The “Golden Hits Of The 60s“
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GENE & DEBBE
PLAYBOY
(Gene “GENE” Thomas)
TRX 5002
No. 17 April 13, 1968
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Gene Thomas was born on December 28, 1938, in Palestine, Texas. In his early 20s, he gathered
a youthful C & W following with his self-penned rockaballads “Sometime” (#53, 1961) and
“Baby’s Gone’ (#84, 1964). In 1967, while a staff songwriter at the Acuff-Rose music-publishing
house, Gene met an aspiring country singer from Nashville named Debbe Neville. Gene had
some new SONNY & Cher-type tunes that he thought could make Gene and a female sidekick
into a lucrative pop act. Debbe agreed to give the songs a shot, and singer/songwriter Don Gant,
before his days with the NEON PHILHARMONIC, produced the sessions.
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“Go With Me,” their first folkie-flavored 45, charted at number 78 in 1967, and was followed by
“Playboy.” Gene & Debbe’s future looked bright; they appeared on TV shows and made the
nightclub rounds. Later in the year, their third single, “Lovin’ Season,” reached number 81 on
the Hot 100, but only briefly. Nothing the duo recorded would ever sell as well as these disks.
Gene returned to his staff position at Acuff-Rose, and Debbe disappeared into the wilds of
anonymity.