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Dianne James
Don't Go / The Time Has Come - 7"
Arc - 1965
Michael Panontin
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If we are to believe the hype in RPM back in the day, Dianne James was headed for the big time. A March '65 issue gushed that the teenage singer from Saskatoon was "ambitious and on [her] way to stardom", adding that she had many assets, among them "looks, personality and talent". Of course, Canada's industry bible back then was no doubt referring to James' debut single, 'Don't Go', a catchy ode to unrequited love that she wrote and recorded when she was just nineteen years old.
James had begun her singing career in the clubs in Edmonton, and after issuing a split single with Allan Lee and the Peppermints in 1964, she caught the ear of Don Eckess, billed by RPM as "an energetic Canadian starmaker". With Eckess at the helm, the young singer found herself headlining at The Mayfair Club with a group called the Shamrocks as well as performing on the locally produced CBC-TV show, Teen Tempo.
Eckess and James travelled to Winnipeg to record a session for Arc Records, which led to this deliciously dreamy seven-inch. 'Don't Go' was a strong first effort and betrayed a confidence that was rare amongst female singers at the time, especially one still in her teens. None other than the Ottawa Journal's Sandy Gardiner sung its praises, writing that James "demonstrates vocal talent galore" and that "her self-penned effort could quite easily happen".
Things certainly looked like they were about to happen for Miss James. A Jan. 28 appearance on the nationally broadcast Music Hop show in Toronto no doubt netted her some valuable exposure. Then a month later she traversed the country as part of the Shower of Stars tour that featured, among others, J. Frank Wilson and the Larks. And by March 1st, her cherubic face was plastered across the cover of RPM. After three singles that year, she finished third in the Top Female Vocalist category in the RPM Music Awards.
And then strangely the trail went cold. James left Arc in 1966 ostensibly to sign with Edmonton's short-lived Pace label, but there is no record of any release on that imprint. Nor on any other for that matter, and by 1967 the talented songwriter and vocalist had already faded into obscurity.
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