Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407020016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Best known for "This Diamond Ring," a No. 1 song in 1964, the band was one of the few American acts to score a hit during the British invasion.
That invasion, led by the Beatles, inspired Lewis, and some college classmates to form their own band. He had been searching for some way to break into show business and rock 'n' roll appealed to him.
In a recent telephone interview, Lewis said music allowed him to make a name for himself, apart from his famous father - comedian Jerry Lewis.
He purposely stayed away from acting.
"I didn't want to be compared to him," Lewis said.
Lewis and the Playboys were discovered in 1964 after a record producer saw them perform top 40 music at Disneyland. From there, the band skipped through the charts, with their first seven releases reaching Billboard magazine's top 10.
Lewis wrote two of the hit songs, "Everybody Loves A Clown" and "Just My Style."
"They're just happy songs," he said.
The singer, who was 19 when his first song hit No. 1, said he's grateful to be performing 30 years later.
"Since we are from the '60s, we keep the style of the '60s. I don't think [the music] will ever die," Lewis said. "I think the kind of music people like is what they grow up with."
Lewis said Roanokers can expect to hear his band's hits as well as a Beatles medley and other covers from that era.
"It's like a little walk through the '60s."
Lewis and the Playboys are scheduled to perform at approximately 8:30 p.m.
If you can't make it to Beach Festival '94, the group will appear on Jerry Lewis' Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, an event they have done for seven of the last 10 years.
by CNB