As a DJ in LA and San Francisco, Dave Diamond reached millions of people. As a college professor he shaped many lives. Got a great Diamond story or memory? Leave it below in the comments section.
54 Responses »
Trackbacks
- Dave Diamond: Broadcaster, Writer, Academic | Dan Patterson
- The Diamond « Dave Diamond: The Diamond Mine
- Dave Diamond Pictures « Dave Diamond: The Diamond Mine
- The Diamond « Dave Diamond: The Diamond Mine
- Diamond’s Laws to Live By « Dave Diamond: The Diamond Mine
Dave Diamond: The Diamond Mine 
Hey guys, thanks for helping build the site – I'm looking forward to hearing various stories.
I just discovered the Passing of David Diamond…..Sad …., but glad a chance to have him in my life for a short =period of time…..Allan Kenyon…KenyonCoaching. com.
Phone.353-633-1377…..The Villages, Fl.
Just testing the comments – post your Diamond stories here on the wall.
Well, how do I start about Diamond… This incredible man has helped me become the successful professional woman I am today. I attended BHSU in the late 90's. The crew of broadcasters that were in school at the same time along with The Diamond are the best people I have ever met! The most important thing Diamond ever taught me was to be myself! The thousands of other life lessons he taught were a big part of my life. I love and live by many of Diamonds Rules to Live By. I also consider this incredible man to be one of my most precious friends. His insight and wisdom speak well beyond his years! Diamond I love you!
Dave Diamond video reply from Disqus.
Hello Everyone – So i don't have a very personal story to share, but more of a general experience shared by many…
Diamond was one of the great influences in my BHSU/life experiences. From the first time you meed Diamond, your views change. With Diamond's slight direction, I soon began to understand karma and the meaning of day to day living. His text has inspired and his teachings have stirred my imagination in more ways than can be explained.
Hey all, I cam across some notes from Diamond the other day in my storage unit. I was so serious about the station then, huh? Anyway, I'm trying to get together a little essay about some of the most important discussion I had with Diamond. They were so intense and I always felt so grateful for his knowledge when I attacked a plan of action. Hopefully, it will justify his impact on our radio community and business. I'll be in touch.
Hi Mindy:
How are you. Please call me at 722-ll73, the same # which I used to call you all the time about the radio station. I have retired.
Dave Diamond
Oh man! The Diamond…I love him. There isn't a time that I sit down to write that I don't think about the teachings and advice that I have gotten from Dave. I keep Diamond's Laws in the front of my notebook. I'll leave something very honest and personal for you. Dave Diamond is one of those people that scare me. He has a way of leading you to the fire of yourself, and you are either ready to feel the heat or you're not. I'm sure he might say that was a bit cliche' but it's true.
Great site! I had Diamond for class at Buena Vista University (Iowa) and also went to LA with him for interim class. I do not go through a day when I don't use his writing and editing skills he taught in creative writing classes. I can rip apart the best of college students' writings these days with grace and honesty. A superb teacher in class and life skills. Not one to sit idle and chat, I do remember doing “laps” around the hallways of Lage as we chatted about radio show and writing assignments… one of the reasons I stayed in shape in college!
Sidney Street (Cool Hand in a Hot Fire) makes some thought provoking comments. Read it by Diamond!
Hey, Dan Patterson – Thanks so much for creating the website for Dave Diamond. We worked together in Peoria, Illinois (make him tell you THAT story) and again in Knoxville, Tennessee where we created a music publishing business based on songs I had written. You have it right about him being one of the greats. I wish you the very best in your own career. (I drifted off into television news and worked in St. Louis for five years and 22-years in Pittsburgh before retiring about ten years ago.) If I can help you with the website, just let me know. – Jack Etzel
Jsck,
It is me, Dave Diamond. Thanks for sending in your note to the website some of my former students have put up. Dan Patterson was one of my best students, and I took a personal interest in him. I made him manager of our college radio station…so he was under fire constantly, as I ran the station like it was #One in L.A. Jeez, I remember how we labored to get that damn Walleye Pike song just right. Were you there in Knoxville when I recorded that Black group? Never released a record on it but it was great. This was back in a segregated Knoxville. Pretty gamey. You were a special talent on the radio, man. I”m glad our paths crossed. Stay in touch.
