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Happy Birthday, Dennis Tufano!

Photo courtesy of Jack Mongan

Today, all of The Buckinghams wish a very special birthday to founding member and original lead singer, Dennis Tufano. From the beginning of the band in 1965, they ultimately celebrated several birthdays together, mostly while on the road. Their schedules were so busy it’s not like they could take their special night off just because it was their birthday.

The first performances of The Buckinghams found them in matching suits, mostly acquired from "A Man at Ease" and other Chicago favorite men's stores, with Carl Bonafede working great deals for the band to advertise their couturie:

These gold dinner jackets...stylin' and profilin' to be sure, even matched the liner curtains around the stage. At the time, it was true. The matching blue-grey suits were a little more coordinated.

At that time, having "the look" was just as important as having a sound. Suits made the man, as they say, and their hair was just about to be reshaped from the greaser looks of the 60s to the Beatles' styles, courtesy of Nick Fortuna, who went to beauty school after high school, learning to be a barber (the fall-back job in case music didn't work out). Dennis had taken commercial art classes as well.

In the best days of The Buckinghams, they were known for some of the best-looking matching suits. One of their outfits came from the MGM wardrobe group. Perhaps this inspired Dennis to use his strong art talents to design other suits for the band. Ultimately, the suits Dennis designed were the most frequently photographed for PR purposes by Columbia Records.

It was one of those suits that Dennis had saved back and it made a special appearance at the Hall of Fame. Jack Mongan's photo of Dennis and the suit coat, which he donated to the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum in Joliet, Illinois, shows part of the culmination of Ron Romero's dream of many years coming to fruition thanks to numerous sponsors and enthusiastic music fans across the state and nationally. As the museum is nearing construction completion, the event took place at Joliet's beautiful Rialto Square Theatre.

The night of the induction ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jack Mongan took some exceptional photos, which he generously shared:

The Buckinghams were well represented that evening for the inauguration of the first class in the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

To express personal messages, reach out to Dennis on his fanpage on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Dennistufanosings. For more information on his touring schedule, check out his official fan website at: https://www.tufanofans.com Happy birthday, Dennis!

Previous Story: https://thebuckinghamsconcertblog.blogspot.com/2021/08/dennis-tufano-representing-buckinghams.html

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