One of the most astonishing success stories of the past year has been the impact Australians Darren Hayes, 26, and Daniel Jones, 25, have had on the American pop charts. They’re better known as Savage Garden, and they were the ones who dislodged Elton John’s "Candle in the Wind ‘97" from the #1 spot with their Dawson’s Creek-fueled "Truly Madly Deeply."
Of course, success isn’t a new idea for the duo, who
had already conquered their native continent with a series of #1 hits and enthusiastically received concerts.
Singer Darren and "multi- instrumentalist" Daniel describe them-selves as musical soul-mates who met when Daniel, already in a band, advertised in a trade publication for a lead singer. When Darren replied and the pair realized how similar their goals were, they took off on their own.
"We connected right from the start," Darren has said. "We were both so determined, so ambitious, that meeting seemed almost like coming home."
Originally, they had trouble think-ing of a good name. They even went so far as to buy a name to use: Crush. Unfortunately, a British band with the same name had a hit soon after with a now-forgotten song called "Jellyhead," so D&D had to rethink their identity.
Rechristened Savage Garden after a passage in an Anne Rice vampire novel, the pair collaborated in earnest, with Darren writing lyrics and melodies and Daniel making the music. The response from record companies was unusually fast and positive a bidding war erupted that led to a recording contract overnight.
Despite the meteoric pace their venture had taken so far, the guys took their time recording their self-titled debut. They spent over eight months writing, recording and editing their first disc.
Darren’s approach to songwriting is unique he often tries to deconstruct what makes another song work artistically, then applies that principle to one of his own. He did that with Prince’s old hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," deciding that the key factor was unblinking sincerity. He kept that in mind as he wrote a song called "Magic Kisses" in a café late one night. He wrote the song during a period when he was apart from his wife due to their separate career demands, and that yearning seemed to shine through. Savage Garden originally recorded it as an uptempo number, but once they slowed it down, it became an aching love song. They decided to rename it "Truly Madly Deeply" after a British film of the same title about a woman whose lover dies then mysteriously reappears.
As lovely as it is, the song was almost rejected for inclusion on Sav-age Garden, until record company execs heard it and demanded that it stay. The guys were too close to the song to see its potential.
Savage Garden became the fastest-selling debut in Australian history and one of the best-selling CDs of all-time there. Here in America, the CD received a huge boost when daytime talk show queen Rosie O’Donnell fell for the lead single, "I Want You," with its infectious, nonsensical chorus and played it incessantly on the a
Along with her "Tommy," she wanted her Savage Garden.
"I Want you " hit #4 her followed by a lackluster # peak for the melancholic "To the Moon & Back After the second single fizzled it was possible that the record company would decline to release
another. Darren and Daniel crossed their fingers and were relieved when "Truly Madly Deeply" was not only released, but was also chosen as the In’ theme for Dawson’s Creek That weekly exposure helped shoot the song straight to the top.
Now, the guys are working on their follow-up CD after touring the world all summer. At least one of them isn’t concerned about matching the success of their virgin release. "Music is essentially fashion and comes from a street level. I don’t think you can predict that," Hayes has said. If that’s true, then Savage Garden is the equivalent of basic black always in style.

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