Diane Ray (1 September 1945 – 14 March 2020) was an American
pop and rock and roll singer of the early 1960s. She is best known for her 1963
hit single, "Please Don't Talk to the Lifeguard". Without any further
chart presence, Ray remains a one-hit wonder.
Petite blonde Carol Diane Ray grew up in Gastonia, North
Carolina, about 20 miles west of Charlotte. By the time she graduated from
Ashley High in 1963 she'd been performing around town at dance hops and private
parties, sometimes with local band The Continentals. In July she entered a
talent competition in Charlotte, winning a unanimous first place vote over more
than one hundred other entrants. Mercury Records A&R head Shelby Singleton
was on the judging panel and offered her a contract on the spot. In short order
the 17-year-old was in Mercury's Nashville studios making her first recordings.
"Please Don't Talk to the Lifeguard," produced by
Jerry Kennedy (who usually worked in Mercury's country division), came out of
that session, the tempo a tad faster than Andrea Carroll's original, clocking
in at an economical 1:42. Andrea, by the way, finally appeared on the charts in
July with "It Hurts to Be Sixteen" on the Bigtop label, soon finding
herself competing with Diane Ray (sans first name), who debuted two weeks later
and ultimately climbed higher with a remake of Andrea's two-year-old
"Please Don't Talk" song.
When Diane's single was released, Gastonia radio station
WLTC played the song every ten minutes throughout an entire day; rival station
WGAS also put the record in heavy rotation. Diane was offered a chance to do a
daily radio show on WLTC; for several months she had a weekday slot from 3:05
to 4PM, a unique distinction considering there were very few female radio hosts
to be found anywhere. Father Bill Ray acted as her manager and kept a tight
rein on the proceedings. In September, Diane's brisk take on the dilemma a girl
faces when she carries a torch for a "hands-off" lifeguard hit the
national top 40.
Summer ended and a new single was unleashed, the
Shelby-produced "Where is the Boy." Written by Ben Raleigh and Mark
Barkan (who penned "She's a Fool" and other hits for Lesley Gore), it
seemed to have the right elements to be a teen-angst smash along the lines of the
gold records Gore had been accumulating since spring. But a smattering of
airplay in a few scattered cities failed to help it reach the charts.
Autumn turned to winter and Diane sang about building a
"Snow Man" to take the place of a cheating former boyfriend; the
single was promoted during the holiday season, though it had nothing to do with
Christmas. She'd done enough material for an album, so Mercury released The
Exciting Years, which included one final single in early 1964, a remake of the
mid-'50's tune by Art Crafer and Jimmy Nebb, "No Arms Can Ever Hold
You."
Diane had one exciting year, at least, before her life in
Gastonia took a different, less glamorous, turn. As her recording career was
wrapping up, movie houses from coast to coast were screening Fun in Acapulco
starring Elvis Presley, whose character in the film fit the image, perhaps, of
the ideal 1960's lifeguard, just the kind of guy a love-struck young lady might
go to dangerous extremes over, as evidenced in the lyrics of Diane Ray's one
hit song: '...guess I'll swim way out into the sea...and then I'll meet him
when he rescues me!'
After 1963, Diane Ray fell off the record charts, off the
radar and out of the spotlight. Whatever happened to the “gal who made
lifeguard famous” is still to be discovered, as she’s left no online trail
behind. Some sources say that after a short tour she gave up the music business to start a family.
The latest news was that Diane Peoples Waldrop, of
Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away March 14, 2020.Age 74.
(Mainly edited from an article by Michael Jack Kirby @ Way back
attack)
3 comments:
For “Diane Ray – The Exciting Years (1964)” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/12221870/Diane_Ray_-_The_Exciting_Years__1994_.rar.html
01 Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard 1:42
02 That's All I Want From You 2:36
03 Happy, Happy Birthday Baby 2:13
04 That Boy's Gonna Be Mine 2:05
05 Snow Man 2:18
06 My Summer Love 2:00
07 Just So Bobby Can See 2:13
08 No Arms Can Ever Hold You 2:34
09 Tired Up With Mary 2:22
10 Slow Dancing With Don 2:02
11 Where Is The Boy 1:55
12 You'd Be So Proud Of Me 1:50
THANK YOU FROM AUSSIE
So glad to find out what happened to Diane, but so sorry she passed away. I grew up in her hometown of Gastonia. As my older sister was in High School, I listened to her album over and over and still have a copy. I always hoped I would find out where she was to get the album autographed.
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