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 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. The only consistent hit maker for the label was Ronnie Dove who had a string of hits for Diamond from 1964 to 1969.
Kolsky and Kahl sold their interest in Diamond Records in 1968 to the Edwin H. Morris Corporation[4] which sold it in 1970 to Certron Corporation.[5] The label folded by 1972. The fate of the Diamond catalog is unknown, but Ronnie Dove's recordings are widely available on CD, mostly from Collectables Records.
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.[6]
In 1987 Dove revived the label to release a couple of singles.[7] He claims ownership of his own recordings made for the label.[8]