Dave Somerville
| Dave Somerville | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | David Troy Somerville |
| Born |
October 2, 1933 Guelph, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | July 14, 2015 (aged 81) Santa Barbara, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Associated acts | The Diamonds |
| Website | www |
David Troy "Dave" Somerville (October 2, 1933 – July 14, 2015) was a Canadian singer operating primarily in the United States, best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of The Diamonds, one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s.
Born in Guelph, Ontario, Somerville grew up in a musical family in the nearby farming village of Rockwood, 50 miles west of Toronto. In 1947, at the age of 14, he moved to Toronto with his parents and brother Marc, where he entered Central Tech to study architecture and building construction. He changed the focus of his studies to radio, and in 1952, at the age of 19, secured a position at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the engineering department as a radio operator while concurrently studying voice with Dr. Ernesto Vinci at the University of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.
In the hallway of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the fall of 1953, Somerville met by chance an unnamed quartet (Stan Fisher, Ted Kowalski, Phil Levitt and Bill Reed) and soon became their vocal coach. Later that year when Fisher opted for college, Dave became the group’s lead singer. That quartet became The Diamonds.
On August 1, 1955, the group tied for first place on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in New York City. In February 1956 with the recommendation of Cleveland’s genius DJ, Dr. Bill Randle, they signed a long-term contract with Mercury Records. Somerville performed eight years with The Diamonds, singing lead on all sixteen of their Billboard chart selections, peaking with the song “Little Darlin';” for eight weeks, this selection remained at #2 on the charts, becoming the third best selling single record of 1957. Multiple appearances on American Bandstand, The Perry Como Show, and The Steve Allen Show increased Dave's visibllity. In August 1961, he left The Diamonds.
After leaving the Diamonds, Somerville married Judy Corns of Evansville, Indiana, and began a six-year solo career as a folk artist, using the stage name David Troy. During this period, Somerville also studied acting, with Leonard Nimoy as his teacher, and made numerous guest-starring appearances, often credited as "David Troy", on various television programs.
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