1960s In 1964, Danny Diaz and the Checkmates released the single "
Wonderful World" backed with "
Stand by Me" on
Diamond. Interestingly on the single, the A-side was credited to Barbara Campbell. The song was originally composed by Lou Alder and Herb Alpert with additional input from Sam Cooke. On the week ending December 12, 1964, the single entered the Hong Kong top ten at No. 8. On the week ending December 26, it was at No. 6. On the week ending January 2, 1965 it reached its peak position of No. 3. It stayed in the charts until the week ending January 23. In 1966, the group released "It's So Easy" b/w "
She's So Fine" on Diamond. It was also released in Australia on the Stateside label. In 1969, they recorded the song "Solomon Grundy" backed with "Goodbye Baby" which was released in the UK on
Pye. Having won the "Battle of the Bands" competition, which was organized by Levi Strauss, and a $10,000 recording contract with
Trend Records, they were pictured in the February 8 issue of
Record Mirror with composer
Eric Allandale and two other
Foundations members,
Alan Warner and Tony Gomez. The Foundations were hosting the group who were in London for the single's launch, and Foundations manager
Barry Class had arranged for them to visit the UK.
1970s to 1990s In the 1970s, Danny Diaz formed the Danny Diaz trio with his brothers Rudy and Romeo. Around the mid-1970s, Danny Diaz moved to Canada. ==Discography==