A million hits for local lad David James and Daniel O’Donnell duet

David James’ duet with Daniel, called ‘Don’t Take the Good Times for Granted’ racked up an incredible 1.3 million views online in just three days.

Posted to Daniel’s Facebook page, the video, made by Shane Doyle of the Garage Project, has been viewed and shared right across the world.

The new track was released on Friday, January 29 on the DMG TV label and was written by Inishowen-based singer-songwriter Shunie Crampsey, who has compiled many hits over the years.

The song is a conversation between a younger man and an older man and David told the Journal how it is fitting for the times we find ourselves in.

The young man is quite anxious about life and asks the older man for his advice which is “don’t take the good times for granted”.

David, who is also a presenter on Highland Radio, told how he and Daniel were supposed to form a duet at a concert organised by the station. However, this was cancelled due to pandemic restrictions.

The pair kept in touch and came up with the idea of recording a duet.

David spoke to Shunie, who asked him his views on life.

“I said that we take things for granted too easily. He then came up with the song and how it’s a conversation between an older man and younger man. It’s very relatable at the moment and appropriate. I think it has truck a chord with people and it’s easy to relate to.”

David and Daniel are delighted with the song’s success.

“We hoped we might get 100,000 views but to top over a million in three days is incredible. Even for a star of Daniel’s calibre, it’s his biggest video on his Facebook page to date. We’re just delighted.”

Daniel O’Donnell said: “I am delighted with the reaction to the video online – it is great to see so many people are enjoying the new song. It was good to have been able to get together with David James to record this duet – I think he has a great future ahead of him in the music business. Thanks also to Shunie Crampsey for writing the song, he is a fantastic songwriter.”

David has a lot planned for the year ahead and has already written songs with another well-known country music star, Derek Ryan, These will be released throughout the year, with an album at the ‘back end of the year’.

‘Don’t Take the Good Times for Granted’ is available for download on iTunes and to stream on Spotify now.