Dave Diamond
Hey Dave – It's Jack Etzel. I was very happy to see your reply. My email address is pretzelman@hotmail.com in case you think of something to share with me. Yes, I was there when we recorded the black group. In fact I wrote that song, “Do The Basketball” (dribble, dribble, dribble . . .shoot it!) I'll go on the record to say that the biggest difference between radio and television is the fact that radio is actually fun, and television is not only work, but weird. I did human interest features, and was forever telling the editor, “tighten up that edit. Keep it tight.” There was no dead air in my features. Keep in touch, Dave, and thanks for the memories. – Jack
I followed Dave from Buena Vista to Morningside College. I toured BV and they kept talking about all these great things their former professor did for the mass communications department. Well, I decided to find out where he went and enrolled at M’Side. Am glad that I did. Dave was an awesome mentor, professor, and teacher.
This Web site makes my day — hi Dave!
Too, too many inspirations and memories for the moment, but I will say I’ve been “treating every job as a workshop” as instructed by Diamond back in 1992. It works. Thanks, Dave!
Dear Dave and fans–I guess I go back much further than these college students, et. I refer to the Dave Diamond on KPPC duringthe important years of underground FM, 1966-67. Nights in the Diamond Mine, listening to his fabulous and inspiring voice when he would play “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”,Donovan. Sky (RIP?)and the Seeds “Up in her Room” and the long version of”Light My Fire” And, of course The Stones long, imported “Out of Time” and Love. Was there ever more revelation in radio for my girlfriend and me, listening late into the night in her bedroom (chastely)? No. Loved you, Dave, and glad you are still active. Sincerely, John DeLaney (age,61 and still a raver, with early influences galore from Dave in the Diamond Mine!
Hi:
I can’t believe it has been so long since those golden, wonderful nights on KBLA (not KPPC). It was a real revolution on the radio. No one else would have ever played SAD EYED LADY or how about the RAINY DAZE and IN MY MIND LIVES A FOREST? Of course LOVE, DOORS, SEEDS and STONES were almost nightly musts. I remember one night the phone rang and it was Michelle Phillips of the MAMAS AND PAPAS (and we all know what a Babe she was) and she wanted to know what song I had just played and who did it. It was the Yardbirds, their first LP.
Thanks so much for the memories and for sharing those nights up in “her” room.
Dave Diamond
I remember listening to Dave Diamonds Diamond Mine back in the 60’s. I lived in Orange County, he was broadcasting somewhere in L.A.. His opening seemed to be the Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset. That was better listening than the stuff Sam Riddle was playing on KHJ am or Lloyd Thaxton was playing on his TV show. Hope Dave is still doing good these days, he was a great intertainer back then.
Dave inspired this small town girl to shoot for the moon and beyond! I am honored to have him as a teacher, mentor, and most of all friend.
I used to listen in L.A. about 1965. What was the name of the instrumental theme song then. Nice guitar work
It was great finding this website. I was a Mass Comm major at Morningside from 89-93 and did the morning show on KMSC, Morningside’s 10 watts of dangling fury, from 89-91. My favorite Daveism was “do it ’til you get caught.” There was one morning on the air that we started a contest to give away some money for the person who guessed how much snow would fall during the first snowfall of the year. We created a couple promos and started taking a bunch of calls right away.
Dave was listening in his office and called down to the studio. I answered the phone and Dave said something to the effect of “Who the hell said you could give away some money?!?” I said I thought it was a great idea and we were getting a ton of calls. People were listening! I also reminded Dave of his “do it ’til you get caught” philosophy. After what seemed like a very long pause, he said “Good job Regis – but now you’ve been caught. Next time check with me.”
Ah, those were the good old days. Thanks Dave!
Chad…aka – Regis
hi, chad:
Great to hear from you. Where are you and what are you doing. Whatever…don’t get caught.
Diamond
chad. are you there?
Dave Diamond
________________________________
Yes, how are things going?
Hello Dimond,
This is Bre, your BHSU friend. Reading Storm Lake Suite tonight.
I never saw him without his sunglasses on. I should have let him lick the run in my stockings. I guess I will never learn the blue steel principle but I will never forget the brick wall he kissed me up against and how it felt to be smitten with the mind of a true life poet.
Everyone should have memories like these.So glad I do.
Hi: Got your message. Tell me about the brick wall kiss.
DAVE DIAMOND
If this is the Dave Diamond who worked at KCBS FM in San Francisco: Hello. My first job was working with Dave while I was still in high school. Loved my job!!
Hi Dave,
Elaine Collins
Hi Elaine:
Great to hear from you. Where are you now? I remember hiring you to file records, right? My # is 605-722-1173…call me and we’ll chat.
DAVE DIAMOND
Hi:
Thanks for your post. I remember you. I hired you to file records at CBS, right?
