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Little Darling
#2 in 1957
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The Diamonds were a Canadian quartet of the 1950s and early
1960s who rose to prominence performing 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 amenities, Somerville convinced the
four that, in his opinion, they were not ready for the competition and
offered to be their manager. 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
studies for a law exam of Stan Fisher, the lead singer and Fisher
decided he needed the study time. Since Somerville knew all the songs,
he took Fisher’s place. The audience reaction to the Dave
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.
Diamond Dave Somerville is still active today. The Diamonds now feature
Joe Finetti (Lead) Jerry Siggins (Bass) Bobby Poynton (Tenor) and Gary
Owens (Baritone), they can be seen at the Venice Little Theater every
January. |