David John Bernard Sampson (9 January 1941 – 5 March 2014) was an

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rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer who released a number of singles in the early 1960s on Columbia Records.

Life and career

Sampson was born in

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

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. Upon completing his education, he worked as an errand boy in the advertising industry. In his spare time he recorded songs and dropped one of his demo's with Cliff Richard who got him a recording contract. He had a UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

in May 1960 with his backing band, The Hunters (instrumental band), with "Sweet Dreams", which peaked at number 29 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Sweet Dreams" was released on the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

label, and spent six weeks on the

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. His first ever recording was a four-tune EP

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

with

Steve Laine The Liverpool Five were a beat group that was part of the British Invasion-era of the 1960s. The group played throughout Europe and Asia before achieving the peak of their success in the United States between 1965 and 1967. Career Formed in En ...

, later of the

Liverpool Five The Liverpool Five were a beat group that was part of the British Invasion-era of the 1960s. The group played throughout Europe and Asia before achieving the peak of their success in the United States between 1965 and 1967. Career Formed in En ...

. Both were singers on the EP with a backing band that was never named but included Don Groom on drums, John Milner on bass and Tony Haslett on guitar. His lack of subsequent

presence left him listed as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

while he moved to Hamburg. There he played at the Star Club, until he returned to England and opened a record shop in Walthamstow. A collection of his early material was released in the 1990s and he appeared at occasional nostalgia shows. Sampson died at Colchester Hospital,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, in March 2014, aged 73.

Discography

Singles

*"Sweet Dreams" / "It's Lonesome" (with The Hunters) - Columbia 1960 *"See You Around" / "If You Need Me" (with The Hunters) - Columbia 1960 *"Why The Chicken?" / "1999" (with The Hunters) - Columbia 1961 *"Easy To Dream" / "That's All" (with The Hunters) - Columbia 1961 *"Wide, Wide World" / "Since Sandy Moved Away" (solo) - Fontana 1962

Albums

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Sweet Dreams: the Complete Dave Sampson & the Hunters'', was released in 1999, and included the following

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s: #"Sweet Dreams" #"It's Lonesome" #"If You Need Me" #"See You Around" #"Why The Chicken" #"1999" #"Goodbye Twelve Hello Teens" #"Talkin' In My Sleep" #"Little Girl Of Mine" #"Walking To Heaven" #"Easy To Dream" #"That's All" #"I've Got A Crush On You" #"Don't Fool Around" #"Why The Chicken" (

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l version) #"Teenage Dreams" #"Wide Wide World" #"Since Sandy Moved Away" #"My Blue Heaven" (

) #"Sweet Dreams" (demo)

References

External links

Cherry Red - RPM - Dave Sampson
1941 births 2014 deaths British male singers British pop singers English rock singers People from Uttoxeter {{UK-singer-stub