Diamond Records
Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky.[1] Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year.[2]
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 to distribute Diamond recordings on Stateside Records in the UK.[3] Diamond recordings were issued in Canada by Apex Records 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.
The only consistent hit maker for the label was Ronnie Dove who had a string of hits for Diamond from 1964 to 1969, mostly produced by Kahl.[4]
Kolsky and Kahl sold their interest in Diamond Records in 1968 to the Edwin H. Morris Corporation[5] which sold it in 1970 to Certron Corporation.[6] The Certron label folded by 1972. The fate of the Diamond catalog is unknown, but Ronnie Dove's recordings are widely available on CD.
Gary Criss, who later fronted the group The Glass Bottle, recorded several singles for Diamond in the early to mid 60's. None of these records charted. Criss would later have a disco hit with the song "Rio de Janeiro" for Salsoul Records. Other notable artists who have appeared on Diamond Records include:
- Bobby Vinton
- Dickie Goodman
- Mitch Miller
- Dickey Lee
- Russell Morris
- The Bobbettes
- Ruby Winters
- Don Varner
- Kevin McQuinn (Eddie Quinn of The Mello-Kings)
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.[7]
In 1987 Dove revived the label to release a couple of singles and another album.[7] He owns all of his recordings made for the label, and has reissued them through Ronnie Dove Music and Real Gone Music.[8]
Album Discography[]
- “Loop De Loop” (S)D-5001 - Johnny Thunder (1963)
- “Right or Wrong” (S)D-5002 - Ronnie Dove (1964)
- ”One Kiss for Old Times' Sake” (S)D-5003 - Ronnie Dove (1965)
- ”I'll Make All Your Dreams Come True” (S)D-5004 - Ronnie Dove (1965)
- ”The Best of Ronnie Dove” (S)D-5005 - Ronnie Dove (1966)
- ”Ronnie Dove Sings the Hits for You” (S)D-5006 - Ronnie Dove (1966)
- ”Cry” (S)D-5007 - Ronnie Dove (1967)
- ”The Best of Ronnie Dove Volume 2” (S)D-5008) - Ronnie Dove (1967)
Related Release:
- ”From the Heart” D-380 - Ronnie Dove (1988)
References[]
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1961-10-16). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 4.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1962-01-27). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 8.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1963-01-26). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 28.
- ^ Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts, the 1960s (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2008), ISBN 978-0898201758, pp. 123-124. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1968-05-04). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 3.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1970-05-30). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 3.
- ^ a b Diamond Album Discography
- ^ "Real Gone Music - News - Ronnie Dove". www.realgonemusic.com. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
- ^ "Diamond Album Discography".
External links[]
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- 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