Today, Carl Giammarese shares his thoughts on The Buckinghams. Enjoy! (kk)
Hi Kent!
Thank you for the opportunity and the forum to explain a few things regarding The Buckinghams.
First and foremost, there is no fight over the Buckinghams name. It is a trademark owned by Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna under our corporation Buckinghams Music Ltd.
Dennis made a decision over 25 years ago that I quote from Dennis "I do not want to be a Buckingham anymore." It was around the end of 1982.
From 1980 to 1983 we had been playing a handful of dates every summer. At that time it was Dennis, Nick and me. It started with WLS asking us to perform on their stage at Chicago Fest in 1980. By 1983 I felt the growing interest in our music again and while recording some new songs (there was no new album), Dennis decided it wasn't for him and went back to LA to pursue his acting career, so Nick and I continued without him.
Dennis Tufano is a great talent. Unfortunately it is some of our fans that have created this illusion that Nick and I have bad feelings regarding Dennis, and he toward us. I always wish him well and hope he is successful in his career endeavors. He has every right to promote himself as "Dennis Tufano formerly of The Buckinghams." It always seemed that he preferred performing on his own.
No, there will not be a reunion between Dennis and The Buckinghams in the future ... he has his career and we have ours. It actually turned into a blessing for me when Dennis quit. It gave me an opportunity to sing lead and front the band ... and I am thankful for that.
The whole story will be documented in my autobiography, "My Journey", when it comes out this summer. Dawn Lee Wakefield and I have worked very hard to make this a great and accurate read, with a lot of interviews from those that were there, along with some wonderful stories. The Buckinghams have been reinvented many times with different members through the years, but the one constant is Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna.
I will say this again and I have said it many times in the past. Dennis, Nick and I have been given this gift to still perform and show our talent because of our fans. They continue to support us and still want to hear our music, God bless them.
Thank you to all our fans who made the 2010 Happy Together Tour a fabulous success, and that is why there is a 2011 tour. I look forward to giving you updates during the tour.
Thank you,
Carl Giammarese
Can't WAIT to read the new book. (Hey, maybe we can give away an autographed copy to a lucky Forgotten Hits Reader, too!)
Looks like I got my timeline wrong in a couple of instances in yesterday's piece. I thought the Chicagofest Reunion was more of the 1985 time frame ... and that the reunited band had cut an album that produced the single "Veronica", a song that had some abbreviated airplay here in Chicago in the early '80's. In our on-going commitment to presenting "The Most Accurate Truth", I asked Carl to please clear up and correct any wrong information I may have inadvertently passed along. (kk)
Looks like I got my timeline wrong in a couple of instances in yesterday's piece. I thought the Chicagofest Reunion was more of the 1985 time frame ... and that the reunited band had cut an album that produced the single "Veronica", a song that had some abbreviated airplay here in Chicago in the early '80's. In our on-going commitment to presenting "The Most Accurate Truth", I asked Carl to please clear up and correct any wrong information I may have inadvertently passed along. (kk)
>>>Dennis made a decision over 25 years ago that I quote from Dennis "I do not want to be a Buckingham anymore." It was around the end of 1982. From 1980 to 1983 we had been playing a handful of dates every summer. At that time it was Dennis, Nick and me. It started with WLS asking us to perform on their stage at Chicago Fest in 1980. By 1983 I felt the growing interest in our music again and while recording some new songs (there was no new album), Dennis decided it wasn't for him and went back to LA to pursue his acting career, so Nick and I continued without him. (Carl Giammarese)
Maybe I've got my timeline wrong (???) The "new album" I was referring to was the one released on Red Label, featuring the single "Veronica", which I remember buying on a 45 with a picture sleeve. I thought this was part of the "comeback phase". Dennis was NOT part of these recordings? (kk)
Hi Kent,
No, Dennis was not involved in the Red Label release "Veronica," or the album it was on, "A Matter Of Time." Dennis had left the band about two years before that, and we recorded and released it for the start of the Happy Together Tour in 1985. Dennis only appeared with Nick and I from 1980 through 1982. It began with Chicago Fest and, for a couple of summers, we did the fest and Parkwest. We played The Parkwest for New Year's Eve in 1980. Once again, Dennis never did any recording with us other than the start of a session when he told us "I don't want to be a Buckingham anymore." We probably played five or six times with him back then.
I hope that answers your questions.
Best regards,
Carl
Thanks, Carl, yes it does. As you know, we're all about getting the facts straight here ... and ANYTIME we can quote an actual source from one of the parties who was there at the time just helps to build our credibility as THE ultimate oldies music source. And, as you pointed out earlier, it ALSO helps us resolve some of the misconceptions circulating amongst uninformed fans ... so thank you again. (kk)
In addition to all of their up-coming "Happy Together Again" tour dates, The Buckinghams are also squeezing in a few "solo" show dates, too.
Tuesday, June 7th - Wichita, KS -- Downtown Wichita
Saturday, June 11th - Franklin Park, IL -- Railroad Daze
Thursday, June 16th - Rochester, MN -- Mayo Park
Friday, June 24th - Homewood, IL -- Marie Irwin Center
Sunday, June 26th - Three Oaks, MI -- Acorn Theater
Monday, July 25th - Ocean City, NJ -- Ocean City Music Pier
Friday, August 12th - Chicago, IL -- Private Corporate Date
Saturday, August 13th - Mount Vernon, OH -- Downtown Square
Saturday, Aug. 21st - Bolingbrook, IL -- Bolingbrook Jubilee
Watch for the complete Happy Together Again Tour Date Schedule in the days to come ... as well as our Forgotten Hits special tribute to all of this year's artists when Forgotten Hits salutes The Happy Together Again Tour the week of June 27th in our daily "Today's Forgotten Hit" feature! (kk)
