Gene and Debbe were a pseudo-pop/country duo hailing from Nashville, Tennessee.
They had some brief successes on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gene Thomas (born Gene Thomasson on 28 December 1938, Palestine, Texas, died 26 August 2012 in Fredericksburg, Texas) and had some minor success in the early 1960s with the songs "Sometime" and "Baby's Gone". After the latter he dabbled in writing music for a few years before running into aspiring crooner, Debbe Neville, (or Nevills as some sources say). In an Everly Brothers style of harmonizing, they launched a career at Acuff-Rose music, singing romantic country style pop melodies.
They were signed to a recording contract with the subsidiary of Hickory Records (Sue Thompson, Don Gibson, The Newbeats etc.), TRX, where they recorded their two biggest hits, "Go With Me" and "Playboy". The latter had an eventual combined sales figure of one million discs being awarded a gold record in June 1968. After hitting the charts with "Playboy" at No. 17, they both faded into chart (but not musical) obscurity.
The couple produced one album Hear and Now, which is a rarity to find. It contains the single "Playboy".
Gene Thomas died on August 26, 2012 of lung cancer at the age of 73.
