The Diamonds 1957-1958

Phil Levitt announced his intention to leave The Diamonds in favour of returning to University to complete his course. He had grown weary of the "musician's lifestyle" of constantly being on the road and the realisation that even with a big hit to it's credit, the group still had to work hard and long to earn a living. Phil left the group in mid 1957 and was replaced - at the request of Bill Reed - by baritone Mike Douglas, who had in fact been a lifelong friend of Tedd Kowalski. Mike and Tedd were children of Polish immigrants (Mike's name, by birth was Dlugosz) and they knew each other via their parents who attended similar social functions. So it could be said that the first two Diamonds who actually met were Tedd and Mike - although they didn't immediately get the opportunity to sing together professionally.
Mike is also significant in the fact that in the days before Tedd went to college, he and Tedd used to sing together with another lifelong friend of Mike's - Bob Danko. Bob, Tedd and Mike would sing together whenever they could. Since Toronto was a nursery for vocal quartets, singers were in great demand. It was Bob who introduced Mike and Tedd to a friend of his - Bill Reed. It is also interesting that in the Easter of 1953, the quartet of Mike, Bob, Bill and Tedd were rehearsing in a band shell on Elizabeth Boulevarde in Toronto when they spoke about naming the group. Mike's suggestion was "The Cavaliers". Bill came up with "The Boulevardiers", whilst "The Four Diamonds" was also suggested. The group however did remain unnamed and eventually disbanded when Tedd went off to University.
Mike Douglas joined the original three Diamonds in mid 1957 and learned his vocal lines whilst on tour. At this stage The Diamonds were well and truly on the crest of a wave in the light of their chart hits "Little Darlin'", the follow-up "Words of Love" and "Zip Zip". Mike's first efforts in the recording studio with the original three yielded more hits, including two more million sellers - "Silhouettes" and "The Stroll". "The Stroll was the biggest selling dance record of the fifties and hit the charts in December 1957.
In 1958 the hits continued, albeit at a slower rate. "High Sign", "Kathy-O" (from the movie of the same name) "Happy Years" and "Walking Along" were all top 30 chart hits in that year. In late 1958 Bill Reed and Tedd Kowalski both announced their desire to retire from the group. Tedd's initial replacement was Ray Gangi, who had previously been with Dicky Doo and the Don'ts, whilst Canadian Bryan Hook was set to replace Bill Reed. Neither ray nor Bryan were with The Diamonds long enough to be heard on record however, and the tenor spot was eventually taken by Evan Fisher - originally from Cleveland Ohio, but a then resident of California. Evan had been in the navy, and prior to that had sung with an early iteration of The Four Preps.

Dave Somerville, Mike Douglas, Bill Reed, Tedd Kowalski - Late 1957

Dave Somerville, Bill Reed, Mike Douglas and Tedd Kowalski. Backstage 1958

Dave, Mike, Bill and Tedd on stage