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40-527: In 1965 guitarists Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna, along with bassist Curtis Bachman, were invited to join a band called the Centuries. Giammarese and Bachman, plus keyboardist Dennis Miccolis, later became members of another band, the Pulsations, whose members included drummer John Poulos and vocalists George LeGros and Dennis Tufano . After winning a local battle of the bands competition in late 1965,

80-419: A Drag , was released on USA Records and featured the band's early recordings. In late 1966, keyboardist Miccolis was replaced by Larry Nestor , who stayed in the band only a short time and was in turn replaced by Marty Grebb at the close of 1966. Around this time the band members were introduced to James William Guercio , formerly the bassist and road manager for Chad & Jeremy , who then signed them to

120-531: A band from the St. Charles area called The Boyzz (from Illinois). John had one child, a daughter named Polly born in September 1970. He died of heart failure in his Chicago home just short of his 33rd birthday in 1980. Carl Bonafede maintains there never would have been The Buckinghams band if not for the commitment of John Poulos. Jimmy Wisner James Joseph Wisner (December 8, 1931 – March 13, 2018)

160-483: A cappella group called The Darsals to come join his band, "The Pulsations". Local Chicago-area deejay and booking agent for Willard Alexander, Carl Bonafede, attests to the fact that John personally recruited singers Dennis Tufano and his close friend George Legros at Gordon Technical High School . John Poulos approached Carl Bonafede who spun records for Dan Belloc's dances at the Holiday ballroom about becoming

200-775: A career in film voice work in early 1983, Giammarese and Fortuna committed to tour full-time as The Buckinghams. The 1983 Buckinghams featured an expanded group that included Giammarese, Fortuna, John Duich (guitar), Tom Taylor (keyboards), Tom Scheckel (drums, percussion) and two female singers: Laurie Beebe Lewis (vocals, keyboards), who later joined the Mamas & the Papas , and Barbara Unger (keyboards, backing vocals). In 1984 Duich, Taylor, and Unger were dropped and Giammarese, now handling lead vocal duties, went back to playing guitar as well and Cammelot rejoined on keyboards with Lewis on vocals and supporting keyboards. The following year

240-444: A different direction, Dennis Tufano and Carl decided to form a duo, Dennis and Carl. They put together a demo tape, with the help of Peter Shelton and his wife, and John determined to manage them and find them a recording deal. John brought them to Ode Records , where they signed with Lou Adler , becoming "Tufano and Giammarese" and spending 7 years of their career together. John Poulos managed several other Illinois bands, most notably

280-796: A frequent songwriting collaborator, he wrote " Don't Throw Your Love Away ", a #1 UK hit for the Searchers in 1964, as well as the Tymes ' "Somewhere", written with Norma Mendoza, which went Top 20 in the UK. As a producer and arranger Wisner worked with Bobby Rydell ("The Joker", by Newley - Bricusse from Roar of the Greasepaint ) as well as numerous others including Cab Calloway , Freddy Cannon , Neil Sedaka , Bobby Vinton , Herbie Mann , Len Barry (" 1 - 2 - 3 " ), Miriam Makeba , Judy Collins , Paul Evans , Spanky and Our Gang , Tony Bennett ,

320-823: A horn section consisting of Carlo Isabelli (trumpet), Charles Morgan (trombone) and Dan Moffett (tenor saxophone). They perform regularly to festival audiences and have played sold-out shows, such as the Westbury Music Fair , the Belfry Theatre, the Egyptian Theatre, the Genesee Theatre, the Arcada Theatre, the Keswick Theatre and others. They remain acts for casino venues and international rock and roll cruises throughout

360-585: A management contract with Ebbins-Guercio Associates. The Buckinghams were then courted by several record labels before deciding on promotion specialist Jim Scully, who quickly got them a new contract with Columbia (CBS) Records . And Guercio, who became the group's producer, continued the group's "brass-rock" approach, and the band produced four more Top-20 hits in 1967: " Don't You Care " (#6), " Mercy, Mercy, Mercy " (#5), " Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song) " (#12) and " Susan " (#11), (three of which were written by Jim Holvay and Gary Beisbier ). The same year,

