Playboys develeop variety technique

By Sharron Cauthen - Oxford Eagle

A practice session of the playboys usually does not find them this well-dressed. They consented to don their blue blazers and white trousers, however, especially for the EAGLE camera. They are from left, Wattsy Watts, rhythm guitar; Mike Strachn, coronet and vocalist; Kenny Gunion, drums; David Freeman, lead guitar; Byron Ellis, bass guitar; and Mac Wimbish, lead vocalist.

A new band has appeared on the entertainment scene in the Oxford ara. The group is called The Playboys, and their theme is versatility, a theme backed upwith a lot of good sound, one might add. These entertainers are Mac Wimbish, lead vocalist, David Freeman, lead guitar; Wattsy Watts, rhythm guitar and piano; Kenny Gunion, drums; Mike Strachn, vocalist and trumpet; and Byron Ellis, bass guitar.

The Playboys organized about five months ago and Mac, Kenny and David are the only three who were part of the original group. The first appearance of the band was their performance in the Batesville High School D.E. Club Talent show this past November. They won first place in the band division of this event, playing under the name of The Starfires.

"We plan to play our way through our last year of high school and then through college," comments David, spokesman for the group. The boys are all Oxford High School juniors, except Wattsy, who is in the seventh grade. "He carries his weight in the band, though," David responds, when asked about Wattsy's age difference.

"We don't copy the style of any one group," Mac explains as he describes the band's technique. "As a matter of fact," he adds, "we try to pick the best songs from each. If one of us likes a song, we all learn it. That way we are able to use a variety of numbers."

Adaptability might be a good way to pinpoint the technique the Playboys have chosen to pursue. "We use a lot of the latest songs, plus quite a few of the old standards," David says. "We try to learn what our audiences like and choose numbers to please them."

Some of the songs the boys have chosen to learn come as a result of their liking fro a ceratin group or style.  David says he likes the Beatles, mainly because they have set the trend in popular music. The Four Seasons appeal to Mac, because as he says, "As a singer, I'm interested in a group that has capitalized on singing. They have a style all their own.

As a drummer, Kenny naturally favors the Dave Clar Five, because he considers their drummer great?? I don't know because the article was continued on page 4 and I don't have page 4. So, I we don't know that Byron likes the Byrds and Mike likes the Kinks and Wattsy . . . what does Wattsy like? If anybody has the rest of the article, let me know.  DBF.