Blue Diamonds
Ramona
Ruud de Wolff (born May 12, 1941, died December 18, 2000) and Riem de Wolff (born April 15, 1943, died September 12, 2017) were born in Indonesia. Together with their parents and siblings, they came to the Netherlands in 1949. At a concert, they were discovered by a talent scout and signed under the name "Blue Diamonds." Their first single, "'Till I Kissed You," a cover version of the Everly Brothers' hit song, sold so well that further cover versions were immediately produced. The "Blue Diamonds" premiered their song "Ramona," a new recording of a waltz from the 1920s, on a Dutch television program, and it was an instant hit with the audience. After selling over 250,000 singles in the Netherlands, the Blue Diamonds also released the song in German (1960, reaching number 1), Spanish, and French. "Ramona" became the duo's biggest hit and even charted in the American Billboard Top 100. Numerous TV appearances across Europe followed, as well as further chart successes such as "Ein Schiff fährt nach Schanghai" (1961, number 13), "Wie damals in Paris" (1961, number 3), "Down By The Riverside" (Norway 1961, number 2), and "Blaues Boot der Sehnsucht" (1962, number 13). After a hiatus due to their conscription into military service, the two brothers resumed their career in 1963 and achieved a few more chart successes. In the following years, things became quieter for the "Blue Diamonds", but they could still be seen occasionally as guests in TV oldies shows.