400-624: A new greatest hits compilation, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: A Collection . Sony Music has continued to make the Buckinghams' Columbia recordings available, as well as their recordings previously issued by USA Records. In 1996 the Buckinghams celebrated the band's 30th anniversary with a concert at The Vic Theatre in Chicago. The show was filmed and released as a video entitled "Off Their Rocker" and included DJs Dick Biondi (d. 6.26.23) and John Records Landecker , still on WGN Radio, as hosts. In 2001

440-451: A new record contract with Columbia Records . John went into the music management side of the music business after The Buckinghams agreed to part ways in 1970. John managed his fellow ex-Buckinghams Carl Giammarese and Dennis Tufano when they formed a duo called "Tufano & Giammarese". When The Buckinghams broke up in 1970 and Nick departed for a career in R&;B and Marty wanted to go

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480-686: A song originally recorded by James Brown & the Famous Flames and the Beatles ' " I Call Your Name ". However, it was their number one single " Kind of a Drag " that provided them with national exposure. "Kind of a Drag" was written by Chicago-based songwriter Jim Holvay , who had been performing with a group called The Mob, and spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1967. It sold over one million copies, and

520-685: A time with the renamed band, Paul Revere's Raiders. Scheckel returned to his drum seat in The Buckinghams in April 2023. On May 20, 2010 Giammarese and Fortuna were featured in the 25th Anniversary Happy Together Tour, joining the Turtles, the Grass Roots, Micky Dolenz and Mark Lindsay in a 20+-city tour from California to New York, celebrating the silver anniversary of the original Happy Together Tour in 1985. In July 2011 concerts began for

560-527: The Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois in 1965. Lead guitar player Carl Giammarese lived only a few blocks away from John Poulos in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. His nickname since his late teens was "Jon Jon". John Poulos was the leader of a high school band in Chicago called "The Pulsations". He approached singers George LeGros and Dennis Tufano who sang harmonies in an

600-806: The 1960s and 1970s. Jim Peterik and The Ides of March served as the house band for the evening, as many original members of these popular bands returned to the concert stage to play their greatest hits. In addition to the Buckinghams, the Cornerstones line-up included the Ides of March, the Cryan' Shames, the New Colony Six , the Shadows of Knight , the McCoys and the American Breed . This special

640-533: The 2022 Inaugural Class of the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. By late 1968, Grebb and Fortuna had left and were replaced by keyboardist John Turner and original bassist Bachman, who had gone on to join the band Saturday's Child after leaving the Buckinghams. There were no more hits, though, and the band dissolved in early 1970. Columbia released a double compilation record of their two Guercio era albums, Time and Changes and Portraits , in 1975 under

680-563: The Buckinghams for Mayor Jane Byrne 's ChicagoFest event in August. Giammarese, Fortuna and Tufano appeared with drummer Tom Osfar and keyboardist John Cammelot on the Navy Pier rooftop stage. Marty Grebb declined the opportunity to join them as he was touring with the group Chicago at the time. For the next two years the trio of original members performed at selected concerts in Chicago. When Tufano decided to return to California to resume

720-646: The Buckinghams were named by Billboard magazine as "The Most Listened to Band in America". But severe differences occurred between the Buckinghams and Guercio, particularly the producer's decision to add a psychedelic section to the song "Susan". The song included a short portion of Charles Ives ' " Central Park in the Dark " and sounded very similar to the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life", with an orchestral crescendo. Many radio stations omitted this section, since it changed

760-639: The Buckinghams were part of the Happy Together 85 Tour, along with the Turtles , the Grass Roots , and Gary Lewis and the Playboys . And that same year they released their comeback album A Matter of Time on Red Label Records which included one single promo release "Veronica". By early 1986, both Lewis and Cammelot left the group and were replaced by Bob Abrams (guitar, vocals) and Bruce Soboroff (keyboards, vocals). In 1991 Sony Music Entertainment (the present-day owner of Columbia Records) released

800-891: The Buckinghams were part of the Solid Gold 60s Tour along with Tommy James , the Turtles, Gary Puckett and the Grass Roots. PBS featured the Buckinghams on The Sixties Pop Rock Reunion in 2004. In January 2005 the Buckinghams performed at the Twilight on the Prairie Ball for one of President George W. Bush 's Inaugural Balls in Washington, DC. In 2007 the Buckinghams signed with national label Fuel Records to release their studio CD Reaching Back , which included eight new original songs written by Giammarese and new recordings of five of their top hits. A second CD, Standing Room Only (previously released as Live and Well ),

