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The Blue Diamonds
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Blue Diamonds was a vocal duo of the brothers Ruud and Riem de Wolff. They were born in Batavia, present-day Jakarta, and came to the Netherlands with their parents in 1949, where the family settled in Driebergen-Rijsenburg. As teenagers they sang at school parties in bands such as The Cool Cats. The word Blue in their name referred to a colonial-era slur for Indonesians; the brothers turned it into a badge of defiance.
Music and breakthrough
Their repertoire consisted mainly of songs by The Everly Brothers, and the press called them the Dutch-Indonesian Everly Brothers. Their debut single was a cover of (Till) I Kissed You. In 1960 came the breakthrough with Ramona, a song originally written for a film from 1928. Their version stayed in the Dutch charts for months, sold a million copies in Germany and even reached the American Billboard chart. Other successes from that period were Oh Carol and Little Ship. In the early 1960s they toured Indonesia with Anneke Grönloh, and in the 1980s they recorded records there in Malay.
Influence
The Blue Diamonds belonged to the generation of Indo musicians who came to the Netherlands after decolonisation and carried on the rock 'n' roll and close harmony from America there. After Ruud's death in 2000 Riem went on performing for years. In 2025 a statue of the duo was unveiled in Driebergen-Rijsenburg.
Listening
Ramona · The Blue Diamonds, 1960Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1960Always...
- 1961Till We Meet Again
- 1971Seth en Willeke in Scheveningen
- 1980Zingend tussen twee werelden
- 1982Layang-Layang
- 1982The Blue Diamonds
- 1987Right Back
- 1995The Blue Diamonds
- 1997Star Gala
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 2: Youth Cultures 1950-1980NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Indopop Genre
The brothers Riem and Ruud de Wolff, The Blue Diamonds, had a number one hit in Germany and the Netherlands in 1960 with Ramona.
- Ramona Song
In 1960 the Indo-Dutch brothers Riem and Ruud de Wolff, as The Blue Diamonds, had a big hit with Ramona, an old American song that they sang in two-part harmony, with soft guitars.