- The Buckinghams formed in 1965 in the Chicago area, consisting of Carl Giammarese, Nick Fortuna, Jon Jon Poulos, Dennis Tufano and Dennis Miccoli. Their break came when they won a "Battle of the Bands" contest sponsored by a Chicago TV show, "All Time Hits", and were awarded a 14-week gig on the show. This being the height of the "British invasion", the show wanted the band to have a more British-sounding name, and settled on The Buckinghams.
In 1966 the group signed a contract with USA Records, a Chicago label, Their first records were covers of hit songs: James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy", The Beatles' "I Call Your Name", The Hollies' "I've Been Wrong Before". They sold fairly well in the Chicago area, but the band needed a national hit to cement their reputation. They found it in "Kind of a Drag", which sold more than a million copies and went to #1 on the national pop charts.
The group soon left USA Records for the much larger Columbia Records, and had another hit with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", which was previously a hit for Lloyd Price. Their next song was an even bigger hit, "Don't You Care", reaching #6 on the national charts. The band soon became a hot property on TV teen and variety shows, appearing on such programs as The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) and American Bandstand (1952). It was during this period that they came out with yet another hit, a remake of Cannonball Adderley's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", which got to #5 on the charts. In 1967 their string of hits continued with "Susan" and "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song", which reached #11 and #12, respectively.
Unfortunately, things began to decline in 1968. Their album, "In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow", didn't produce one hit single. They went through a string of personnel changes, which didn't help matters, and the next year they decided to disband. In 1980 the band--minus Jon Poulos, who had died of a drug overdose earlier that year--reunited for a reunion show sponsored by Chicago radio station WLS.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- The group's original lineup consisted of Nick Fortuna (bass and vocals), Carl Giammarese (guitar and vocals), Dennis Miccolis (keyboards), Jon Jon Poulos (drums) and Dennis Tufano (vocals). Marty Grebb, who joined the group in 1966 and replaced Miccolis after he was drafted, is considered one of the original members.
- CD (with The Cyrkle): "Take 2" (Columbia)
- Original drummer Jon Jon Poulos died unexpectedly on March 26, 1980, just five days before his 33rd birthday, of heart failure brought on by heroin use. He was cremated and his ashes were interred outside of Chicago.
- The group mutually disbanded at the start of 1970 due to issues involving their management as well as each of the members wanting to go in different directions. They would reunite again in 1980 on a permanent basis, sans Marty Grebb, who had no interest in re-joining the group and Jon Jon Poulos, who passed away only five months before. Dennis Tufano performed briefly with the the group before leaving to pursue other interests.
- Band members Nick Fortuna, Marty Grebb and Jon Jon Poulos were arrested in August of 1968 in Spirit Lake, Iowa, on drug charges, specifically possession of narcotics (it has been claimed that the arrest was trumped up by the media and that only marijuana was found, and it was in possession of the group's roadies). Also arrested on drug charges were the group's tour bus driver and three roadies. All seven were held overnight in the Dickinson County Jail and released on $2500 bond the following day, just in time to make a concert appearance. This incident is said to have been the start of the group's downfall. Guitarist Carl Giammarese and lead singer Dennis Tufano were not involved.
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