Diamonds Complete Singles As & Bs 1955-62 CD

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.

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