Dave Somerville (born Oct 2, 1933) is a Canadian singer
mainly known for his leading vocal role in the Diamonds, one of most popular
vocal groups of the 1950s.
Dave grew up in the small town of Rockwood, Ontario, Canada.
At the age of 14, he moved to Toronto. After high school he entered Central
Tech to study architecture. Because of his musical background, and also a
talented singer himself, he soon realized that architecture was not for him. He
left the Central Tech and got a position as a radio operator at the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation. Not to neglect his singing, he was also studying
voice under the teaching of the respected Dr. Ernesto Vinci.
By chance, in the hallway at the C.B.C., Somerville met an
unnamed quartet (Stan Fisher, Ted Kowalski, Phil Levitt, and Bill Reed), and in
a very brief moment of time became their manager and tutor. Later that year,
because of Stan Fisher's decision to stay in school, Dave Somerville became the
group's lead singer. That quartet became The Diamonds.
Somerville had great successes with The Diamonds, spending
approximately 8 years as lead singer. Somerville reached his peak moment with
his famous song "Little Darlin", which reached no. 2 on the charts,
and as Somerville had said, “It would have reached no. 1 if it hadn’t been for
that danged Elvis”. With multiple appearances on American Bandstand, this good
looking singer with an undoubtly great voice and great smile could evoke
screams and sighs from many fans regardless of their age.
In 1961, Somerville left the Diamonds and went solo under
the name of David Troy. He joined The Four Preps in 1967, singing the bass
part. Somerville was the first replacement member for the Preps. In 1969 he
concentrated on folk music with a former member of the Four Preps, Bruce
Belland. The duo appeared in concerts, TVs, and spent time as regulars on the
Tim Conway Show. From 1972 to 1974, Somerville found the group WW Fancy. In the
late 80s he again sang with original members of the Diamonds on occasions. He
also returned to the Four Preps, and somehow found time to organize another
group called the Somerville’s Diamonds.
He has acted in many TV shows, including Star Trek: The
Original Series. He co-wrote the theme song for the series, “The Fall Guy”,
staring Lee Majors. He is greatly in demand as a voice-over artist in
Hollywood. In his club act, the 1957 Greyhound Bus Tour has been a crowd
pleaser for some time. In more recent ventures, Somerville is singing in a
group called “Triple Gold”, with Jim Yester & Bruce Belland. This trio
represents the groups, “The Association”, “The Four Preps”, and “The Diamonds”,
singing hits from all three groups.
He performs today under the name of "Diamond Dave"
Somerville. (info Wikipedia)
2 comments:
For The Best Of The Diamonds – The Mercury years go here:
http://uptobox.com/th79f15jvh4a
1 Why Do Fools Fall in Love
2 The Church Bells May Ring
3 Cool, Cool Baby
4 Ka-Ding-Dong
5 My Judge And My Jury
6 Ev'ry Minute Of The Day
7 Little Darlin'
8 Zip Zip
9 Don't Say Goodbye
10 Words Of Love
11 Dance With Me
12 Daddy Cool
13 Silhouettes
14 The Stroll
15 Walking Along
16 High Sign
17 She Say (Oom Dooby Doom)
18 Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula
19 Oh! Carol
20 Believe Me
21 Chimes In My Heart
22 One Summer Night
Zip Zip sounds cool. Thanks.
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