For the part of the self-involved rock star named Shane in my audiobook production of Rock Star Rising, I wanted someone that was connected to rock 'n roll or at least be a singer.

My first choice was Fabian, as I'm a giant fan of his. But he was out of town and unavailable. My agent gave me a choice of Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, or James Darren. Even though I'm a big fan of Rydell's (Bye Bye Birdie) his nice guy personality didn't fit the wild rocker that the character of Shane is.

Frankie Avalon has a stronger persona and was in one of my favorite movies, The Alamo with John Wayne. Still, he has more of a relaxed beach comedy persona. But James Darren played a stone-cold killer in The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck. A classic action movie that still has a large following.  

Darren was a student of the prestigious acting teacher Stella Adler, so I figured that he would have no hang ups about playing a pushy bad guy, that the character of Shane is.

On top of that, Darren was still performing his hit songs 'Good-Bye Cruel World', and 'Royale Majesty' in concert, so that was one more step in his believability as Shane the rock star.

Darren was the star of TV's The Time Tunnel.  So, with Rod Taylor, that made two time-travelers in this project. He also has a popular following of Star Trek Deep Space 9 as Vic Fontaine the hologram night club singer. In fact, the next day after recording with Darren he was go to a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. It's good to have an actor that is current. So it was no contest of who should play Shane.

I had scheduled Darren to arrive an hour after Robert Culp and the other actors because Culp had scenes without him. I was pleasantly surprised when Darren arrived before any of the actors, more than an hour ahead of his call.

James introduced himself and said, "I know I'm early. I just wanted to get here and study the script.” Which he did in the outer lobby as I started recording with Culp and the others.

James' scenes with Robert Culp, playing the part of his agent, were something to behold. Especially the scene where they have a big argument over career choices.

Before that scene, I went into the booth and said, "Here's the one scene where you guys can really yell at each other, so feel free to do so. The sound mixer will make sure the level will be okay."

They, not so much as yelled, but really got angry with each other, over-lapping each other's words. It's one of my favorite scenes in the story.

After Culp and Kevin McCarthy's scenes were finished, James had a lot of work to do putting his voice in a couple of scenes that were already recorded with other actors.

One of the scenes had James on the beach in Hawaii with a girl that charms him. After finishing that scene, and knowing that James had filmed many scenes on beaches, such as in Giget and Diamond Head, I said to him, "Hey James, is that the first scene you ever did on a beach."

James laughed and said, "It's the first time I've done a beach scene with my street clothes on."

Later, James had to do some long soliloquies as he talks about his past life and future. Those he did with sincerity and sensitivity in contrast to the crazy rocker he was in the beginning the show.

James and George Chakiris played brothers in Diamond Head with Charlton Heston. George told me that he and James are still close friends.

At that time, James was still performing in Las Vegas and directing TV shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger. You've got to hand it to a guy that started out as a pop singer, then actor, then actor/singer/director in a long career that never had a lull.

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