Skip to main content

Cornerstones of Rock Concert Host Ron Onesti Inspires Record Donations for Dick Biondi Film Documentary

When you get a concert ticket to a show you're looking forward to, you’re not expecting anything out of the ordinary beyond a great performance.

For Chicago filmmaker Pamela Pulice, though, Saturday’s Cornerstones of Rock Concert was an unforgettable surprise, thanks to the generosity of Arcada Theatre owner Ron Onesti and the Cornerstones artists. [Photo by Jim Summaria.]

When Ron called Pam Pulice and Joseph Farina, Director of Marketing & Communications for the film, to the stage, they didn't realize that two music lovers were in the audience, both of whom were poised for maximum generosity, could change the film's future so quickly. Backstage, all the musicians of the Cornerstones bands had autographed a guitar for auction. Onesti went to work as auctioneer and funds for the Biondi documentary were secured. In fact, a second guitar was signed and auctioned to another winning bidder for the same amount.

This photo shows Ron Onesti, Pam Pulice, and Joe Farina, congratulating Greg Ellis and Lynn Steffen for the guitars they won, each with winning bids of $3,500. These funds, together with monies Onesti helped Pulice and Farina raise at the September Cornerstones concert were--at last--sufficient to pay for the remaining music licensing needed to take the documentary to the next level.

Yes, even more contributions are needed before fund-raising concludes, but this was a major hurdle that was achieved thanks to substantial generosity by all involved. They are “almost” to the finish line. Yes, you can ask how many more times can fans hear that and not be slightly frustrated, and you'd be right. Then, you just have to ask yourself how many people would be touched by the inexplicable desire to offer homage and respect to a man on the radio whose kindness to Chicagoland teens and up and coming bands would change their lives forever?

It's more than special that the two winners of the bidding on the guitars are Ellis and Steffan.

Saturday's Cornerstones event marked the 127th time in the past years that Greg Ellis has seen The Buckinghams perform in concert. That's in Chicagoland and regionally as well. Greg has traveled to support the music of the band he highly respects and he has the ticket stubs as well as some videos he posts on Facebook. That's a record number of concerts for any one fan to have attended.

Also, Lynn Steffen has been on board as a major sponsor of the Biondi film for at least two years. You can see a brief clip of Lynn with Joe Farina here:

Here’s a trailer of the film hopefully to appear commercially very soon:

If you listened to Dick Biondi during any of your teenage years, whether he was on air at WLS in Chicago, or in Los Angeles or on any other station where "the wild Itralian" was broadcasting, find out how to join this worthy endeavor here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

In Memoriam — Martin Joseph Grebb

On the first day of a new year and a new decade, friends and family of Marty Grebb read a post on his Facebook page that sparked instant concern. The composition he shared had required much thought, and in it, Marty shared his love, regard, concern, and caring for virtually every person he’d worked with professionally, loved in his lifetime, and showed how deep his feelings ran for an earlier day and time when his body and mind were not wracked in pain by the five types of cancer he said he’d battled over time. The outpouring of love and support, expressions of concern, reminders of so many who had friended him on Facebook and felt as though they’d really known him, were nothing short of amazing. Offers of “please call me” or “we are worried about you” or “hang on, brother, we are here” filled the comments section. If there were a point in time when he was wavering in his attitude about what his plan was, everyone did whatever they could yesterday, New Year’s Day, to show their supp...

Remembering John Poulos, 40 Years Later

It’s hard to fathom that it’s been 40 years since The Buckinghams’ leader, drummer John Poulos, passed away at the too-young age of 32. Travel back in time for a few minutes as we remember John through the eyes and memories of his bandmate and friend, Carl Giammarese. First, Carl's video message, especially for friends and fans of The Buckinghams, who’d journeyed with them from their earliest days. John’s legacy of love lives on, and his many gifts and talents are remembered by those who loved him dearly, especially his widow, Dale Fahey, and their daughter, Polly, a talented creative in her own right. And now, flashback to the very beginning. From the band photo (above) the year was 1965 and The Pulsations won a battle of the bands in Chicago, chosen to perform on Chicago’s WGN-TV for 13 weeks on the show, “All Time Hits.” Band members on the show by the 4th week were: [L to R]: Nick Fortuna, Dennis Miccolis, John Poulos (seated), Dennis Tufano, and Carl Giammarese (seated)]....