840-1001: The Buckinghams, the Cryan’ Shames, the Ides Of March, the Shadows of Knight and the New Colony Six. The Buckinghams original lead singer Tufano continues to tour as a solo act, and also appears in a Bobby Darin show he created, As Long as I'm Singing . Former keyboards/vocals/songwriter Grebb played with the Fabulous Rhinestones, Lovecraft (formerly H P Lovecraft), Chicago, Bonnie Raitt , the Weight Band, and Dave Mason , and has also produced CDs for independent musicians, including Peach . Grebb died on January 1, 2020. Giammarese and Fortuna have continued touring with band members Soboroff, Zane, Scheckel and

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880-629: The Classics IV and the Vogues. In 2011 Giammarese completed his solo CD Journey , the companion to his future biography, Reinventing The Buckinghams: My Journey . On October 16, 2015 the Buckinghams took part in the filming of Cornerstones of Rock: American Garage which aired multiple times on WTTW Chicago. Cornerstones of Rock was created to be a nostalgic celebration of the Chicago-area "garage bands" that rose to national prominence in

920-605: The Cowsills , Carly Simon , Al Kooper , Iggy Pop , Barbra Streisand , Tommy James , Brigitte Bardot , and Roberto Carlos as well as Randy & the Rainbows . He also headed Columbia Records ' A&R department from 1968 to 1969, where he recorded several songs, including Paul Levinson 's "Sunshine Mind," with Donna Marie, who went on to perform with the Archies . In 1977, Wisner released " Music from Star Wars " on

960-471: The Hi-Lo's . He released several full-length albums as a jazz musician, but in 1961 recorded a rock & roll adaptation of Edvard Grieg 's Piano Concerto in A Minor , using shellac on the hammers of a cheap piano so as to effect a honky tonk sound. So as not to alienate his jazz fans, he released the tune, titled "Asia Minor", under the name Kokomo; he was turned down by 10 labels and had to release

1000-513: The Pulsations secured a job as the house band on WGN-TV 's variety show called All-Time Hits . The show's producers suggested they adopt a name reflective of the British invasion , which was popular at the time, and the band adopted the name The Buckinghams , which was suggested by a security guard named John Opager at the station. The band liked the name because of its similarity to a hometown landmark, Buckingham Fountain . In early 1966, LeGros

1040-723: The Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana . In May 2010 Abrams and Scheckel left the Buckinghams lineup to be replaced by Dave Zane (guitars, vocals) and Bruce (Rocky) Penn (drums, percussion, backing vocals), who had played with several Chicago-based groups, including the Cryan' Shames for a number of years. Scheckel went on to join Paul Revere and the Raiders and stayed until Paul Revere's death, continuing for

1080-559: The country and perform the national anthem at home games of baseball teams such as the Chicago Cubs and White Sox . Note: Bold Text indicates original members. Current Former John Poulos John Poulos (March 31, 1947 – March 26, 1980), also known by his nickname Jon Jon , was the original drummer for The Buckinghams , and one of its founding members in 1965. His mother Ann and father John Sr. are of Greek origin. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in

1120-523: The manager of John's high school band "The Pulsations". When USA Records released The Buckinghams from their contract, the band had a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with Kind of a Drag . The members voted to part ways with personal manager Carl Bonafede . John Poulos and Dennis Tufano flew out to Los Angeles to meet with James William Guercio to seek management and a new record deal. The meeting with Guercio led to The Buckinghams signing

1160-539: The release of a new single, "Back in Love Again", it ended up stalling on the Billboard chart at #57, and they were unable to duplicate their 1967 success without Guercio, who went on to take the "brass rock" concept further with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago . Also, a "Buckinghams Day" in Chicago was cancelled when it was learned that some of the band members were arrested for possession of illegal drugs. It

1200-602: The second Happy Together Reunion Tour that included the Buckinghams, the Turtles, the Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay and the Association . Later in 2011, it was announced that Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna would join the 2012 Happy Together Tour alongside the Turtles, Micky Dolenz, the Grass Roots and Gary Puckett. The popularity of the tour found them rejoining the Happy Together Tour in 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2022 with other artists including The Cowsills, Ron Dante,

