Five For Friday: The Buckinghams

Five For Friday 1 Minute

I woke up this morning thinking about the music of The Buckinghams. They didn’t have horns, but used horns on all their hits, which caught the ear of Al Kooper, which gave him the idea of a "rock band with horns," which blossomed into Blood Sweat & Tears. The Buckinghams were from Chicago, and for the longest time I thought they had named themselves after Buckingham Fountain, one of the more famous landmarks in The Windy City. Turns out a janitor at WCFL radio, seeing that they were dressed in some kind of Revolutionary War British garb, thought of Buckingham Palace. Anyway, here are the five songs I was thinking of…

  1. Kind of a Drag
  2. Don’t You Care
  3. Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)
  4. Susan
  5. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

The Buckinghams, your Five For Friday, April 15, 2022.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

12 thoughts on “Five For Friday: The Buckinghams”

  1. Pingback: The Easter 2022 Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  2. Wow! What a fun blast from the past! I loved the Buckinghams because they had a different sound.

    You know the beginning of your post “I woke up this morning” reminds me of the group We Five.

    Happy Easter to you and yours.

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  3. After the 2nd one played I had to go to Youtube:) I only know the last song which I like. The others are all great but the Susan (is it really about/for Susan Dey??) went psychedelic:)

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    1. I had never heard that it was about Susan Dey. The song came out before she was in “The Partridge Family,” so I kind of doubt it. They say that the producer, James William Guercio, added that psychedelic bit at the end, and the band didn’t like it, and a lot of radio stations edited it out. Stupid producer tricks…

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    1. They had a great sound with the horns. I never saw them perform, so I don’t know if they took a horn section with them or what. The horns were such an integral part of their sound…

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      1. You would think they would have taken some horns out…since synths were not synths as they would be later.

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  5. Ok, so my dad came home one night after drinking in a bar (he sold heavy equipment so he of course HAD to drink with his “clients.” And he said he was drinking with this guy who told Dad who he was. Dad said he had no idea who he was. He said to take this napkin home. He said your daughter will know who I am. Said “Jon Jon of the Buckinghams.” I had the napkin for a long time and lost it. I of course knew who he was and loved the songs you just listed here. I just saw that he died of heart failure before 33? I didn’t know that. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195159379/john-p-poulos

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    1. Funny thing, I never knew the names of the guys in the band, but loved their music and they really had a positive impact on the music of the mid to late ’60’s.

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  6. Funny, but every once in a while I think about their music as well. They had a good sound and I liked the group a lot. I never bought any of their records, but I liked them. They are still nice to listen to.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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