BARRY LEVINE: Somerville had long, successful career

The start of the modern rock ‘n’ roll era in July 1955 brought more than a unique music style to the American scene.

The era also generated a plethora of new dance styles from its inception until “The Twist” by Chubby Checker exploded on the global scene in 1960.

Perhaps the most popular of the new dance crazes during that span was “The Stroll.”

Clyde Otis and Nancy Lee wrote “The Stroll” and a Canadian group, The Diamonds, recorded it in 1958.

Headed by lead singer Dave Somerville, The Diamonds were trying to follow two Canadian super groups, the Four Lads and Crew-Cuts. The Four Lads had six Top 10 hits and their signature song is “Moments to Remember.” The Crew-Cuts had five Top 10 hits and their best-known songs were covers of “Earth Angel” and “Sh-Boom.”

The Diamonds version of “The Stroll” was a No. 1 hit.

Somerville, who was the co-founder of The Diamonds, died on July 14 at age 81 of pancreatic cancer.

“The Stroll” was first performed to “C. C. Rider” by Chuck Willis, an Atlanta native, on “American Bandstand” in 1957.

In the dance, two lines of dancers, men on one side and women on the other, face each other, moving in place to the music. Each paired couple then steps out and does a more elaborate dance up and down between the rows of dancers. “American Bandstand” host Dick Clark said the dance was similar to the Virginia reel.

Somerville was working as a sound engineer for the Canadian Broadcasting Co. in Toronto in 1953 when he offered to become the singing coach for four contestants who were auditioning at the company.

The Diamonds first reached national prominence when their cover of “Little Darlin’ ” spent eight weeks at No. 2 in the spring of 1957. The original by Maurice Williams& The Gladiolas barely managed to break into the Top 50 earlier in the year. Williams later formed Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs who had a No. 1 hit with “Stay” in 1960.

The Diamonds’ version of “Little Darlin’ “ was the third biggest record of 1957, trailing only Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” and Pat Boone’s “Love Letters in the Sand.”

“Little Darlin’ “ just set the stage for “The Stroll.”

The Diamonds had 16 Top 40 hits with Somerville as the lead singer, many of which were covers of songs by black artists.

Somerville remained with The Diamonds until 1962 when he left the group to work as a solo act as a folk singer.

Somerville then joined The Four Preps in 1967 as a replacement for Ed Cobb, their original bass singer. The group gained fame in 1958 with two Top 5 hits – “26 Miles” and “Big Man.”

Two years later, Somerville and Bruce Belland, The Four Preps’ original lead singer, concentrated on a folk/comedy act as the duo of Belland & Somerville. They appeared in concert with Henry Mancini and Johnny Mathis and also were regulars on several TV shows.

Nicknamed “Diamond Dave,” Somerville later performed with a variety of acts and had a full schedule until his death.

This week in rock history — The Bee Gees had the first of several disco style hits when “Jive Talkin” topped the charts on Aug. 9, 1975. … Little Stevie Wonder, 13, had a No. 1 song with “Fingertips – Pt. 2” on Aug. 10, 1963. It was the first live recording to reach the top spot since Johnny Standley’s 1952 comic monologue “It’s in the Book.” … A flood of new releases reached the charts on Aug. 11, 1962, that became major hits. They included Mary Wells’ “You Beat Me to the Punch,” Albany’s Ray Stevens’ “Ahab the Arab,” The Marvelettes’ “Beechwood 4-5789,” The Contours’ “Do You Love Me,” The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari” and Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

On Aug. 13, 1959, Georgia’s own Brenda Lee recorded “Sweet Nothin’s,” which became her breakthrough hit and launched her Hall Of Fame career. …Johnny Burnette, 30, drowned on Aug. 14, 1964, after being knocked unconscious by a cruiser’s collision with his fishing boat at Clear Lake, Calif. His version of “You’re Sixteen” was a Top 20 hit in 1961. …Ben E. King led The Drifters to the top of the charts with “There Goes My Baby” on Aug. 15, 1959. The record was one of the first to pair strings with a Black vocal group.

Barry Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].