Skip to main content

In Loving Memory of Marty Bilecki

We'd like to ask you to take a moment today to lift up in prayer the family of our longtime friend, and Chicago sound engineer, Martin (Marty) Bilecki, who collapsed while mixing at the sound board at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville last evening. He was taken quickly to a nearby hospital, where he passed away. We’d just finished our set, in our 15th year for the Salute to the 60s concert there, a very special night, together with our friends Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits, and the Grass Roots. Marty’s passing leaves us solemn and missing a man we considered an important part of our musical family.

We'd just spent the previous week together with Marty, as he ran sound for all of us on the Concerts at Sea tour aboard the Grand Princess. Of his many wonderful qualities, he was a man who cherished his family. Poignantly, his parents were also aboard the cruise ship, and they were so happy to be there to see their son doing his great job mixing each group, for all the shows. It’s an unforgettable joy when your parents can see you in your workplace, having them know you among your peers as respected, beloved and the best in your field.

In 1991, Marty founded his own company, Performance Recording and Sound, in Chicago. For all these years, we’ve had the pleasure of being at so many shows where Marty mixed our sound, coordinated our stage lighting and essentially made everything just perfect for us. We have long regarded him as the ultimate professional, a warm and gracious man. Personally, he was our good friend. He was one of the hardest-working men we’d ever met, and we always knew we could count on him.

It’s surreal and shocking to have been with him two weeks ago on the ship, all week long, enjoying the work that he did for everyone, sharing some great times and personal memories together, and then realize that last evening’s show, which felt like musical magic onstage last night, would be his final work here on earth.

We appreciate the love and support you showed to us all evening long, during our show and afterwards. We share that love with Marty’s family and ask for you to pray for their comfort and peace.

It takes a full team of professionals to bring music to the crowds who gather to hear the songs they love, and Marty Bilecki was a gentleman who did his job well, and was so well liked by all of us in the music business. We are better for having known him, and may God bless his family at this time of loss.

Thank you for your prayers,

Carl Giammarese, Nick Fortuna, Bruce Soboroff, Dave Zane, Rocky Penn, Carlo Isabelli, Charles Morgan, Rich Moore and Susan Rakis

Cross posted on Facebook here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Frank Tesinsky, Beloved Chicago Musician, Key to The Buckinghams' Characteristic Sound

Each time the opening notes to “Kind of a Drag” come on the air, whether it’s your car radio, your phone, or choice of streaming media, the first 23 notes you hear inform you immediately that not only are you hearing “Kind of a Drag,” but you are hearing The Buckinghams. That instant recognition, in turn, is thanks to the talent of musician Frank Tesinsky, who arranged the iconic tune for producers Dan Belloc and Carl Bonafede in a 1966 recording session in Chicago’s Chess Studios. The Buckinghams family was greatly saddened to learn of Frank’s passing on November 9. Catherine Johns, his wife of 32 years, was a beloved part of his life and part of Chicago radio as well. In February 1967 "Kind of a Drag" was #1 on the Billboard charts for two weeks, and it forever defined the sound of five young men from the northside of Chicago. Just 27 notes, right? And yet, it defined the magic of what would become known as “the horn sound” that The Buckinghams are b...
Post a Comment
Read more

In Memory of John Poulos, March 31, 1947 - March 26, 1980

Five days before his 33rd birthday, we lost John Poulos, a dear friend who was like a brother to us, as well as The Buckinghams’ drummer. Often described as the heartbeat of our band, he was known to most Buckinghams’ fans of the 60s simply as Jon-Jon. To know John was to love him. With his outgoing personality, he never met a stranger. His talent is remembered best in the style he displayed on drum fills and riffs on our hits, including “Don’t You Care,” “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song,” and “Kind of a Drag.” It’s not surprising that Jon-Jon was included as one of the Top 10 drummers in Modern Drummer Magazine. Contemporary MySpace profiles of aspiring amateur and professional musicians today include the name John Poulos among their musical influences. That’s an honor both fitting and accurate for a musician who was truly one of a kind. Nick and I recall that one of John’s own musical influences was Bobby Elliot, drummer for The Hollies, whose signature beret and tossing of his he...
3 comments
Read more

What Celebrating 50 Years Since Reaching #1 on Billboard Means in the World of The Buckinghams

Everyone who is a fan of the band The Buckinghams can easily name all the songs that were Top 10 hits, Top 20 hits, and Billboard Top 100 chartmakers. You have several songs that have personal, special meaning for you. But the song that took the native Chicagoans out of the basements of the band members' homes was the one USA Records released last, almost as an afterthought. "Kind of a Drag" has the distinction of being the song that took this band to the national level. Many wonderful bands are part of Chicago history, and they are as beloved today as they were in their time. But this one song, "Kind of a Drag" took flight and went to #1 on Billboard 50 years ago today, February 18, 1967. Imagine what it was like for five young men to hold a copy of "Billboard" in their hands. For a few years, Carl and Jon-Jon had gone to the newsstand each week, buying a single copy of "Billboard" and reading it cover to cover. These days you hear about ...
3 comments
Read more