Darren "Daz" Sampson (born 28 November 1974) is a British professional football manager/scout, music producer and broadcaster. Sampson is known for his commercial dance music as part of several groups and his television appearances. He has had nine Top 30 UK singles.
In 2006, he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Teenage Life", a top 10 hit. He also established Sporting Riff Raff Records and has continued to perform and release recordings.
He has been involved as a professional football manager in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, in Asia and the USA. In May 2016, he became the North West of England scout for Scottish Championship team, Ayr United. He also has close links to Stockport County of EFL League 2.
In February 2020, he accepted the role as first team Manager of Phuentsholing United FC, a professional football team of the Bhutan Premier League. Sampson was due to undertake his duties at the start of April 2020; however with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he remained in the UK.
Career before Eurovision
Sampson was born in Stockport, England, and went into radio broadcasting at 17 after an injury halted a potential career as a pro footballer. He spent several years working within commercial radio as well as Radio Luxembourg; from there he made the transition from playing music to making music.
Bus Stop
Sampson had his first chart success with the group Bus Stop (with Graham Turner, Mark Hall, and Nikki Reid (Lane)). Bus Stop had four UK hits, the most successful being "Kung Fu Fighting" featuring Carl Douglas, which sold 250,000 copies in the UK and over one million worldwide.
BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles responded to a letter from Sampson by championing his records on the station and inviting him to contribute comedy moments on his radio show. During this period, Sampson was almost a daily guest on the Radio 1 show, and from this came a deal with BMG for his act Blown Out.
Other Bus Stop hits included remakes of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" featuring Randy Bachman, "Jump" by Van Halen, and "Get It On" by T. Rex.
Many of the Bus Stop songs and remakes have been featured in the popular game series Dance Dance Revolution, including "Kung Fu Fighting", "Kick the Can", "Swing It", "One Two (Little Bitch)", "Na-Na", "Swing It", and "Long Train Runnin'". The band also made many appearances on the Dancemania series.
Fraud Squad
As the Bus Stop project was folding, in 2000, Daz Sampson formed a duo with JJ Mason. As Fraud Squad, the duo released "Together (We Can Make It)" which was popular in European night clubs, and was a hit single in France, spending seven weeks in the official French singles chart. JJ Mason made many remixes of Daz Sampson and Rikki and Daz songs, including "The Woah Song" and "Teenage Life".
Sampson & Mason
Daz Sampson and JJ Mason would return in 2006 with two releases under the name Sampson & Mason, "The Crown" and "The Feeling".
Rikki & Daz
In this period, Sampson formed Rikki & Daz with John Matthews (aka Ricardo Autobahn, hence "Rikki") of the Cuban Boys. Their 2002 single "Rhinestone Cowboy (Giddy Up Giddy Up)", featuring a new vocal from country music legend Glen Campbell, reached No. 12 in the UK. Another release as Rikki and Daz was the remake of DJ Bobo's hit "Chihuahua". credited to "Rikki & Daz Vs. JJ Mason Remix".
Barndance Boys / DJ Daz
The pair continued to work together under various names, including The Barndance Boys (for the minor hit single "Yippie I Oh") and DJ Daz ("The Woah Song", a remake of Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy"). Matthews later co-wrote Sampson's Eurovision song, "Teenage Life".
Uniting Nations
In 2004, Sampson returned to the Liverpool dance music scene, and he formed a partnership with producer Paul Keenan and under the name Uniting Nations. They released "Out of Touch", a remake of a Hall & Oates hit, which sold 150,000 copies of the single in the United Kingdom and became a European hit. Other big hits included "You And Me" (which reached No. 15 in the UK), proving yet another hit in Europe, and "Ai No Corrida", which reached No. 18, also in the UK. Smash Hits readers and T4 viewers voted Uniting Nations "Best Dance Act" at the last ever Poll Winners Party in 2005. Sampson also had three number one singles in Poland with Uniting Nations.
Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision 2006
On 4 March 2006, Sampson won the BBC show Making Your Mind Up with the song "Teenage Life", written and produced with his long-time collaborator John Matthews. The accompanying dance routine involved four young women dressed as schoolgirls, dubbed The Sampsonites.