Legs Diamond is a hard rock/heavy metal band that first formed in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. The band consisted of Rick Sanford on vocals, Michael Prince on keyboards and rhythm guitar, Jeff Poole on drums, Roger Romeo on lead guitar, and Michael Diamond on bass. They became quite popular on the L.A. club circuit, and opened for Kiss in 1976, before they had even signed a recording contract. They then signed to Mercury Records.
Their first album, Legs Diamond, featured their popular classic track, "Stage Fright". The second album, A Diamond Is A Hard Rock, quickly followed, and the band toured fiercely in support of the two albums, which were released in 1977. Even though the band's music sold well with fans, Mercury did little to support Legs Diamond, and the band was dropped by the label shortly after. Both of these albums were reissued on CD in 2000 by Zoom Club Records, a U.K. based label.
In 1978, Legs Diamond signed to Cream Records, and released their third album, Fire Power. But once again, the band faced a lack of promotion from their label, and the album quickly faded away. The band called it quits after that, with Michael Diamond dropping out of the music industry altogether.
What the band didn't know was that they were getting lots of airplay in the most unlikely of places, San Antonio, Texas. A local DJ for KISS-FM, Joe "The Godfather" Anthony, began playing music from his personal collection. Bands like Legs Diamond, Moxy and Triumph, while they were met with indifference in most markets, were treated like gods in San Antonio, thanks to Anthony's promotional efforts. When Legs Diamond heard of this, they decided to reform and give it another shot.
Legs Diamond reemerged as a new band in 1984, with Jim May as the new lead guitarist, and Mike Christie as the new bassist. They signed to another small label, Target Records, and released their fourth album, Out On Bail. Hits included the title track and "Walk Away". Original drummer Jeff Poole left the band shortly after, and after a short stint with drummer Jonathan Valen, the band hired drummer Dusty Watson as a permanent replacement for Poole.
Next came the album Land Of The Gun, in 1986. By this time, the band had signed a recording contract with Music For Nations, a U.K. based label, so fans in the U.S. had to buy the band's albums as imports. A single from the album, Turn To Stone, featured two unreleased tracks, "Twisted Love" and "Right Between The Eyes".
In 1990, Metal Blade Records released Legs Diamond's sixth album, Town Bad Girl. Original guitarist Roger Romeo came back to the band, replacing Jim May. Hits from this album included the title track, "Nervous", and a remake of the song "Stage Fright". A live album, Captured Live, recorded live in San Antonio, was released in 1992 on Diamond Records. Zoom Club reissued the album with a bonus CD of 5 extra live tracks in 2001.
After the tour in support of "Town Bad Girl", Roger Romeo left the band again and was replaced by Jeff Scott Marcus. Longtime bassist Mike Christie also left the band and was replaced by Adam Kury. In 1993, the band released The Wish, on Music For Nations. It was reissued by Zoom Club in 2001. It featured the hits "Wish Song" and "Paradise Lost", as well as a beautiful instrumental track by Mike Prince titled "Forever", dedicated to the late Joe "The Godfather" Anthony. In 1994, Dusty Watson left the band and joined up with Dick Dale.
In 1999, Legs Diamond unearthed some long lost classic tracks from their vault, which were recorded in 1979, but never released. This collection of songs became Uncut Diamond, their first official release for Zoom Club Records. Classic tracks here included "High School Queen" and "Winds Of Fortune". Roger Romeo and Jeff Poole teamed up and formed The Riff Rockers, a blues-rock outfit which released their debut album in 1999. They both officially rejoined Legs Diamond that year.
Legs Diamond performed their first concert in almost ten years in their favorite city, San Antonio, Texas, in 2000. Along with such classic metal acts as Budgie and Dio, Legs Diamond rocked the Sunken Gardens Ampitheatre, playing to a sold-out crowd.
By 2001, vocalist Rick Sanford had relocated to San Antonio and started to pursue other musical projects. Meanwhile, the band released their first ever greatest hits collection, Favorites Volume One, on their own Diamond Records in 2004. The album featured two brand new songs, "Loneliness" and "This Time Around". These tracks would be the last to feature Sanford on vocals.
By 2005, big changes came to Legs Diamond. Rick Sanford, who had been the band's vocalist for more than 30 years, left the band to join a local San Antonio band, The Killing Floor. Legs Diamond replaced Sanford with new vocalist John Levesque, and in late 2005, released their long-awaited eighth studio album, Diamonds Are Forever, on new label AOR Heaven Records.
In 2006, Legs Diamond plans to tour stateside and internationally in support of the new album. This will mark the first time that Legs Diamond has done an extensive tour since the 1980s. Expect big things of this classic hard rock act in the future. Diamonds are truly forever...