B-side "Bullmoose" Format 7" Label Atco | Released April 1959 Length 2:28 Writer(s) Bobby Darin | |
"Dream Lover" is a song written by Bobby Darin and recorded by him on April 6, 1959. Darin decided to stretch out some chord changes he found on the piano and add strings and voices. The song was produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler and engineered by Tom Dowd. It became a multi-million seller, reaching #2 on the US charts for a week and #4 on the R&B charts. "Dream Lover" was kept from the number one spot by "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. It did however reach #1 in the UK for four weeks during June and July 1959. It was released as a single on Atco Records in 1959. In addition to Darin's vocal, the song features Neil Sedaka on piano. A picture sleeve, featuring a portrait of Darin, was also issued for this record.
The song is featured in the 1991 movie Hot Shots! starring Charlie Sheen. A remake of the song performed by Dion is also played in full, during the end credits. The song was also used in Michael Apted's 1974 movie Stardust and in Barry Levinson's 1982 debut film Diner. A version of the song, retitled "Dream Maker" and with rewritten lyrics, appears in the pilot of the 1987 TV series Rags to Riches. In 2014, the song was featured in the episode "The Immutable Truth" of Bates Motel.
Peter McCann released a version of the song as a single in 1982 which did not chart.
Book
In 1994, Darin and Sandra Dee's son Dodd Darin co-authored with Maxine Paetro a book about his parents whose title is inspired by the song. As the publisher's note for Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee describes: "In this intensely personal biography the son of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee goes far beyond the ordinary celebrity bio, revealing the real story behind his parents' shining image—their troubled childhoods, up-and-down careers, brief marriage, and tumultuous lives together and apart."