Song:The Stroll
Album:The Best Of The Diamonds: The Mercury Years
The Diamonds were one of the most popular doo wop groups of the late 50s. They were known for covering black doo wop songs but The Stroll was an original song and was one of their two biggest hits. They were from Toronto led by lead singer Dave Somerville (born Oct. 2, 1933 in Guelph, ON). Somerville was working as a sound engineer at the CBC in Toronto in 1953 when he met a vocal group consisting of Stan Fisher, Ted Kowalski, Phil Levitt & Bill Reed. Fisher wasn't able to make a show due to a law exam so Somerville filled in and the crowd reaction was so strong, he took over as lead singer. In 1955, The Diamonds appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. This led to a contract with Coral Records that went nowhere. But it was enough to get the attention of Cleveland DJ Bill Randle and he got them a deal with Mercury Records. At the time, white radio stations wouldn't play black artists so record companies were looking for white groups to cover black doo wop songs. The Diamonds' biggest hit was Little Darlin' which was written by Maurice Williams and originally recorded by The Gladiolas. But the idea for The Stroll came from watching kids dance on American Bandstand. Veteran songwriter Clyde Otis wrote The Stroll and his partner Brook Benton produced it. It reached #4 on the pop charts and went gold. And a dance craze was born. The Diamonds had some additional hits until Somerville left in 1961. This comp covers all their Mercury recordings. Somerville became a folk singer and later took up acting and has done a lot of voice over work. Various versions of The Diamonds have toured the oldies circuit and Somerville has joined occasionally including this performance of The Stroll on the PBS Doo Wop 51 show.
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