The Buckinghams in Concert

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

On this final day of 2022, we’d like to take a moment to address all of you who are here on our musical journey across the country and over the seas as we travel on cruises. Our world has been changing constantly this year, and as a result, we have seen what happens when we all join together in song, and in appreciation of the music that brings us together. The Buckinghams are now celebrating what will be our 58th year as a group. Thanks to quality songs by James Holvay, Gary Beisbier, Lloyd Price, Cannonball Adderly, and lyricists Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and Larry “Bad Boy” Williams, as well as the late Marty Grebb, our fellow bandmember, and talented producers including Dan Belloc, Carl Bonafede, James William Guercio, Jimmy “The Wiz” Wisner, as well as talented arrangers, label promo teams, and relentless devotion to our craft, The Buckinghams continue to be heard on terrestrial radio, we’re streaming on your favorite devices, and many times when you speak to Alexa, Siri, or Google

“Sweet Soul Song,” is the title track from Holvay’s 2020 debut EP on his own MOB Town Records and his Official Video debuted today on YouTube. Just a few fast decades ago, James Holvay, a preteen from Brookfield, Illinois, would get his first guitar. He assembled his first band, Jimmy and the Jesters, as a teenager. Swept up in his love of the early groove of R&B music, he would ultimately become a fulltime musician, songwriter, and band co-founder for the next 20 years of his life. What was at first a high school flirtation with music, saw Holvay through college and propelled him head-first into a burgeoning new Wild West known as the recording industry, and eventually, the music business. But, if you’d have predicted in 1965, when he wrote “Kind of a Drag,” and made a rough demo recording of that song for Carl Bonafede to take back to his band, The Buckinghams, for consideration that James Holvay would be releasing his first solo music video in his career in 2021, after a l

Tuesday, August 31, marks the exciting long-awaited opening of musician Ron Romero’s dream: the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . It’s located in the heart of Joliet, IL, at 9 W. Cass St. "On behalf of the entire Buckinghams band, original lead singer and founding member Dennis Tufano will be representing in the formal Hall of Fame induction ceremony," announced his friend and longtime fellow Buckingham, Carl Giammarese. "It’s poignant and so important that Dennis be there just as he was in the very beginning. The founding member we all considered the “heart” of The Buckinghams, John Poulos, and early founding member George LeGros as well as final founding member, Marty Grebb, are no longer with us. Dennis will share memories from his heart and will be wonderful in representing all of us from the beginning. He’ll also sing a few songs that evening," said Carl. Two early shots of The Pulsations turned The Buckinghams during the early days of WGN-TV

There are many truly knowledgeable Buckinghams fans to be sure, and many are from Chicago, so it seems right to ask a few questions to check your trivia knowledge while we wait for more music and concert dates. Three questions to start: 1) How many week(s) was “Kind of a Drag” at the #1 Spot on Billboard? 2) Which exact one or more week(s) was it at the #1 spot in 1967? 3) What song was previously in the #1 spot that “Kind of a Drag” replaced? If you’re a longtime Buckinghams fan, you likely know the answers but just in case, scroll down and check your answers. Question 1, it was at the #1 spot for 2 weeks. Question 2, they were at the top the week of Feb. 18 and the week of Feb. 25, 1967, according to the Billboard Top 100 charts. Now, for Question 3…if you’ve been to a Buckinghams’ concert in person, you just might have heard lead singer Carl Giammarese tell how The Buckinghams knocked The Monkees out of the top spot. And he does it with great flourish and satisfaction.

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

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

From Chicago to LA and back again, There’s magic in the air tonight and it’s thanks to a story, some 50+ years in the making, of how a group of talented musicians, many of them undiscovered, would come together, in a story of reaching the top of the charts on Billboard , Cashbox , and Record World , fueled by determination to carve out each leg of a journey that would take his songs all over the world. One man would stay the course over 50 years in between paths that kept him far from the stage and spotlights in between each foray into music. But still the music kept calling his name. When it comes to The Buckinghams, it just so happened that the body of work he wrote solo or with Gary Beisbier made possible a #1 hit record for The Buckinghams and the devotion to their music that comes from being named by Billboard Magazine as "The Most Listened to Band in America." Am I talking of the music of The Buckinghams, the five-man band from Chicago who found fame and acclaim

Before COVID-19 hit the entertainment world and brought live concerts, and seagoing cruises with classic rock favorites to a screeching halt, The Buckinghams had been enjoying traveling the United States and then out of country with the 2020 Flower Power Cruise in the Caribbean. On August 24, 2020, rock collectors' magazine Goldmine published a lengthy, informative interview with Carl. They talked about fun trivia only true Buckinghams' fans would know, like the 13th cut on certain copies of the "Kind of a Drag" album released by USA Records, a small label in Chicago. They also discussed recording at the iconic Chess Studios where Bo Diddley, Howling Wolf, and Muddy Waters once created historic tracks there. Included in the interview was the talent of songwriter James Holvay, who wrote or co-wrote most of the hits by The Buckinghams. Also of interest were Tom and Carl discussing that funky psychedelic break in the song "Susan" and it's fun to see it

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