Diamond Records was a record label, based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, which was founded in 1961 by former
Roulette Records
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed ...
executive Joe Kolsky. Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year.
History
Success for the label was slow but they got their first big hit in 1962 with "
Loop de Loop" by
Johnny Thunder. That record led to a distribution deal with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
to distribute Diamond recordings on
Stateside Records
Stateside Records, styled as $tateside Records, is a British record label, owned by Warner Music Group and operates through its Parlophone and Warner Records imprints. Upon creation, it initially released licensed American recordings and is no ...
in the UK. Diamond recordings were issued in Canada by
Apex Records
Apex Records was a Canadian record label owned by the Compo Company which lasted as late as 1980.
Compo established the Apex label in July 1921 in Toronto. It released American recordings from Okeh Records and Gennett Records, among others. It al ...
until roughly 1967, when a Canadian version of Diamond was set up. All releases after that had the same logo design as the U.S. releases.
In September 1962, Phil Kahl purchased 36 master recordings of
Dave "Baby" Cortez
David Cortez Clowney (born August 13, 1938), known by the stage name Dave "Baby" Cortez, is an American pop and R&B organist and pianist, best known for his 1959 hit, " The Happy Organ".
Life and career
Clowney was born in Detroit
Detro ...
from his former label, Clock Records. Kahl then set up the ''Emit'' label to release these recordings, with Diamond distributing the records. However, the label folded after only four single releases.
In August 1963,
Del Shannon
Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit "Runaway". In 1999, he was induc ...
's relationship with his managers and
Bigtop Records had soured, so he formed his own label, Berlee Records, named after his parents, distributed by Diamond Records. Two singles were issued: the apparently Four Seasons–inspired "Sue's Gotta Be Mine" was a moderate hit, reaching number 71 in the U.S. and number 21 in the UK (where Shannon's records continued on the London Records label). The second single, "That's the Way Love Is", did not chart, and Shannon patched things up with his managers soon after. In early 1964, he was placed on Amy Records' (Stateside label in the UK), and the Berlee label disappeared.
In addition to this label, Diamond also distributed the short-lived ''Inette'' label, scoring a minor hit with Kirby St. Romain's 1963 single "Summer's Comin'", which reached number 49.
The only consistent hit maker for the label was
Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
who had a string of pop and easy listening hits for Diamond from 1964 to 1969, mostly produced by Kahl.
Kolsky and Kahl sold their interest in Diamond Records in 1968 to the Edwin H. Morris Corporation which sold it in 1970 to Certron Corporation. The Certron label folded by 1972. The fate of the Diamond catalog is unknown, but Ronnie Dove's recordings are widely available on CD.
In 1987 Dove revived the label to release a couple of singles and another album.
He owns all of his recordings made for the label, and has reissued them through Ronnie Dove Music and Real Gone Music.
Partial Artist Roster
*
Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
*
Johnny Thunder
*
Bobby Vinton
Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...
*
Gary Criss
*
Dickie Goodman
*
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
*
Dickey Lee
Royden Dickey Lipscomb (born September 21, 1936), known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie or Dicky), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs " Patches" and "Laurie ( ...
*
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris (born 31 July 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recog ...
*
The Bobbettes
The Bobbettes were an American R&B girl group who had a 1957 top 10 hit song called " Mr. Lee". The group initially existed from 1955 to 1974 and included Jannie Pought (1945–1980), Emma Pought (born 1942), Reather Dixon (1944–2014), Laura ...
*
The Bleus
*
Ruby Winters
Ruby Winters (born Ruby Forehand; January 18, 1942 – August 7, 2016) was an American soul singer: primarily recording in Nashville, Winters had several R&B hits from 1967 to 1974 but is best known for her 1977 UK Top Ten hit "I Will".
Early ...
*
Don Varner
Don Wilson Varner (25 June 1943 – 7 October 2002) was an American soul singer. Varner was a baritone who sang both uptempo soul in the northern soul style as well as ballads.
Career
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Varner grew up in the same n ...
* Kevin McQuinn (Eddie Quinn of
The Mello-Kings
The Mello-Kings were an American doo-wop group, who became popular in the late 1950s with their song, "Tonite, Tonite" (1957).
The group consisted of brothers Jerry and Bob Scholl, Eddie Quinn, Neil Arena and Larry Esposito. The quintet was formed ...
)
* Kirby St. Romain
Album Discography
The label released a total of eight albums in its entire history. The first album was by Johnny Thunder and the remaining albums were all by Ronnie Dove.
[Diamond Album Discography](_blank)
/ref>
*“Loop De Loop” (S)D-5001 – Johnny Thunder (1963)
*“ Right or Wrong” (S)D-5002 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1964)
*”One Kiss for Old Times' Sake
''One Kiss for Old Times' Sake'' is Ronnie Dove's second album for Diamond Records.
History
The album was released on the strength of two hit singles, " A Little Bit of Heaven" and "One Kiss for Old Times’ Sake", both of which were Top 20 po ...
” (S)D-5003 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1965)
*”I'll Make All Your Dreams Come True
''I'll Make All Your Dreams Come True'' is Ronnie Dove's third album for Diamond Records.
History
The title track peaked at #21 on the Hot 100 chart and #2 on the Easy Listening chart. The other single from the album, Kiss Away, peaked at #25 ...
” (S)D-5004 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1965)
*”The Best of Ronnie Dove
''The Best of Ronnie Dove'' is a 1966 compilation album by American pop artist Ronnie Dove.
History
After just three album releases, Diamond Records
Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by f ...
” (S)D-5005 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1966)
*” Ronnie Dove Sings the Hits for You” (S)D-5006 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1966)
*”Cry
Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...
” (S)D-5007 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1967)
*”The Best of Ronnie Dove Volume 2 ''The Best of Ronnie Dove Vol. 2'' is a 1967 compilation album by pop singer Ronnie Dove.
History
Diamond Records did not issue Dove's then-current single "Dancin' Out of My Heart" on this album, instead deciding to issue its B-side, "Back from ...
” (S)D-5008) – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1967)
Related Release:
*”From the Heart” D-380 – Ronnie Dove
Ronnie may refer to:
* Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...
(1988)
References
External links
Diamond Records story from BSN Pubs
{{Authority control
Mass media companies based in New York City
New York (state) record labels
Record labels established in 1961
Record labels disestablished in 1972
Record labels established in 1987
Re-established companies