"This diamond ring doesn't shine for me anymore..."

Gary Lewis and the Playboys - "This Diamond Ring"

As the son of comedian Jerry Lewis, it seems that Gary Lewis was destined for a career in showbiz.  After receiving a set of drums for his 14th birthday, Gary had his sights set on a musical career and within four years he had his own band, the Playboys.  They landed their first gig at Disneyland, and supposedly no one knew the skinny drummer was anything more than just a skinny drummer.   Jerry Lewis did pass on word to his friend, bandleader Les Brown that his son was playing at the park that summer; he, in turn, told record producer Snuff Garrett about the Playboys’ gig.  Garrett went to go check it out for himself.  He figured the Lewis name could sell some records, so he took them into the studio (on Patti Lewis’ dime) to record “This Diamond Ring.”  

In the studio, they didn’t play their instruments, other than on the backing track.  Garrett used their vocals and a number of studio tricks to get it all together.  Once the single was released, Garrett got the single on the air in New York City and had Lewis use his contacts to get the kids on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Since being on Sullivan meant they had to perform live, there was a bit of an issue since the sound would be difficult to duplicate.  For their performance, Lewis sang while the rest mimicked their instruments on-stage.  Their performance on the show helped to send a music-buying public to record stores in droves.  The song went straight to #1 on the charts and remains a ‘oldies’ favorite to this day.

Gary Lewis and the Playboys followed up their success with a second single “Count Me In,” which went straight to #2.  Over the next few years, the band continued to score a string of hits with “Save Your Heart For Me,” “She’s Just My Style,” “Everybody Loves a Clown,” “Sure Gonna Miss Her,” and “Green Grass.  Each of these singles made it into the Top 10, giving Gary Lewis and the Playboys the distinction of being the only band to have their first seven singles get into the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart during the 60s, an impressive feat given the tremendous success of both Motown and the British Invasion.   In 1965, Gary Lewis won Cash Box Magazine’s “Male Vocalist of the Year,” beating out heavyweights like The King, Elvis Presley, and Ol’ Blue Eyes, himself, Frank Sinatra.

1967 found the Playboys in a bit of a gap.  Gary was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967, though he managed to record during his leave time.  Most notable during this period was a cover of the song “Sealed with a Kiss.”  Once discharged, Gary went back to recording and touring full-time.  Though they were unable to regain their earlier momentum, they totaled out the decade with 15 singles that wound up in the Hot 100.  

Lewis continued to record with the Playboys, and eventually on his own throughout the 70s, finding some success overseas in the U.K. with songs like “My Heart’s Symphony.”  He also regularly appears on the Labor Day Telethon his father puts on for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  When all is said and done, Gary Lewis and the Playboys churned out hits that remain among the most recognizable of the era and are continued to be used today in advertisements.  Together, they continue to enjoy an active touring schedule as a nostalgia act, and what’s the harm in that?  They’ve proved that time and time again, audiences are attracted to the hits of melodic hits of yesteryear.