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Drifters Smashing Success
The Guilford campus was transformed this past Saturday night by
one of the liveliest and most enjoyable dances we have seen for
years. The perpetrators of this
marvelous transformation were the
famous singing group, "The Drifters." Backed up by the "Swinging
Five," the Drifters entertained a
crowd of about five hundred people in the Founders' Dining Hall.
The Drifters arrived on the Guilford campus Saturday afternoon.
All baseball fans, they "really got
a thrill" as they watched the Quaker baseball team sweep a double-
header. They had dinner with the
students at the cafeteria, pronounced the food very good, and were
seen to go back for seconds. After
dinner they visited New Men's
Dorm and talked with many of the
students there.
Things started out slowly at the
dance, but soon the Swinging Five
came out with a couple of colorful
instrumentals, and from then on
the tempo steadily increased. By
the time the Drifters were ready
to appear, crowds of eager students had to be moved back from
the bandstand and persuaded to
sit down around the performers.
After a brief intermission, while
the Swinging Five played a few
slow dance tunes, the Drifters came
back and again students had to be
cleared away. The high point of
the evening was probably the song
"Shout!" when the students all
stood and joined in with the singers. This wonderful singing group
which so thrilled our normally apathetic student body has cut no less
than eight "gold records"—records '
that have sold more than a million
copies. Among the most popular
are "Money Honey," "Honey Love,"
"There Goes My Baby," and more
recently, "Up on the Roof" and
"Vaya Con Dios." Tire present
group, which retains three of the
original members, is headed by
Bill Pinkney, and includes Gay
Thrasher, Andy Thruher, Bobby
Hollis and Jimmy Lewis.
Instead of their usual summer
trip to Japan, the Drifters this year
are planning an extensive singing
trip with other rock n' roll artists,
including the famous Solomon
Burke.
What are the factors that made
the Saturday night combo party
such a howling success? The student body has often complained
loudly about the prevailing attitude of apathy on our "suitcase"
campus. This centainly was not
the case Saturday night!
One of the reasons was the attraction of a "name band." There
were many students from other
colleges in the area, and the atmosphere seemed to be more cordial and relaxed. From all comments from the students, this evening has given our sagging student morale a sizable boost.
The Social Committee deserves
a rousing vote of thanks from all
the students. This party shows
clearly that Guilford College can
have a full and successful social
life. We of the Guilfordian hope
that this will be a real encouragement to the student body and that
Saturday night will prove to be only the first in a series of such enjoyable weekends.
