The 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 doowop 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.