The Diamonds were a Canadian vocal quartet of the 1950s and early 1960s who rose to prominence performing mostly cover versions of songs by black musicians. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass).
In 1953, Dave Somerville was working as a sound engineer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Canada. One of the shows produced at the CBC was Pick The Stars, a local talent show. He noticed four gentlemen practicing in the hallway for that show, and stopped to listen. After exchanging niceties, Somerville offered to be their manager. This group was composed of Stan Fisher, Ted Kowalski, Phil Levitt, and Bill Reed. They agreed and for the next several months, Somerville provided tutoring, and got practice time in un-occupied studios at the CBC.
That Christmas, the group was to sing for a Christmas party at a local church. That date conflicted with lead singer Stan Fisher's studies for a law exam; Fisher decided he needed the study time. Since Somerville knew all the songs, he took Fisher’s place. The audience reaction to the Somerville-led group was so tremendous that the group that night decided to turn professional. In one fateful decision Fisher decided to stay in law school and not continue with the group. Somerville became the permanent lead, and that was the night The Diamonds were born.
By 1955, all members of the group had left college, and/or jobs to sing full time. Professional musician Nat Goodman became their manager and got The Diamonds onto Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on American television. The result of the contest was a stalemate between The Diamonds and another contestant. The prize of being guest artist for a week on Godfrey’s show led to a recording contract with Coral Records. Coral released four songs, the most notable being "Black Denim Trousers & Motorcycle Boots", a cover of a recording originally by The Cheers. The Diamonds' version sold a few thousand copies, which was only enough to get them a little local recognition.
The next big step was an audition with Cleveland, Ohio, radio disc jockey Bill Randle, who had aided in the success of some popular groups, such as The Crew Cuts. Randle was impressed with The Diamonds and introduced them to Mercury Records, who signed the group to a recording contract. At this time, black artists were not played on white radio stations. Mercury Records, as well as other major record companies, were designating white artists to cover the recordings of black artists for the purpose of expanding their listening audience.
The Diamonds’ first recording for Mercury was "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," a cover of Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers’s version, which reached #12 in the U.S. as their first hit. They had a hit follow-up single, "The Church Bells May Ring" (originally by The Willows), which reached #14 in the U.S. They also covered songs by such black groups as The Clovers and The Heartbeats. The Diamonds biggest hits were 1957's "Little Darlin'" (originally recorded by The Gladiolas) and 1958's "The Stroll", which was not a cover, but an original song written for the group by Brook Benton, from an idea by Dick Clark.
Although they were signed to do rock and roll, Mercury also paired them with Pete Rugolo in one of his "Meet" series. The album entitled "The Diamonds Meet Pete Rugolo" allowed The Diamonds to return to their roots and do some established standards. The group sang "Little Darlin'" and "Where Mary Go" in the film The Big Beat, and sang the theme song for another film, Kathy-O.
They had many television appearances, including the TV shows of Steve Allen, Perry Como, Vic Damone, Tony Bennett, Eddy Arnold and Paul Winchell. They also appeared on American Bandstand.