Daave Diamond
Denver, L.A., Burbank, S.F., Pasadena…Dave was a genuine personality in a world which rarely did have real folks. I still have my Ankh from his promo on KFRC (somewhere). I visited him at KBLA and when I and a wise-ass friend friend of mine were in S.F. I said I knew Dave and my friend dismissed it. So I went to KFRC, walked in the studo and Dave belts out “Hi Charley” to me flooring my now ex-friend (who wound up on KSTN). I remember KBLA fondly with Shadoe Stevens and a host of notorious fun (?) colleagues (Dayton, Riddle, H. Harv,.etc.). I’ve compiled a collage of California Radio Jingles on YouTube/ChuckJPC. I took KSPC into the 21st century which was named the station of the year by L.A. Weekly. And now it’s mostly gone…
Hey, thanks for your post. Good to hear from you again after all this time.
Dave Diamond
________________________________
I used to listen on KBLA. It was like FM radio before there was such a thing. Now I have my own rock Oldies show on a local station (KVGC) and I try to follow his example and play stuff (mostly GOOD stuff, but whatever) that people won’t hear anywhere else. Dave was an example of the best in a time that will never come again.
Hey Dave — You probably don’t remember me, but I was there for your first two years at BV. Only had two classes with you. One was a basic communications class with way too many students — I skipped it more than I should have ;). But Creative Writing was one of the most memorable classes I ever had, undergrad or grad. I still have stories with your comments in a box somewhere. Thank you.
Dave, I was just watching a Doors special on VH1 Classics this morning that mentioned your name and made me remember you from Morningside. I just googled your name and found this site. I’m glad that you’re doing so well and hope that you are enjoying retirement. I was a mass comm minor and had a weekly gig at KMSC. I also worked as a country music D.J. throughout college at KMNS and later at KSUX when they first started. I always liked you and thought that you were way cool. I never knew why you left but I see that you must have had some dispute with the Rant’s. I too had some run-ins with Carolyn. She didn’t like our fraternity. A funny story is that when we started up KSUX (FM 105.7), the owners wanted the request line to end withe the numbers 1057. It just so happens that Carolyn’s home number was 274-1057 and she agreed to give it up for the new radio station. I was the overnight D.J. and we had 2 or 3 lines coming in dedicated to the new number. There was a glitch and when our lines would fill up, the calls would go to her house. She called me up several times that night bitching about all of the requests she was getting on her phone. Of course, she had no idea that she was talking to me (Will Murphy) was my radio name. I encouraged as many requests as I could everytime I opened the mic. Before the night was over, she was mad enough to kill. I still laugh when I think about it. I have no clue why she just didn’t leave her phone off of the hook.
As it turns out, I ended up on the SCPD as I was a better cop than D.J. I have been there 25 years and currently am in charge of the Ivestigation’s Crimes Against Persons Bureau. I still think back fondly of toting all my milk crates of albums up to the 3rd floor of Charles City Hall to do my weekly rock n’ roll show. Of course, I was and still am a big Doors fan which lead me to watching and seeing you mentioned this morning.
Take care, Pat Breyfogle
P.S. You may remember my old roommate, John Bentzinger. He is doing very well and is currently an assignment manager for a television news station in New York City.
P.S.S. I know that I played the long version of “Light My Fire” a few times on KMSC without even knowing your background with the song.
Having gone to reunions at KLA/83 UCLA, KSPC 88.7 Claremont, and recently KUOR 88.9 Redlands I appreciate more than ever the historic value of KBLA 1500 Burbank with the latter two now gone. At KSPC I created a common signature/logo for everything while all DJs were free to play anything winning L.A. Weekly’s radio station of the year; at KUOR I was the first to play dance music on the radio in the U.S. As ChuckJPC I’ve moved on to YouTube. And the best training for being a college professor at LMU was radio.
Dave Diamond played a very important part in my life. As a teenager in Los Angeles, I listened to Dave regularly. One night (’66 or ’67) he played a lot of Buddy Holly and discussed the importance of Holly. AM DJ’s at that time didn’t do that, play one artist to “hIp” the audience to something they needed to know. It was rare for Dave to do so. I knew some of Buddy’s music, but Dave also played some of the more obscure tunes. It was my first education on Holly and I became a huge fan starting that night.
Dave had great enthusiasm and taste on everything he played. I have always remembered him since. He’s the only AM DJ from that period memorable to me. Dave had an “FM” sensibility at that time; he had personality, taste and style. The DJ business is a tough gig : Dave held his own for his time slot.
