The Buckinghams in Concert

With everyone ready to return to entertainment as part of their "normal" lives each weekend in Chicago, the Genesee Street Cabaret offered trial programming to gauge the popularity of a safe, new way to enjoy live music. On May 1, 2021, they'd planned for a 6pm show for audiences to enjoy an acoustic evening with two classic rock favorites, Jim Peterik and Carl Giammarese, who are multifaceted professionals. Peterik, of course, is a founding member of The Ides of March, a talented songwriter, as well as a jingle composer. His 1970 song, “Vehicle” found its way up to #2 on the Billboard charts as just one example. Jim continues to be the pride of Berwyn, where he grew up. Beyond their legendary band of guys (The Ides) who’ve been as close as brothers through the years, Jim has also achieved national distinction and acclaim. He cowrote songs such as “Eye of the Tiger” and “High on You” with Frankie Sullivan for the band Survivor and “Hold on Loosely” with Don Barnes...

Are you ready for the brand new video to the Buckinghams' classic hit, "Don't You Care"? Thanks to writer Kent Kotal for his premiere of the video early this morning in his Forgotten Hits blog , subscribers saw this video of Carl Giammarese and Lisa McClowry performing a new take on the 1967 hit song. The single, written by James Holvay and Gary Beisbier, was released across all digital streaming services last week. Initial response has been very enthusiastic. If you like what you see and hear, please consider clicking Like , directly on the YouTube video itself , and if you'd like to add a comment with your opinion, please leave that comment directly on the YouTube video as well so Carl and Lisa can see them. For more on Lisa McClowry, please visit her official website or follow her on Facebook here . Special thanks to the following individuals, involved in production across the miles: Carl Giammarese & Lisa McClowry perform ...

Since the 2020 Happy Together Tour had to be put on hold for COVID-19 safety precautions, audiences are doubly ready for the popular concert tour to once again return to many of the towns where they were in 2019. The Buckinghams were slated to join the tour on four concerts in 2020, so they are slated to appear on those same four concerts in 2021. The primary artists this year are The Turtles (Mark Volman and Ron Dante), The Cowsills, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Vogues, The Association, The Classics IV, and on all the concerts except the ones The Buckinghams are on, the great Chuck Negron is appearing. Mark Volman (The Turtles) and Ron Dante. Gary Puckett & the Union Gap The Association The Classics IV Chuck Negron Mark Lindsay announced earlier this Spring that he is taking the summer of 2021 off to rest, as touring schedules can be pretty rough. One of the best resources you can find fo...

Music lovers don’t always have time to reflect on this, but if they have fallen in love to, or with, a song, chances are good that all over the country, thousands of others have too. In the spring and summer of love, 1967, songs by The Buckinghams filled the airwaves and the Billboard charts. The renewal of Classic Rock via package tour vehicles such as Happy Together, Flower Power Cruises, Concerts at Sea, and others have kept the bands playing their signature hits all these years as well. As of 2021, “Don’t You Care” has been heard all over the world regularly since 1967, over 2,000,000 times. Every teenager listening to 50,000 Watts of power broadcast from superstations to their transistor radios across the country has heard this one song that many times…in the past 54 years. Thanks to Chicago-born vocalist and guitarist (and founding member of The Buckinghams) Carl Giammarese and Lisa McClowry, the popular versatile vocalist whose talents range from power-driven 80s ballads to ...

Who doesn’t know and love the 1968 hit “Tighten Up,” made famous by Houston, Texas, native Archie Bell? Together with his band, The Drells, the look and sound of the popular R&B group gave American teenagers a chance to dance and move along to the groove they shared in their songs. Archie Bell and the Drells A special announcement was made today on Sirius/XM 60s on 6 channel today that just a few weeks ago, Archie Bell had suffered a light stroke and has an excellent prognosis for recovery. Presently Archie is back in the hospital again from a small infection but he needs to be there a while longer. Throughout the day, Sirius/XM 60s on 6 channel Deejays shared their best wishes, beginning with morning man, Phlash Phelps, and continuing with Dave Hoeffel, Pat St. John, and Shotgun Tom Kelly tonight: Archie would LOVE to hear from his fans. So let's join them, shall we? Longtime Buckinghams friend and fan Phyllis Spizziri also shared a Facebook post that carried the m...

When Nick Fortuna was in high school in Chicago, life in the 1960s was pretty much standard. Guys wore blue jeans and t-shirts and worked about 30 minutes to get their hair just right. Shades of “Happy Days,” right? Well, not exactly. You were known by what side of town you were from, what your neighborhood was, where you went to high school, and what kind of music you liked. So, looking at the 1963 photo above, how long did it take you to find Nick Fortuna? Not too much has changed, except the biceps, from back in the day at Niles West High School. In the early 1960s, you’d find a little of everything on the airwaves of WLS-AM and WCFL-AM Radio stations and on WGN-TV. And, in February 1964, when The Beatles landed in America, everything changed. Every teenage guy wanted to play in a band, or have a band, or be seen in a band—one of those—that was having just as much fun making music as The Beatles were having back then. Here's Nick in his first band, The Centuries, ha...