Four high school musicians -- singer-guitarist DennisTufano,
bassist Nick Fortuna, guitarist Carl Giammarese and drummer
Jon Poulos -- got together as The Centuries in 1965.  After adding
keyboard player Dennis Miccoli (later replaced by Marty Grebb),
the group appeared on WGN’s All-Time Hits TV series and won a
“Battle of the Bands” competition.  That lead to both a 14-week
run as regulars on the program but also a name change.  As
everything British seemed terribly hip at the time, the group took the
suggestion of a WGN security guard and renamed themselves after
London’s Buckingham Palace.

A local label, USA Records, signed The Buckinghams and sent
them to the Chess Studios with producer Dan Belloc.  There they
cut three Chicagoland hits: “I’ll Go Crazy,” “I Call Your Name”
and “I’ve Been Wrong Before.”  Although they also recorded a
punchy, wistful soul-styled song Holvay had written,Kind of A Drag”
the label released it as the last single on The Buckinghams’ contract. 
To their surprise, it shot to #1 in the country in February 1967 and
sold over one million copies. Rather than re-sign with the label,
The Buckinghams moved to Columbia, where they were put into the hands of
producer James Guercio.  Guercio then hired Dean Torrence (of Jan &
Dean fame) to design a logo for the band.

On March 11, 1967, two new Buckinghams singles appeared
on Billboard’s Hot 100 at the same time“Lawdy Miss Clawdy”
(on the USA label) and “Don’t You Care” on Columbia.  Although
“Lawdy Miss Clawdy” was a first-rate single (pulled from the tapes
The Buckinghams had left behind), it peaked out at #41 -- while
Columbia’s superior promotional muscle pushed “Don’t You Care”
to #6.   Both singles built upon the brass rock sound of “Kind Of A Drag”
and set the stage for four more Buckinghams hits in 1967:
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (#5), “Hey Baby (They’re Playin’ Our Song)”
(#12), “Susan” (#11) and “Back In Love Again” (#58).

The Buckinghams toured extensively, appeared on many TV
programs (from American Bandstand to The Ed Sullivan Show)
and was voted the year’s “Most Listened To Band” by Billboard
magazine.  However, there was trouble behind the scenes.  The
group feuded with producer Guercio over both creative and
financial issues (such as the fact that James was making far more
money that the band!).  Guercio was dropped as producer,
but without him The Buckinghams were unable to come up any
further hit singles or albums.  Finally, in early 1970,
The Buckinghams broke up.

In 1972, Martin Grebb turned up in The Fabulous Rhinestones,
a band that failed to catch on.  The next year, Tufono & Giammarese
did the same as a duo on the Ode label.  In 1980, though, Tufano &
Giammarese reformed The Buckinghams for a WLS radio reunion. 
Audience reaction was so positive that the newly reconfigured
band decided to stay together and have played concerts, festivals,
cruises and corporate dates ever since.