I went on to UC Berkeley where I was the music critic and a DJ on KALX, the campus station, and ultimately (since 1975) became an entertainment attorney. I now represent the Buddy Holly Estate, as well as many other classic artists in music from the 50’s on to the present. So Dave was one of my first educators on contemporary popular music and he was great at it, as I am sure he is now. (If I’m not mistaken, he also interviewed Nilsson when he released his first album, who was then an unknown as to which he was prescient in discovering and promoting, and who I came to love).
I’m so pleased to see that you, Dave, have gone on to great things as a professor. I regret I cannot study under you now.
By the way, I am also the recording artist Trevor McShane making and performing tons of new music, and I also wrote the authorized biography of the great UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, The John Wooden Pyramid of Success.
Dave, I hope to meet you one of these days and thank you in person! You really did make a positive impact in my life and I am so glad I can thank you publicly. DJ’s don’t get the respect they deserve when they do a good job. This is a nice website. And you, Dave Diamond, stand out above all others. The Diamond Mine set the standard.
Let’s see…1988 Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. Introduction to Broadcasting class. I wore a Boston tshirt to class. Dave told me to take it off and never wear it again. He settled for me turning it inside out and staying in class. I guess he had a chance to sign the band and didn’t back in the day and was upset by being reminded of that. He was always trying to teach us life lessons in his classes and was the reason I went to BV. Well, that and the hot admissions counselor. lol He was not offered tenure the following year and I left and went to Iowa State and then graduated in 1993.
Thanks Rick for the memory.
________________________________
I got an ankh for listening to KFRC, and KBLA was a delight and have both as jiingles on my California Radio Jingles on YouTuble/ChuckJPC
Chuck, Thanks a lot.
Dave Diamond
________________________________
Hi there, Dave Diamond…
I’m 57 years old and I possibly heard your radio show back in the 60’s in L.A. However, I just saw this Youtube video of you and Yvonne Craig on the Dating Game. It’s awesome! So, did you really go to Ireland with her? How was it?
Back in the late 1970s very early 80s I worked the overnight shift at LAX for United Airlines and listened to a show that may have been sindicated but was hosted by I believe Dave Diamond. The show was called “Open Mind” and was kind of a forerunner to shows like “Coast to Coast AM” currently airing overnight. I believe Open Mind was on Sunday night on KFI or perhaps KABC. Am I close on this?
I have what might be the final Dave Diamond interview, and would be happy to have it posted to this (or any other) site. Let me know and I’ll send it to you. RIP Dave!
In August of1959 at radio KFOR, Lincoln, Nebraska, I was introduced to a lanky young man with a cool haircut and Buddy Holly glasses. Sid Davis had recently arrived from Florida to do a rock show from 7 to 10 pm. I was to follow him from 10 to 11 with romantic music ion “Datetime.”
Since we were thee only two people in the station during the evening, we had ample time to talk, sharing our pasts, our thoughts and or dreams for the future.From that sharing came a friendship that survived long distance separations and more than five decades. I was delighted that so many of Davy’s dreams came true both as a radio personality and as a writer He holds a very special place in my heart. I am really going to miss him!
What a walk down memory lane! I began writing to Dave Diamond in 1969 when he was a DJ at KFRC. I was a teen-ager with very low esteem living in a white ghetto neighborhood outside of San Francisco. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was reaching out to someone outside of my immediate surroundings. Who better than the person that I listened to on my radio every evening when I was doing my homework.
I made it out of the white ghetto and worked as a library technician for the Dept. of the Navy for 21 years in Washington state. I moved back to the Bay Area three years ago (the weather got to me after I retired).
I found myself reminiscing about growing up here and my memories took me back to my transistor radio days in the 60’s and early 70’s. Somewhere at my mothers house is a stack of postcards, and a couple of letters, to me from Dave. He gave me the encouragement that I badly needed at the time.
I lost contact with him in late 1970, then he left KFRC, and on to other endeavors.
So, after 40 years I want to say thank you for being there for me when I truly needed someone.
With wonderful memories,
Linda Hampton
Hi, Linda:
Thanks for the wonderful note you sent to me. It made me feel good. I left KFRC for LA in l971 and worked there for 18 years. Then I went back to school and got my MA (two of them) and a Ph.D, and became a college professor. I am retired but still teach one class every year. I live in the mountains in Western South Dakota…the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse. I was born in SD so I have come full circle. I live in beautiful Spearfish (Spearfish Canyon) and am surrounded by three mountains. I have been at Black Hills State University for l7 years.
I always answered my mail when I was at KFRC. I am happy to know it did some good. I related to all those kids out there with their transistors, as I was one myself at one time.
Best of all wishes to you,
Dave Diamonod 1024 N. 8th St. Spearfish, SD 57783
________________________________
Not sure what yoy mean by newer- older!