Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs, better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde, was a Dutch Australian bass player. Born in the Dutch town Hilversum, Diamonde emigrated to Australia with his parents when he was four years old. The family lived in the Villawood migrant hostel in western Sydney after arrival, where Diamonde was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness.
The Easybeats
Diamonde is best known for his contribution to the Australian music scene. He was one of the original members of the band The Easybeats, Australia’s greatest rock group of the mid to late 1960s. The group formed in 1964 at Villawood: all band members were immigrants from western Europe. Alongside Diamonde was fellow Dutch migrant Johannes van den Berg (known as Harry Vanda), English migrants Snowy Fleet and Stephen ‘Stevie’ Wright, and Scottish migrant George Young. Vanda was the lead guitarist. Diamonde and Young also played guitar. Wright was the band’s lead singer and Fleet was the drummer. Fleet was the only band member not living at Villawood; he was at the East Hills Migrant Hostel in south-western Sydney.
The Easybeats played together until they disbanded in 1969. In that time they produced six albums and 15 songs that appeared in Australia’s Top 40 list, including ‘Friday on My Mind’, ‘Sorry’, ‘St Louis’, and ‘For My Woman’. Their last album, Friends, appeared in 1970 after the group parted ways. In 1986 they reunited briefly for a two-month tour of Australian capital cities. The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 1969 Dick Diamonde married Charlene Collins, a singer/dancer, but they divorced some years later. In his later years he retired in New South Wales.
Diamonde passed away on 18 September 2024, aged 76.
Sources:
- “The Easybeats”, Good Neighbour, 1 June 1967, p.4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176531637
- “A family reunion for the Easybeats”, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 15 October 1969, p.8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51284425
- David Fricke, “The Easybeats: Where are they now?”, Rolling Stone, 11 September 1986, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-easybeats-where-are-they-now-106418/
- ARIA Hall of Fame, https://www.aria.com.au/hall-of-fame/
- “Vanda and Young 1965-1983”, 4therecord, 19 July 2021, https://4therecordcom.home.blog/2021/07/19/vanda-and-young-1965-1983/
- Paul Cashmere, “RIP Dick Diamonde of The Easybeats”, Noise11, 22 September 2024, https://www.noise11.com/news/r-i-p-dick-diamonde-of-the-easybeats-20240922
