Dave Somerville, the original lead singer for the Canadian group the Diamonds, died from cancer in Santa Barbara, CA on Tuesday at the age of 81.
Somerville was born in Guelph, Ontario to a musical family and grew up in Rockwood. At the age of 14, his family moved to Toronto where he, at first, studied architecture and building construction before changing his courses to a radio concentration.
At the age of 19, he became an engineer at the CBC while, at the same time, studying voice at the University of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. While at the CBC, he met three other men who were interested in forming a singing group and the Diamonds were born.
The group practiced for 18 months, playing occasional shows around Toronto, before going to New York where they appeared on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. They won the program which led to a guest spot on the show and a contract with Coral Records. They recorded four songs for the label but not were a hit.
They next auditioned for Dr. Bill Randle, a DJ in Cleveland who had ins in the industry and, through his contacts, they were signed to Mercury Records. Their first single for the label, Why Do Fools Fall in Love? went to number 12 on the Billboard and 2 on the Cashbox charts.
The followup, Church Bells May Ring, went to 14 but it was in early 1957 that their career really took off with their record Little Darlin’. The record was a huge hit, going to number 2 in Billboard on both the Pop and R&B charts and number 3 in the U.K., establishing them as a major group.
The Diamonds became popular guests on many of the variety shows of the day and their constant exposure led to six more top twenty hits including Silhouettes (1957 / #10) and The Stroll (1957 / #4).
Somerville left the group in 1961, changing his professional name to David Troy and singing folk music until 1967. He also studied acting under Leonard Nimoy and made a number of appearances including an episode of the original Star Trek. He later signed with the William Morris Agency who repped him as a voice over artist for hundreds of commercials.
In 1967, he joined the Four Preps and, on the side, started a comedy act with Bruce Belland called Belland & Somerville. The two also wrote the song The Troublemaker which was recorded by Willie Nelson.
During the 70’s, Somerville formed the group WW Fancy with Keith Barbour (Echo Park) and Gail Jensen and, later, sang with the Diamonds and, once again, The Four Preps. He also wrote a song called The (Ballad) of the Unknown Stuntman which inspired Glen Larson, an original member of the Four Preps, to develop the show The Fall Guy. A reworked version of Somerville’s song was used as the theme.
Finally, in the 90’s, he turned to children’s music, recording the album The Cosmic Adventures of Diamond Dave.
As a member of the Diamonds, he is a member of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, The Doo Wop Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
The Diamonds top twenty hits:
Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (1956 / #12)
The Church Bells May Ring (1956 / #14)
Little Darlin’ (1957 / #2 Pop / #2 R&B / #3 U.K.)
Words of Love (1957 / #13 Pop / #12 R&B)
Zip Zip (1957 / #16 Pop / #12 R&B)
Silhouettes (1957 / #10 Pop / #6 R&B)
The Stroll (1957 / #4 Pop / #5 R&B)
Kathy-O (1958 / #16)
She Say (Oom Dooby Doom) (1959 / #18)
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