Dave Somerville
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David Troy Somerville (October 2, 1933 – July 14, 2015) was a Canadian singer best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of
The Diamonds The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...
, one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s.


Biography

Born in
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Somerville grew up in a musical family in the nearby farming village of Rockwood, 50 miles west of
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. 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.


Years with the Diamonds


Formation of the Diamonds

In the hallway of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
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.


Prominence

On August 1, 1955, the group tied for first place on ''
Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...
'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 ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'', ''The
Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
Show'', and ''The
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and ...
Show'' increased Dave's visibility. In August 1961, he left The Diamonds.


Career after the Diamonds


The 1960s, including the "David Troy" years

After leaving the Diamonds, Somerville married Judy Corns of
Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...
, 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 Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...
as his teacher, and made numerous guest-starring appearances, often credited as "David Troy", on various television programs. Around this time, he became one of the clients of the
William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...
, which has since merged with the
Endeavor Talent Agency The Endeavor Talent Agency was a Beverly Hills–based talent agency founded by Ari Emanuel, Rick Rosen, Tom Strickler, and David Greenblatt. It was launched in March 1995 and went on to represent a wide variety of acclaimed film and television s ...
to become the present-day William Morris-Endeavor agency. As such, he did extensive voice-over work and was heard in hundreds of radio, television and cable advertisements. In 1967, Dave joined
The Four Preps The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s and 1960s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums. Their million-selling signature tunes included " 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)", " Big Man", "Lazy Summer ...
as a replacement for Ed Cobb, the original bass singer. In 1969, he and Bruce Belland, the Four Preps's original lead singer, concentrated on a folk/comedy act as the duo of Belland & Somerville. As such, they appeared in concert with Henry Mancini and Johnny Mathis and were regulars on ''The
Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where he port ...
Show,'' a
CBS-TV CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
prime-time comedy series. As songwriters, Bruce and Dave co-wrote "The Troublemaker," which became the title track of two
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
albums; and the duo sang in a later roster of the Four Preps with Jim Pike of The Lettermen.


1970s and 1980s

In 1972, Somerville formed the group WW Fancy, which also included Keith Barbour and Gail Jensen as members. In the late 1980s, he again sang with original members of The Diamonds and also returned to The Four Preps with Bruce Belland, Ed Cobb and
Jim Yester James Yester (born November 24, 1939) is an American musician. He is a member of the sunshine pop group the Association, who had numerous hits on the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts during the 1960s, including "Windy (The Association song ...
of The Association. In 1972, Somerville sang background vocals along with
The Blossoms The Blossoms were an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording career in th ...
in B. J. Thomas' version of " Rock and Roll Lullaby". Somerville's song " The (Ballad of the) Unknown Stuntman," jointly written and composed with Jensen, inspired Glen Larson, who had been the Four Preps's original baritone, to create the central characters and develop the core format of ''
The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action-adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It stars Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonl ...
,'' for
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
Television, which became a highly successful television series for ABC-TV. With additional lyrics written by Larson, "The Unknown Stuntman" became the theme song for ''The Fall Guy'' and was sung by series star
Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series '' The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television sc ...
. Somerville's home in the Hollywood Hills was used as the set for the home of Majors' character, Colt Seavers, throughout the series.


1990s and beyond

His first children's album was titled ''The Cosmic Adventures of Diamond Dave.'' It contained many original songs and characters and received critical acclaim in the U.S. and Canada. The Diamonds have been honored and inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame, The Doo Wop Hall of Fame, The Rockabilly Hall of Fame and are recipients of Canada's Juno Award. Somerville's last stage show, ''On The 1957 Rock & Roll Greyhound Bus'', was based on rock and roll’s first major tour. In it, he told road stories and sang the songs of such pioneer jukebox giants as
Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...
& The Crickets,
Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...
,
The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...
, and
Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
.


Family

In 1967, Somerville's only child from his marriage to Corns, David Orlando Somerville, was born.


Death

Somerville died of pancreatic cancer in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
, on July 14, 2015, at the age of 81.


Filmography


Television

* Double Dare, Co-Star, NBC * Automan, Featured, 20th Century Fox * Fall Guy, Featured, Co-Wrote Theme, Glen Larson Productions * Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Co-Star, Universal * The Gathering, Star, Metromedia * Rooster, Principle, 20th Century Fox * McCloud, Co-Star, Glen Larson Productions * Star Trek TOS, Featured, Paramount * Tim Conway Show, Star, CBS * Steve Allen, Guest Star, NBC * Merv Griffin Show, Guest Star, KTTV * Billboard Awards, Star, CBS * Tonight Show, Guest Star, NBC * American Bandstand, Guest Star, Dick Clark Productions * Tony Bennett Show, Guest Star, NBC * Midnight Special, Guest Star, NBC * Henry Mancini Special, Guest Star, NBC * Smothers Bros. Special, Guest Star, NBC * Spider-Man, principal, Universal * Perry Como, Guest Star, NBC * Mike Douglas Show, Guest Star, Mike Douglas Productions * Doo Wop 51, Star, PBS Special * Magic Moments, The Best of 50s Pop, Star, PBS Special


Films

*The Big Beat, Star, Universal *A Sign of the Times, Star, Orsatti Productions *The Doberman Gang, Principle, Rosamond Productions


Stage

*Two Dreams Met, Spence Baldwin, Theatre 206, Los Angeles *Dew Drop Inn Sam, Cast Theatre, Los Angeles


Awards as a member of The Diamonds

*1984 Received a
Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
and inducted into the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honour Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The award presentation is held each year as part of th ...
. *October 2004, Inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...
in Sharon, Pa. *2006, Inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.


References


External links


Official website
*
Fan site for The DiamondsGreg Morris' Tribute to The Diamonds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Dave 1933 births 2015 deaths Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California Male actors from Ontario Musicians from Guelph The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni