The De La Vegaz

Hollywood, 1969 - Surrounded by lovely young women on the set of his television series, Playboy After Dark, Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy magazine watches Buddy Miles and bandleader Don David De La Vega perform the soul classic, "Them Changes." The series is a party format featuring noted stars, and will begin airing in most major cities sometime in January, 1970. After the taping of the show, Hefner invited Miles and his band to the Playboy Mansion.

At about 2 AM, after numerous complaints from Hefner's neighbors, the LAPD arrived and witnessed the noise caused by a large crowd at the Playboy Mansion's pool. Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney and about a dozen Playmates were yelling and egging Miles on, who, at the time wearing only a thong, was doing numerous cannonballs so loud it caused all the dogs in Holmby Hills to start barking. Hefner, Hackett and Rooney were so overcome with laughter by the whole scene that Hefner asked Miles and his band-mates into the Playboy Mansion for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and to spend the weekend. Next day, all the Playmates went to wardrobe, modified their swimsuits and started wearing thongs around the pool, and another Playboy tradition was born. Miles received a personal thank you from Hefner for his inspiring fashion sense and every year received an invitation to the Playboy Christmas Party.