The Scottish singersongwriter Jim Diamond, who has died unexpectedly aged 64, guaranteed himself a niche in the annals of pop music with a trio of top five hits during the 1980s. The biggest of these was I Should Have Known Better, which topped the UK charts in 1984. But pop quiz buffs will also be familiar with I Won’t Let You Down, which Diamond recorded as a member of the trio PhD, and Hi Ho Silver, which gained priceless exposure as the theme tune for the ITV series Boon.
It was his work with PhD that first brought Diamond to general public attention. He formed the band with Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips, who had both played with Jeff Beck, and the first single from their 1981 debut album, PhD, was I Won’t Let You Down, a slick synth-pop confection with a memorably anthemic refrain that reached No 3 in the UK charts in 1982. A second album, Is It Safe? (1983), produced the single I Didn’t Know, which flopped in the UK but was successful across Europe.
Continue reading...