David John ‘Dave’ Sampson was born on January 9, 1941 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England.  Today’s New Oldie offering is a song he did on Columbia (UK) 4625 in 1961 called Easy To Dream. This did not appear on any charts and was probably not played on the radio anywhere. However, one listen and you’ll probably wonder how it managed to be overlooked!

He’s officially a One-Hit Wonder in the UK, having just one chart hit with a song called Sweet Dreams on Columbia (UK), which peaked at #29 over there in May 1960, but nowhere else in the world. His very first record was a 4-song EP demo from an unnamed band with co-vocalist Steve Laine, who later became a member of the Liverpool Five.  He made a total of five singles and one EP in 1960-1962, mostly in the style of Cliff Richards And The Shadows or Ricky Nelson, with a Hawaiian-surf feel in the soft guitar echo. He even dabbled in the Rockabilly style on a couple of tracks.  As a matter of fact, it was Cliff Richards who helped Dave Sampson get his contract with EMI Records. Cliff Richards was the “Elvis of the UK.” But it will require another blog post to tell you the complete story about him!