Diamonds- Diamonds – Complete Singles As & Bs 1955-62

The Diamonds were a Canadian vocal group who scored a string of US hits during the latter half of the 1950s, primarily as their record company Mercury’s vehicle for cover versions of hits from the R&B charts which they recorded in more pop-oriented style for mainstream radio stations and the pop charts. The litany of such songs, which first came to the fore as hits for doo wop groups in the R&B charts, is fascinating, as they covered Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”, The Willows’ “The Church Bells May Ring”, The G-Clefs’ “Ka-Ding-Dong”, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs “Little Darlin'”and The Rays’ “Silhouettes” to register significant chart successes, along with other notable hits like the dance craze “The Stroll”. In between those opportunist outings, they ran the gamut of the current styles, embracing rock ‘n’ roll and pop ballads alike, as Mercury used them successfully as a medium for making the new music that was taking over the pop scene more acceptable for middle America. This great-value 64-track 2-CD set comprises the A and B sides of all their US singles during the period, plus some titles which were only released on singles in the UK and Australia. It naturally includes all their successes in the pop charts, and so represents a thorough overview of their core career, and an insight into an intriguing strand of pop during that era.

Tracklist:

1. Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots
2. Nip Sip
3. Be My Lovin’ Baby
4. Smooch Me
5. Why Do Fools Fall in Love
6. You Baby You
7. The Church Bells May Ring
8. Little Girl of Mine
9. Love, Love, Love 1
10. Ev’ry Night About This Time 1
11. Ka-Ding-Dong 1
12. Soft Summer Breeze 1
13. My Judge and My Jury 1
14. Put Your House in Order 1
15. A Thousand Miles Away 1
16. Ev’ry Minute of the Day 1
17. Little Darlin’ 1
18. Faithful and True 1
19. Words of Love 2
20. Don’t Say Goodbye 2
21. Zip Zip 2
22. Oh, How I Wish 2
23. Passion Flower 2
24. Straight Skirts 2
25. Silhouettes 2
26. Daddy Cool 2
27. Honey Bird 2
28. The Stroll 2
29. Land of Beauty 3
30. High Sign 3
31. Chick-Let’s (Don’t Let Me Down) 3
32. Patsy 3
33. Kathy-O 3
34. Happy Years 3
35. Where Mary Go 3
36. Walking Along 3
37. Eternal Lovers 3
38. She Say (Oom Dooby Doom) 3
39. From the Bottom of My Heart 4
40. Gretchen 4
41. A Mother’s Love 4
42. Sneaky Alligator 4
43. Holding Your Hand 4
44. Young in Years 4
45. The Twenty-Second Day 4
46. Walking the Stroll 4
47. Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula 4
48. Tell the Truth 4
49. Real True Love 5
50. Slave Girl 5
51. The Pencil Song 5
52. You’d Be Mine 5
53. The Crumble 5
54. You Short Changed Me 5
55. I Sho’ Lawd Will 5
56. The Munch 5
57. Woomai Ling 5
58. One Summer Night 5
59. It’s a Doggone Shame 6
60. The Horizontal Lieutenant 6
61. The Vanishing American 6
62. Oh, Carol 6
63. Believe Me 6
64. San Antonio Rose