Daniel James | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Colin Heywood |
| Also known as | Daniel James |
Daniel James, formally known under his birth name of Colin Heywood, is a singer, actor and presenter [1] of shows on television and radio. [2]
In 1986, he competed in the BBC's A Song For Europe contest under the name Colin Heywood with "No Easy Way to Love", a song co-witten by Tony Hiller, the producer known for many of the songs by Brotherhood of Man. A Song For Europe was a contest was to represent the United Kingdom in the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest, [2] but he came in sixth place, [3] losing out to Ryder, a band fronted by Maynard Williams, who had a song called "Runner in the Night". Under his birth name, he appeared in the 1987 horror film Bloody New Year [2] and hosted the BBC childrens programme But First This [2] [4] with Sue Devaney, Siobhan Maher Kennedy and Andy Crane before adopting the alias of "Daniel James", [5] the stage name he continues to use in 2025.
After meeting Jeff Chegwin, the brother of Keith Chegwin and Janice Long, he was put in a pop duo with Paul Varney called Yell! and signed to Simon Cowell's Fanfare Records. [2] Yell! had a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom with a cover of Dan Hartman's 1978 hit, "Instant Replay" [6] and would go on to cover the Average White Band's "Let's Go Round Again".
Daniel would go on to appear in an Age U.K. advertisement and would return to his music career in the 2020s. [7]
In 2020, Daniel released a podcast for the Stock Aitken Waterman Show, where he talked about music and being part of Yell!, his first meeting with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken and releasing Safety In Numbers, as well as being signed by Simon Cowell. [8] [9]
As of 2025, James has a radio show on Mike Read's Heritage Chart Radio [10] station called Bangers and Chat, [11] and has appeared on their chart show programme on Talking Pictures TV promoting various singles like "Don’t Want To Lose That Girl", "Set Your Spirit Free" and his Christmas medley "Silent Night O Holy Night". [12]