More than Gold, It Was…Diamonds!

When I was 14, I asked for a record-player for Christmas.
Since my dad did not want me wearing out his old 78-RPM big band records, he also agreed to get my own record collection started off by including five 45-RPM records of my choosing.
I can’t recall exactly what I chose for records two through five (Elvis and Chuck Berry most likely were in that group), but I remember what my first choice was — Little Darlin’ by the Diamonds.
And through the years, I’ve never grown tired of listening to the calypso-beat of that ground-breaking number (though my original recording was long ago misplaced, broken, or handed-down).
Those of us who came of age during that era of real rock ‘n roll, usually have lists of songs we consider as “anthems,” if you will: Rock Around The Clock, Johnny B. Goode, At The Hop… and Little Darlin’ sits atop many of those lists.
I heard The Diamonds perform live back in the 1960s, and their lounge act was surprisingly entertaining, in that they did more than sing their hits. They were funny, talented, kept the audience at a steadily excited pitch, and brought us all to our feet with their finale, which hit the high note — literally — with Little Darlin’.
Expect nothing less when you attend this year’s Fabulous 50 Concert at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oct. 15 featuring, among other great acts from the 50s, “Diamond” Dave Somerville — The Diamonds’ original lead voice.
“It was a little easier for performers (to get started) back in the 50s,” Somerville said in a recent telephone interview. “When The Diamonds starting recording for Mercury, the very next day we got into our Oldsmobile station wagon and started across the country, visiting DJs.
“If we were driving along and saw a radio station not on our list, we simply pulled in and talked to the DJ, asking him to play our song.”
Today, one technician in a glass booth handles hundreds of radio stations with pre-programmed music, so contemporary performers must go a different route, literally and figuratively, according to Somerville. And that often means winning a TV talent contest in 21st century music circles.
Even after rock ‘n roll performers “made it” back in the early days, the promotional tour was far more literal than it is now.
“In 1957,” Somerville related, “We (Diamonds) went on a 60-day bus tour with other acts. That just doesn’t happen today.”
That 1957 tour is “relived” in Somerville’s new CD — On The 1957 Rock & Roll Greyhound Bus. The CD is a live 50-minute performance by Somerville, wherein he recounts the story of that tour and does many of the songs made popular by the artists on that bus: Paul Anka, Clyde McPhatter, Frankie Lymon, Chuck Berry, LaVerne Baker, The Drifters, Buddy Holly…
It is an amazing CD — for both the stories and the songs.
Somerville will be doing much of the same thing as he (The Diamonds — who are not appearing in Wildwood — today are led by Gary Owens) performs at the Fabulous 50s Concert, Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Oceanfront Arena at the Wildwoods Convention Center, 7 p.m.
“That will be the basis of my show,” he said. “Telling those stories and doing those songs.”
No stranger to the area, Somerville was in Wildwood for The Diamonds’ 2004 induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
“And we once opened for Steve Lawrence at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. He could not follow us,” Somerville explained, almost sheepishly.
Dave Somerville not only was the original lead singer for The Diamonds, he was also with another great popular group — The Four Preps — for 18 years.
“I sang every part from tenor to bass,” he said. “I could hit about four-and-a-half octaves, so I had a pretty wide range.”
You can hear Somerville hitting those octaves as he tell those stories about the halcyon days of what many of us who grew up during that era call, “real rock and roll.”
Tickets can be obtained by calling (609_ 729-4000, or visiting http://www.gwcoc.com.
Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster at (800)-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.
As years pass, we tend to grow somewhat weary of listening and re-listening to those songs that were played, and played, and played over our favorite Top-40 stations when music was one of the most compelling influences in our lives.
But to this day, I still get the tinge of anticipation every time I hear the opening tap…tap…tap of the drummer, followed by the strum of the piano keys, just before The Diamonds open up the lyrics…
“Yaaaaaaa…Ya-ya-ya,ya…Oh Little Darlin…”