 If everyone on the northwest side of Chicago who claims to have hung out with
the Buckinghams during their heyday had faithfully bought all their releases,
the rock group might have sold more records than the Beatles.
Popular attractions while still in high school, the quintet changed its name
from the Pulsations to the Buckinghams to reflect the British Invasion craze and
signed with Chicago's USA Records in 1966. Backing Dennis Tufano's buoyant lead
vocals with prominent harmonies and punchy soul-styled brass, the group came
across the wistful "Kind of a Drag," and in short order, the Buckinghams had a
million-selling pop chart-topper on their hands. They quickly graduated to
recording for Columbia.
As long as songwriter Jim Holvay supplied more material of the same high
quality as "Kind of a Drag," the Buckinghams were sitting pretty. Holvay cowrote
"Don't You Care," "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)," and the
pseudo-psychedelic "Susan," and they all proved to be major hits for the band.
The group's R&B roots surfaced on a vocal adaptation of Cannonball Adderley's
jazz standard "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," their second-biggest hit.
But the Buckinghams' fortunes soon changed drastically -- one of the
top-selling rock groups of 1967, they managed only one hit after early 1968, and
by 1970 the group was kaput. Two original members, guitarist Carl Giammarese and
bassist Nick Fortuna, have since revived the Buckinghams for oldies tours. ~
Bill Dahl, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book the Buckinghams
for your next corporate or private event.
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