason |
| 2006 | "The Crown" | Sampson & Mason | — | |
| "The Feeling" | — |
| Preceded by | UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| Artists | |
