BEFORE I BECAME A FRIEND OF DAVE DIAMOND, I LISTENED REGULARLY TO HIS RADIO SHOW. SINGER/SONGWRITER PATTI DAHLSTROM TOLD ME THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE FEW DISC JOCKEYS ON THE AIR WHO COULD PLAY WHATEVER HE WANTED AND DIDN’T RELY ON A PROGRAM DIRECTORS TASTE OR OBLIGATION.
AS GENERAL MANAGER OF WARNER BROTHERS MUSIC I WOULD PLAY HIM THE BEST NEW MATERIAL THAT CAME ACROSS MY DESK REMEMBERING HIS CLASSIC PRODUCTION OF “INCENSE AND PEPPERMINT” BY THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK…WHICH KEPT RUNNING THROUGH MY MIND AS I READ HIS OBITUARY IN THE L.A. TIMES.
August 7, 1936 – May 5, 2014 S.I. Davison, Jr. a/k/a Slide Davison, a/k/a Dave Diamond, 77, died on Monday, May 5, 2014 at his home in Spearfish, South Dakota. Mr. Davison was born and raised in Howard, South Dakota and attended Howard Grade School and Howard Public High School. He was a member of several Howard Tiger championship athletic teams in both basketball and football. He was named to the All-Conference basketball team three years in a row. He also medaled in track and won two city golf championships. After graduation, Mr. Davison attended Louisiana State University for two years. He played basketball with the Tigers in 1955 and 1956. He transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he graduated with B.S. degrees in journalism and history. He also attended Northwest Missouri State University and received an M.A. in English Literature. Mr. Davison changed his name to Dave Diamond when he joined KOIL Radio in Omaha in 1960. He became one of rock radio’s earliest stars. His broadcasting career took him from Lincoln-Omaha to Knoxville, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. His legendary radio show, “The Diamond Mine,” became one of the most popular and highest-rated shows in the history of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
He wrote, and performed music for Columbia Records, Universal City Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Claridge Records. Through his publishing company, Black Hills Music, he was the publisher of the #1 song of 1967, “Incense and Peppermints.” Dave finished his radio career as a late night personality at KFI in Los Angeles, the most powerful radio station in America. His talk show was heard all night throughout western America, Canada, Mexico, and Hawaii. While working in Los Angeles, Dave attended UCLA and the University of Southern California. He graduated summa cum laude from USC with a master’s in fiction writing from the USC Professional Writing Program. He also has a Ph. D. in holistic studies from Columbia Pacific University and an associate of arts degree in religious science from the Institute of Religious Science in Los Angeles. He spent the rest of his life studying the teachings of Paramahansa Yoganada. Dr. Diamond had several books published and one play produced. He was the author of the popular SLADE western series. His short stories won several national prizes including the Midwest Fiction Prize awarded by the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature at Michigan State University, a Negative Capability Fiction Prize from the University of South Alabama, and his poem, “Navigating the Migration,” won the Kansas State Poetry Contest. His play, The Deals are Going Down, had a long and successful run in Los Angeles..
for the complete obituary click onto http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=dave-diamond&pid=171018511&fhid=4902
PATTI DAHLSTROM, WHO WAS THE FIRST TO TELL ME OF DAVE DIAMONDS PASSING REMINDED ME OF AN INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES.
| “I called David to thank him for playing and promoting my record, Emotion, on L.A. radio. He came to see me perform at the Troubadour and our friendship began, which lasted over 40 years. Lunches every Sunday where we shared our thoughts, our writing, and our spiritual quests are very special memories of my life. When I was cutting my third album, my producer, Bill Schnee, and I would take various mixes of “Sending My Good Thoughts to You” to David at the station. Artie Wayne and I had written it when Jim Croce died, and It was an important track for me on the album. It was a sensitive mix as it was primarily Larry Knechtel on piano and my vocal with few overdubs. David would play the new mix and Bill and i would drive around Beverly HIlls and listen to the station until it was played. Then we’d go back to radio station KISS and get the mix and talk to David about it. With his input and our opinions, we’d remix it and repeat it again night after night until it was right. David got a kick out of helping us, and we had so much fun with his not saying anything about the artist or song, just dropping it between other tunes. He was so much fun and one of the funniest people I have ever known in my life. David was also one of the most loyal people who ever walked through the show business corridor. We will meet again my dear friend and confidante. I know you are now with Carter whooping it up. Will see you again, as I’m counting on your being at the gate when I cross. Thank you for everything, old friend. I love you, David.” |
DAVID I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE FOR THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN GENERAL AND ME IN PARTICULAR. MAY YOU R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY.
RESPECTFULLY, ARTIE WAYNE https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/celebrating-two-million-views-today-on-artie-wayne-on-the-web/
HERE IS THE SONG THAT PATTI DAHLSTROM AND I ORIGINALLY WROTE FOR THE LATE JIM CROCE, WHICH WE’D ALSO LIKE TO DEDICATE TO DAVID.
PHOTO AT THE TOP BY PATTI DAHLSTROM
Copyright 2014 by Artie Wayne
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