AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Diamonds

Artist:The Diamonds

Song:Little Darlin'

Album:Complete Singles As & Bs 1955-1962

The 1957 single Little Darlin' was the biggest hit for the vocal group The Diamonds. They had some other hits but Little Darlin' was the most memorable. Like another vocal group The Crew Cuts, The Diamonds were from Toronto. The lead singer of The Diamonds was Dave Somerville. He was born Oct. 2, 1933 in Guelph. But he went to high school at Central Tech in Toronto. After graduating, he got a job as a radio operator in the engineering department at the CBC. And he was studying voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music. At the CBC, Somerville met Ted Kowalski, Phil Leavitt and Bill Reed. They formed The Diamonds. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts got them a record deal with Decca's Coral label. Four singles were released with no success. They auditioned for Cleveland DJ Bill Randle who discovered another Canadian vocal group The Crew Cuts. And as he did with The Crew Cuts, Randle got The Diamonds a record deal with Mercury's Wing label. Their first single for Wing was a cover of Frankie Lymon's Why Do Fools Fall in Love?. It reached #12 on the singles charts. So now Mercury and musical director David Carroll knew they had something. Though The Crew Cuts had success, they were similar to vocal groups like The Four Lads. The Diamonds had more flair. After a few more singles, Mercury hit the jackpot when the 1957 single Little Darlin' reached #2 on the pop charts. It was another doo wop cover of a song by the Memphis based group The Gladiolas. The original was never a hit. And I know it's blasphemy to say this but The Diamonds' version is better than the original, especially Somerville's lead vocal and the spoken word part by Reed. So Producer Carroll imitated the original and also improved on it. The Diamonds' other big hit was the 1957 single The Stroll. By the late 50s, Somerville was the only original member remaining with three new guys. They left Mercury in 1962. All their singles are on this 2CD comp from the British reissue label Acrobat. After Somerville left The Diamonds in 1961, they became a fixture in Las Vegas. There were even two versions of The Diamonds which ended in a lawsuit. The original Diamonds reunited for the 2000 PBS show Doo Wop 51. A version of The Diamonds continues to tour today with no original members. Here's The Diamonds performing Little Darlin' on the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show Feb. 21, 1959.