Detroit’s legendary Fortune Record’s biggest selling act was this group of Detroit teenagers led by unique tenor Nolan Strong. This LP, along with the follow-up, Vol. II (which Justin has), is definitly worth picking up if you can find it. Detroit had some great music going on pre-Motown/northern soul era, and this album is a prime example.
All members of Nolan Strong and the Diablos were in their early teens when they were discovered by Fortune in the early 50s. They might be best known for the haunting song, “The Wind”; my personal favorite is the more uptemp, “If I”.
listen to a clip:
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September 15th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Rockin' Richard
Nice shot of the Diablos LP. I purchased my copy about 1966 and bought it from a record store in Kileen Texas where I was stationed at Fort Hood in the Army.
They did not have the LP in stock so the man said he would order it directly from Fortune Records.
Surre enough it came in finally and made my Army days go by a little more fulfilled.
Tune into my 33 year old doowop show as of this year 2007. Tuesday nights from 6pm to 8pm East Coast Time USA at www.wnhu.net.
Can’t say which of the Diablos songs are my favorite. I guess I like em’ all.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:45 am
admin
Hey, cool Rockin’ Richard! I will tune into your show this Tuesday; in fact I’ll write a post letting other people know too.
Thanks for dropping in again.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
BetsyBird
Divine! The song “If I” was done K.O. and the Knockouts, about 5 years ago on “Sympathy for the Record Industry” label. It’s a slighly punkish, but faithful version. I bought it immediately!
KO and the Knockouts are a really neat group (I’m not sure if they’re together any longer). You can look them up on MySpace. They also do a version of Twistin’ Postman. I’m just happy that there’s a new generation that can enjoy this music and even want to do their own interp.
I first heard their version song on Sirius radio, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. What a kick! I was driving and “If I” came on, and I thought, mmm…I KNOW this song. I’m a doo-wop fanatic so I was pretty much cheering in my car!
I’d really wish I could buy a CD of Nolan Strong’s music. I bid on a vinyl copy on Ebay and bidding NEVER works out for me.
What’s REALLY driving me NUTS is that I KNOW some where I have an a cappella version, and I can not find it! Argh!
I have a turn table that converts vinyl to .wav files and I’ve been putting my own obscure records on CD.
Viva Nolan Strong and the Diablos! Thanks for the clip of the orig. “If I”!!!!
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:10 pm
admin
BetsyBird,
Thanks so much for dropping by. We hope you’ll come back again to hang out with us!
I will check that version out by KO and the Knockouts - that sounds super cool - and so does their version of the Marvellettes’ Twistin’ Postman.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:11 am
BetsyBird
http://www.myspace.com/koandtheknockouts
They’ve got “If I” on their play list.
Ah! They’re from Detroit!!! How cool is that! That ’splains the connection at little bit, because I’m wondering how they even heard this great song!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=168614127
I’ve got “If I” at my MySpace profile, AnitaLife there.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I’ve got you bookmarked!
October 4th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
admin
I listened to the Knockouts version - very cool! They remind me of another Detroit garage group with a girl lead singer, The Avatatars.