On August 4th, 1958, Bobby Darin’s first hit song ‘Splish Splash’ reached number 3 in America. It is one of the few songs about bathing to ever chart. Do you sing in the shower? We know Bobby Darin does!
Bobby performed the song on ‘Dick Clark’s Saturday Beech-Nut Show.’ Dick Clark, the host of the show, walks out and says, ‘The walls begin to shake when he’s on stage. The man who started with the hit ‘Splish Splash,’ Bobby Darin!’
The crowd cheers loudly as Bobby begins to sing, walking down the audience aisle onto the stage. He’s clapping and interacting with the audience the whole way. He gets on stage and does some fancy footwork.
Bobby spins around smoothly and looks right into the camera to sing the next verse. The crowd is clapping along with him. Then, he ends the song while dancing, and the crowd roars.
‘Splish Splash’ was co-written by Bobby along with DJ Murray. DJ bet Bobby that he couldn’t write a song that began with the words, ‘Splish Splash, I was taking a bath,’ which was an idea from DJ’s mother.
The novelty tune became Bobby’s biggest hit and sparked his career. After beginning his career writing songs for Connie Francis, Bobby had his first million-selling single. He followed it with ‘Dream Lover,’ ‘Mack the Knife,’ and ‘Beyond the Sea.’
After decades of success, Bobby’s song ‘Splish Splash’ was even used on the popular kid’s TV show ‘Sesame Street’ to promote kids getting in the bath. Bobby Darin became a legendary American singer after the tremendous success of his first single, written as a bet!
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