FROM THE VAULTS: Ruud de Wolff born 12 May 1941

Sunday 12 May 2024

Ruud de Wolff born 12 May 1941

The Blue Diamonds were an Indonesian and Dutch 1960s rock and roll duo who sang in English, German, French and Spanish and sold 14 million records throughout their career. They were best known for their million-selling chart-topping single, "Ramona". 

Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) brothers Ruud de Wolff (12 May 1941 – 18 December 2000) and Riem de Wolff (15 April 1943 – 12 September 2017) founded the group shortly after immigrating to Driebergen-Rijsenburg in the Netherlands in 1949. They were born in Batavia (now Jakarta), Indonesia. 

                                   
                                      

Called the "Dutch– Indonesian Everly Brothers", the Blue Diamonds covered many Everly Brothers songs, but became famous in 1960 with their version of "Ramona", a song originally written for the 1928 film, Ramona. The song was written for promotional appearances with Dolores del Río (star of the film) but not featured in the film itself. The Blue Diamonds up-tempo version of it reached the American Billboard Hot 100 at number 72 in 1960. It sold over 250,000 copies in the Netherlands (the first record to ever do so) and over one million copies in Germany by 1961. 

Ruud De Wolff

Although their last hit was in 1971, they continued to perform together up until Ruud de Wolff died from bladder cancer at the end of the year 2000. After the death of his brother in 2000, De Wolff continued to make music. He also performed with his son under the name The New Diamonds. Although Riem De Wolff was diagnosed with cancer in his lungs and liver in August, he continued to perform and release albums until his death at a hospital in Blaricum, Holland on September 12, 2017. He was 74.

 (Edited from Wikipedia) 

3 comments:

boppinbob said...

For” The Blue Diamonds – The Dutch Everly Brothers (2024 Jasmine)” go here:

https://www.imagenetz.de/bMWk3

1. (Till) I Kissed You
2. Oh Carol
3. We Got Love
4. Let It Be Me
5. Pretty Blue Eyes
6. Cathy's Clown
7. Stairway To Heaven
8. Ramona
9. All Of Me
10. White Christmas
11. Sing Mit Uns Das Alte Heimwehlied (Simba-Jo)
12. Dreamy
13. Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Honolulu Strand Bikini
14. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
15. Save The Last Dance For Me
16. In A Little Spanish Town
17. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
18. Ahoi-Ohe (Are You Sure)
19. Traum Von Mir
20. Little Ship
21. Jealousy
22. Carmen My Love
23. Ein Schiff Fahrt Schanghai (Red Sails In The Sunset)
24. Die Blaue See (Alo-Ahe)
25. Rio Nights
26. When Day Is Done
27. Dream Baby
28. Marching Along With The Blue Diamonds (Old Soldiers Never Die; Pack Up Your Troubles; It's A Long Way To Tipperary)
29. Lili Marlene
30. Lady Sunshine & Mr Moon
31. Angelina, Lass Das Weinen (Goodnight Ladies)
32. Warmed Over Kisses

FLAC FILES

At the turn of the 60s, THE BLUE DIAMONDS were the biggest Pop duo in Europe, notably in Holland, Belgium, West Germany, Austria and Scandinavia. Their early successes were with note-for-note covers of contemporary US R&R hits, including ‘(Till) I Kissed You’, ‘Let It Be Me’ and ‘Cathy’s Clown’, which earned them the sobriquet ‘The Dutch Everly Brothers’, but their biggest record was a rocked-up revival of an ancient film theme, ‘Ramona’, originally a million-seller for Gene Austin way back in 1928. They also charted heavily with covers of ‘Oh Carol’, ‘Are You Sure’, ‘Little Ship’, ‘Dream Baby’, etc. This compilation presents the Very Best of their output between 1959-62, and includes all their major hits. (Jasmine notes)

A big thank you goes to J.B. for suggesting The Blue Diamonds and for the Flac copy of above album.

Richard said...

Dit is prachtig, dank U.

This is beautiful, thank you. Some time ago you posted about Sandra Reemer, and now The Blue Diamonds.

Unknown said...

Many Thanks for returning to Imagenetz, boppinbob!

Hana-Bi