Cover them, they're black! We may get hate mail from Diamonds fans for bringing this up, but The Diamonds sort of did what was prevailent back then, "borrowed" a song written and originally recorded by a black group, The Marigolds, who we believe had the better version in the first place. We'll post the original version in audio on our Forgotten 45's for you to decide.

In addition to The Crew Cuts, one of the leading white-cover-black groups of the mid-'50s were The Diamonds adapted current R&B hits into pop gold of their own. Hailing from Toronto, the Canadian quartet (consisting of Ted Kowalski, Phil Leavitt, Bill Reed, and Dave Somerville) signed with Mercury in 1955 and immediately zoomed up pop play lists with covers of the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"; the Willows' "Church Bells May Ring"; and their biggest hit of all, a sanitized version of the Gladiolas hit "Little Darlin'." Fronted by David Somerville (who also sang with several known big band "pop" groups, the quartet hit with an original, the smooth dance outing "The Stroll." After weathering major personnel changes, the Diamonds notched their last hit in 1961. Somerville remained active as a solo artist for a time, and the Diamonds often toured the oldies scene. ~

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