Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

[Jay Mc]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

One of the strange things about those days, and I've often said this, was that EMI aimed Darren at too narrow a target audience. Most eleven year old girls in those days seemed not to be interested in boy singers of their own age, but in adults like Gary Glitter, who was old enough to be their father.

And as it turns out he was way more interested in 11 year old girls than he should have been

[Richard1978]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

That's odd consideirng David Cassidy & Donny Osmond were having plenty of success at the time, & still fairly young.

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

One of the strange things about those days, and I've often said this, was that EMI aimed Darren at too narrow a target audience. Most eleven year old girls in those days seemed not to be interested in boy singers of their own age, but in adults like Gary Glitter, who was old enough to be their father.

[Mulletino]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

I'd never heard of Darren or his music before and have only just read this thread. It truly is a sad tale indeed.

[Richard1978]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

It's interesting that in spite of all the publicity Darren didn't click with the record buying public.

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

No, tepee, it was all over the country at the time, in all the music magazines and newspapers. His records got constant plays on the radio and he was getting fan letters from all over the place. What he really needed though, was about half a million people buying his records.

[teepee]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

None of this rings even the faintest bell with me, which is surprising as I was about David's age and music mad at the time. I wonder if it was a regional thing? Perhaps Londoners/Southerners were more aware of him?

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

An old editing copy of the July, 1973, Man Alive film about Darren has now been uploaded to YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ1NGOiCWiQ&t=36s

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

DISC music paper, July 13th, 1974.

And so we come to Darren Burn. At the age of 12, a veteran of four singles releases, but sadly, not a hit to his name. So far, the nearest that Darren has got to chart success has been with his first release, 'Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart'. That record shot up the chart, coming to rest at the number 69 slot before finally sinking without trace. Darren’s reaction to his failure to make an impact on the music scene is philosophical. “I suppose I was a bit upset when the records didn’t make it, but you just keep hoping that one day they will. I suppose they didn’t get enough exposure. You really need something like ‘Opportunity Knocks’ to break a record and I didn’t have anything like that.” At the moment, Darren’s hopes are pinned on his new single Summertime Time. “It’s a very summery, commercial sound which I hope will do better than my other records. It’s timed really to coincide with kids breaking up from school for the summer holiday.” Darren may not be getting the hits , but he’s certainly not without fans and admirers. “I get recognised quite a lot on the tubes. I don’t have a fan club, but I do get fan letters. Funnily enough, most of them come from Newcastle. I’m not quite sure why that should be, but I’d say at least 90 per cent of the letters come from up there. One girl from Newcastle used to phone me up regularly. I sent her one of my T-shirts and her mother auctioned it for £20. We also get people coming to the house to see me. If they knock on the door I invite them in and show them the pets. We’ve got a dog; two cats and a guinea pig."

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A bit of a mystery here is how that girl from Newcastle found out his phone number and the others his address. Neither of those details were published in the media at the time. It even took me many years to track down those details for myself. It’s interesting to note that the following month, August, 1974, Darren was callously and unceremoniously got rid of by EMI. Their replacement for him appears to have been a young boy from Wales, Jeffrey Hooper, who had won ATV’s New Faces talent contest with his rendition of 'For The Good Times'. Like Darren, he was photogenic and he could sing. But after his first two singles failed to make an impression on the charts, EMI released no more of his records.

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

October 30th, 2016. Twenty-five years ago today, in 1991, Darren was found dead on the bathroom floor of his flat, flat 7, at 146 – 156, Grosvenor Terrace, Southwark, London, SE5 0NL, having taken his own life with an overdose of the anti-depressant drug Dotheipin.

[Spanish moon]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

After all, anyone can say they're anyone on the Internet, can't they?[/QUOTE]

Well yes, of course. But ask yourself this - why would I bother? It's not as if this is hot stuff, or even yesterdays news. I only made contact because I thought You had a genuine interest.
If you want proof, I have photos galore that I could share. Or maybe not. Check your dialogue with my sister on YT 3 years ago - If I was a barrister, I would put THAT to you - look pointedlly at the
Jury and say " No further questions, M'Lud " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygx5w8wjMRg

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

Yes, he's been gone over twenty-four years now. How time has flown. But at least he'll never have to suffer the indignity of growing old, not like those of us who are still around.

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

I'm so shocked and sad to learn Darren had died.. I only found out last night and I honestly thought he would have been successful in some music field. Darren had good looks beautiful voice and charisma one could never have dreamed his fate. I still have the singles he released in the 70's.

[DavidRayner]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

I recently received a rare 1974 Japanese pressing of Darren's 45 rpm EMI single Teenage Lover / The Moment You Smile from a specialist record dealer in Japan (Stereo EMI EMR 1060 1) with a nice cover that has a colour photo of Darren on the front and a black and white photo of him on the back, neither of which I previously had in my collection. When it arrived, I thought it was just a Japanese pressing of the British single. But when I played it, I was in for a surprise, as Darren sings both songs in seemingly flawless Japanese. What a talented young lad he was, before his dreadful addiction to heroin engulfed him and destroyed him. I often get emails from individuals who say they knew Darren, used to go to the City of London school with him and used to be his best friend, ect, but the main problem with them is that they all contradict each other in the details. So either one of them is telling the truth or all of them are telling lies. Anyway, these days, I don't take any notice of them. After all, anyone can say they're anyone on the Internet, can't they?

[Spanish moon]

Re: Darren Burn - Bubblegum kid of tragedy

I stumbled here somehow and feel compelled to set the record straight. Some of what I have read here, and elsewhere, is true and correct, some isn't. I was a pupil at CLS at the same time as Darren, same years, I knew him well. He wasn't part of my crowd at first (I was football team etc) but we become friends through a shared love of music. Forget any notion of him being bullied at school, he was well capable of looking after himself both verbally and physically. Teased? well of course, kids are kids, but it was pretty short lived and soon became a non issue. Our friendship grew, became best mates, I stayed at their house in Southgate, and then Brookmans Park on countless occasions, and he did at mine. We stayed close friends, through thick and thin, until the late eighties I think it's fair to say that nobody - anywhere - knew him better. I don't want to go into any more details on a public forum, but if anyone is interested in the real deal story, please feel free to email me at brudest904@gmail.com.