Singer brings the Buzz along for IMAX party
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| Wednesday, February 23, 2005 |
David Burke
Making a move of about three hours away usually means saying goodbye to friends and former activities.
But Marge Purnell, who moved from Springfield, Ill., to the Quad-Cities about 14 years ago, has left neither behind.
She's still part of the band Marge & The Buzztones, which plays both in the state capitol and in the Quad-Cities.
"I won't play with anybody else, that's for sure," she said.
The band started by a group of friends about 25 years ago. Purnell, a Kansas City native, married a friend of the group members and was recruited to join the band.
"Buzz (Harris Hatcher, leader of the band) heard me singing ‘Ease on Down the Road' at a Junior League follies in about 1980," she said. "That's how it started."
Hatcher is director of regional health services for St. John's Hospital in Springfield, and is one of several VIPs in the band, which also includes the president-CEO of a construction company, president-CEO of the Bunn-O-Matic Corp., a nationwide coffee distributor; and the Sangamon County assessment supervisor.
Purnell is in quality assurance for The Sedona Group in Moline. The band played last year for Sedona's company Christmas party.
She's also a member of the board of the Child Abuse Council, and the band is playing for that group's "Velour Lounge Auction and Dance," April 30 at the Isle of Capri, Bettendorf.
Purnell sits on the council's board of directors.
"We're all very community minded, and we donate our services to good causes," she said.
On Saturday night, the band is playing at the second Party to the MAX, a benefit for the Putnam Museum in Davenport that also includes showings of the large-screen movie "Rolling Stones at The MAX."
Although the band plays classic rock, R&B, jazz and acoustic songs, the Stones are a favorite, and complete the entire playlist for Saturday night.
"We can play four hours of Rolling Stones songs," Purnell said. "We played at a bar in St. Louis on Mick Jagger's 60th birthday party at a place called the Stagger Inn.
"As (one band member) likes to say, we were weaned on the Rolling Stones."
Purnell plays percussion and sings the lead on many of the band's songs, leaning toward the vocals of Aretha Franklin or Bonnie Raitt. A trademark of the band is its four guitars, called the "Guitar Army," she said.
Purnell, 53, said she and the band have found themselves playing "a lot" in the past year.
"‘A lot' to us is about eight to 10 times a year," she said. "We hardly ever practice. We've determined we play better without practice."
David Burke can be contacted at
(563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.
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