I spent a long time one night listening to the song Mack the Knife over and over again. I think I listened to the Bobby Darin version 10 times. Now I don’t quite remember what compelled me to do that, but the important thing is it led me to read up on the dude and realize that he lived a pretty fucked up life.

At an early age, he overheard his doctor telling his mom that he’d be surprised if he lived to the age of 17. He did live to 37, but he was sick and crippled by rheumatic fever as a child. Also, who he thought was his mom was actually his grandmother and who he thought was his sister was actually his mom. He found this out when he was in his 30s. Yeah.

Darin hit it big as a teen idol, with songs like “Dream Lover,” but because of his poor health, he didn’t really jump into the illicit excesses available to stars. Except he apparently got around. He employed his “brother-in-law” Charlie (who was actually his stepfather, he never found out who his real father was) as a gofer. Charlie got first shot at the fans and showgirls, then Darin would strut into the room buck naked and say, “Now how about some of this, baby?” (at least, according to this reposted GQ article.) Darin’s conquests didn’t stop with fans. Once, a recently married member of his touring band brought his new wife along with him on a Darin train tour. The marriage was brought to an abrupt end after the touring musician found his wife naked in his compartment with Darin.