1240-521: The single "Have a Little Faith" on WGN-TV in Chicago. In 2009 the Buckinghams performed at the Bipartisan Illinois Agricultural Ball for the inauguration of President Barack Obama . The same year, Sony reissued the Buckinghams' first three albums for sale as digital downloads as part of their Legacy Music Series. On February 9, 2010 the Buckinghams released a DVD/CD box set , Up Close , showing them in concert at

The Buckinghams - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-516: The song's tempo and veered radically from the melody. But the producer had the last word, and the released version kept the psychedelic section intact. The group currently does not include the psychedelic portion in their performances. By mid-1968, the Buckinghams had parted company with Guercio and Columbia Records assigned staff producer Jimmy Wisner to work with the group on their fourth album, In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow . The album featured material written by Grebb, Giammarese and Tufano. Despite

1320-692: The title Made in Chicago . After the break-up, Tufano and Giammarese formed the duo Tufano & Giammarese and recorded three albums for Lou Adler 's record label, Ode Records, forming a touring band in time for their second album. Drummer John Poulos , who had secured the Ode Records recording contract for the duo, became a manager of several rock bands, including the Boyzz from Illinoizz. Poulos died of drug-related heart failure on March 26, 1980. Later in 1980, Chicago's WLS radio programming executive John Gehron called Giammarese with an invitation to reunite

1360-563: The track on his own label Future Records. The song became a hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 , and #35 on the UK Singles Chart despite having been banned by the BBC . Wisner released further singles as Kokomo on his prior label, Felsted, but did not have another hit. Following the success of "Asia Minor", Wisner launched a successful career as a songwriter, producer, and composer for film and television. With Billy Jackson,

1400-692: Was also released on the Fuel Label. XM Radio recorded the Buckinghams in concert for their XM Performance Series on the "60s on 6" channel. The Buckinghams' music from yesterday and today remains in regular rotation on classic rock stations in U.S. formats as well as satellite radio and streaming Internet radio stations. The Buckinghams released their first Christmas album on the BML label, The Joy of Christmas , in November 2008. And in December 2008 they debuted

1440-647: Was an American pianist, arranger, songwriter, and producer. He is best known for his 1961 hit single " Asia Minor ", released under the name Kokomo . Born in Philadelphia , Wisner received classical training as a youngster, and attended Temple University as a psychology student in the late 1950s. He formed the Jimmy Wisner Trio in 1959 with Chick Kinney on drums and Ace Tesone on bass. This ensemble backed musicians who toured through Philadelphia, including Mel Tormé , Carmen McRae , Dakota Staton , and

1480-478: Was awarded a gold disc . The co-producers of "Kind of a Drag" were the band's first personal manager Carl Bonafede and big band leader Dan Belloc , owner of the Holiday Ballroom in Chicago. The horns on the song were arranged by Frank Tesinsky and the engineer at the first recording sessions held at Chess Records in Chicago was Ron Malo . Following this, the band's debut album, also entitled Kind of

1520-522: Was forced to leave after he was drafted. Right around the same time, bassist Bachman also left and Fortuna (now playing bass and soon briefly going under the surname of Fortune, after it was misspelled on the record jacket) returned after a stint with Jimmy V. & the Entertainers. The band then signed their first record contract with local label USA Records and recorded 12 songs that year. Several were released as singles, including " I'll Go Crazy ",

1560-494: Was later determined that marijuana had been found belonging to the band's roadies, and all charges were eventually dropped when the police failed to prove their case. The story of the charges made headlines, but the retraction and resolution of the case as being innocent did not. Ultimately, restitution came in the form of recognition as The Buckinghams were inducted into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in September 2019 and

1600-470: Was such a huge success that it spawned a live concert tour which is still continuing. Cornerstones of Rock: American Garage continues to sell out concert venues across the Midwest. The majority of Cornerstones performances are held at the Arcada Theatre (Saint Charles, IL), but as fan demand has grown the tour has branched out to other venues in the Midwest. The 2024 lineup of Cornerstones of Rock contained

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