Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Founding members of the standout ’60s pop band The Buckinghams, Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna were instrumental in the band’s resurrection in 1980 after a decade-long hiatus.
1967 was quite the year in pop music history. Elvis and Priscilla got married. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Doors all released their debut albums. The Aretha Franklin anthem “Respect” hit the airwaves. And The Buckinghams charted five Top 40 hits that to this day remain fan favorites.
Undone by the British Invasion, the band broke up in 1970. But they re-formed in the early ’80s, thanks to two original members — Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna — and they have been making the musical rounds ever since.
The Windy City in the 1960s was quite the music mecca. Whether it was live shows at the Empire Room in the Palmer House, Franz Benteler and his Royal Strings at the Continental Plaza Hotel, or the country-folk sounds of John Prine at The Earl of Old Town, Chicago had it all.
Another musical form brewing at the time was alternately known as “Sunshine Pop” and “Garage Band Rock.” Named for the garages and basements where budding high-school rockers rehearsed in, the scene spawned such groups as The Ides of March, The Shadows of Knight, The Lemon Drops, The Flock, The Mauds, New Colony Six and the Cryan’ Shames, to name a few. And it all came about because a bunch of 16-year-old boys were trying to get noticed by the girls in the high schools.
One of those bands began as a combination of two local groups, The Centuries and The Pulsations. It was 1965 when Giammarese, Fortuna, Dennis Tufano and John Poulos came together, adding keyboardist Marty Grebb in 1966. The guys entered a local competition to become the house band on a new WGN-TV variety show called “All-Time Hits.” They got the gig and their popularity skyrocketed in the Midwest during the 13-week contract.
Before the band hit Chicago-area living rooms live on television, the producers of the show suggested that they change their name as an answer to the British Invasion that was sweeping the nation at the time. A random security guard at WGN offered an option, and it stuck. Changing their name to something more “British sounding,” “The Buckinghams” were born. The band warmed to the name because of its subtle salute to Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain. Sixty years later, they’re still rockin’ ’n’ rollin’ to the delight of loyal fans of all ages.
Just like all the other fledgling groups of that era, the guys rehearsed in each other’s garages and basements until the respective parents got fed up with the noise. Then they’d move to the next guy’s basement.
“We were rehearsing ‘Kind of a Drag’ in my basement, and my mother came down to tell us that we had a hit on our hands,” Giammarese says. “She called it something special: the only song she would say that about. That’s how I knew it would be a hit.”
“Kind of a Drag” was the title track of their debut album, and it became the first No. 1 hit of 1967, replacing The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” and going certified gold. It was followed up the charts by “Don’t You Care,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)” and “Susan.” Their success was fueled by more than 300 tour dates and appearances all over television, including “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “American Bandstand” and “The Jerry Lewis Show.” Billboard magazine named them the “Most Listened-to Band in America” that year.
The Giammarese family lived near the Grand and Ogden Italian enclave. “My grandparents were from Bagheria and Ciminna, Sicily. Our house became the place where the family congregated, and the pasta was made from scratch,” he says. “My grandmother lived with us, and SHE kept our culture alive.”
Giammarese’s father, Nicholas, was a tailor by trade, but he had a baritone voice that eventually earned him a spot as vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He grew up on the streets of Chicago and would hang around North Avenue and Clark Street. “My dad actually saw what came to be known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” he says.
Tufano, the band’s original lead singer, was the heartthrob of the Holiday Ballroom in Chicago. He hailed from the Riis Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side. “My Neapolitan father taught my Polish mother how to cook,” he says. “My Uncle Dom had an Italian grocery store and, on many nights, we had snails and other traditional Italian foods.”
Like Giammarese’s dad, Tufano’s father was a singer, and also played the violin, saxophone and harmonica. Tufano left the band in 1983 to pursue an acting career and Giammarese stepped into the lead vocalist role.
Fortuna, the Buckinghams’ bassist, was born in the Cabrini-Green housing project at a time when the Near North Side neighborhood was still predominantly Italian. “My Sicilian grandfather had the corner grocery store in the neighborhood, and my uncle had the bakery,” he says. “My grandfather was also president of the Sons of Italy, so we went to every St. Joseph’s Table and procession and participated in all the Italian traditions of the day.”
Fortuna originally played guitar and his experience and passion for rhythm and blues brought a funky rhythm to the band. Because Giammarese was already deemed the band’s lead guitar player, Fortuna was offered a place in the band only if he played bass. He wanted the gig, so bass it was!
The Buckinghams’ first personal manager was another Chicago-based Italian-American musical genius, Carl Bonafede, who co-produced “Kind of a Drag” at Chicago’s legendary Chess Records studio. They were then managed by James William Guercio, who went on to shepherd a new group called The Big Thing, which eventually became the band Chicago. He also produced records for another power-horn band, Blood, Sweat & Tears. His time with The Buckinghams had a strong impact on those “Brass Rock” bands of the 1970s.
Tufano and Giammarese got together after the band’s breakup in the 1970s and toured as Tufano & Giammarese. They put out three albums together and performed regularly, including tour support for Cheech & Chong.
In 1980, Giammarese and Fortuna re-formed The Buckinghams, which became a much sought-after live act. National tours, cruises, PBS specials and benefit concerts kept the band in the limelight. Support from disc jockeys like Bob Sirott, John “Records” Landecker and Dick Biondi kept them going strong.
Tufano performed the theme song for the hit television series, “Family Ties.” He then joined Olivia Newton-John on the road, performing hugely successful duets with the superstar. Continuing to appear in many films and television shows, he also performed in a very popular live show in tribute to the music of Bobby Darin.
The Buckinghams are true unsung heroes of American pop music. Their British-style haircuts and suits in the ’60s may have been an homage to the Beatles, but they have been bringing great pride to Chicago for decades.
The article above appears in the March 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.
