On this day in 2002 Darius made his debut appearance on the legendary music show ‘Top Of The Pops’ were he performed his No. 1 hit single ‘Colourblind’
Speaking in his 2003 book ‘Sink Or Swim’ Darius said:
“It was a childhood dream to appear on Top Of The Pops. I had watched so many great performances on it over the years, and I couldn’t help thinking about my favourites as I made my way to the Top Of The Pops studios. ‘Karma Chameleon’ by Culture Club, Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ and Wham singing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’. I had also been entranced by the sight of Kylie bouncing around in a shoulder fit top and big hoop earrings to ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ I think joined a nation of young boys at the time who dreamed that she might babysit for them one day!
No longer on a student budget, I was finally able to wear the clothes that I’d always wanted to wear. I decided on ripped-up denims and a designer shirt for my first Top Of The Pops appearance. Then the director asked me to start the song with my back to the audience. Well, that’s a bit boring, I thought.
A few minutes later I walked past a guy painting in the hall. Suddenly, I had an idea. I had recently been referred to as an ‘underdog’ by a fan and I liked it. I asked the painter if I could borrow his paintbrush, then lay my expensive shirt on the ground and scrawled underdog on the back. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”
Photos of Darius backstage with the show's presenter Lisa Snowdon:
"Performing ‘Colourblind’ on Top Of The Pops was a dream come true. And I was petrified. I think I sang the wrong lyric on the second verse.
Everyone cheered. As we performed the first run-through, there was a technical problem but they let us play to the end of the song because the crowd were really going. There was more cheering when I was asked to play it again. It made me tingle. Nobody told me it feels so good.
‘Colourblind' was no longer simply about the colours of the emotions that you go through when you're in a relationship. It reflected the colours of emotions that I'd experienced on my journey through the highs and lows. I remembered feeling black and blue, feeling jaded. Suddenly the lines ‘You’re the light, you’re the light when I close my eyes’ took on a different meaning. After so much darkness, the light was so bright it was almost blinding.
I was finally doing what I’d always dreamed of and people were supporting me. They thought I was an alright guy. Thinking about it gave me a sensory overload. I was blown away, even though I didn’t know then that in the press the next day, people would see the slogan on my shirt and like it, or that eventually Colourblind would go on to sell 350,000 copies and be one of the radio hits of the year."
Photos of Darius taken during the recording of the episode can be seen below:
Watch the performance below: