"Diamond Head" is an instrumental by

the Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

in Japan and Hong Kong. It also charted in the United States in both the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' and '' Cashbox'' charts. It was written by

Dan Hamilton Dan Hamilton is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'', played by actor Adam Astill. He first appeared in the series thirteen episode "Blue Valentine", broadcast on 15 February 2011. Dan is a consultant orthopaedic sur ...

Background

In addition to being recorded by

, it has also been covered by

Aqua Velvets Aqua Velvets are an American surf rock revival band from San Francisco, California, formed in the 1980s by guitarist Miles Corbin. Rather than simply recreate the vintage 1963 surf sound, Corbin set out to add depth and dimension with original song ...

, and

Susan and the Surftones Susan and the Surftones is an American surf instrumental band. The band is considered part of the “third wave” of surf-revivalist bands that formed in the 1990s. The band was started in 1993 in Rochester, NY, by lead guitarist Susan L. Yasins ...

. It was also covered with Japanese lyrics by Joō-sama as an OP for the anime adaptation of ''

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo , often shortened to and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station (kōb ...

''.

Charts

For the week ending March 13, 1965, "Diamond Head" had moved up two notches from #4 to #2 in the Hong Kong Top Ten. The following week it had reached #1 there. The song became Japan's first million-seller and sold more than 1,850,000 copies there. It was a hit in Iran and got to #70 in the US.''Walk-Don't Run - The Story of the Ventures'', By Del Halterman -
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References

{{authority control 1965 songs 1965 singles The Ventures songs Instrumentals Surf music Rock instrumentals 1960s instrumentals Surf instrumentals Songs written by Dan Hamilton (musician) Song recordings produced by Dick Glasser