Dennis Tufano, The Buckinghams, and Rock’s Greatest Disappearing Act – Part 2

(Psst, check out part one of our interview with Dennis Tufano by clicking here!)

In 1967, the band proclaimed by Billboard as “the most listened to band in America” was riding a streak of five songs that peaked in the top 12 spots on the charts, including their #1 hit “Kind of a Drag.” But as the year ended, even as their song “Susan” was moving up the charts, there were tensions between the band and management. Unbeknownst to the band, their manager had inserted an odd — and out of place — Beatles-esque “Day in the Life” segment in “Susan,” which kept many radio stations from playing the song.  What happened next, as lead singer Dennis Tufano says, was a “typical rock ‘n’ roll story.”

REBEAT: So, what happened next? I mean, at that point you were as big as anybody in this country, but after 1967 you didn’t release a single Top 40 record — 1968’s “Back in Love Again” was a good song, although it only peaked at #57. You had to be thinking you were embarking on a great run as 1967 ended, not that you were finished as a chart presence.
DENNIS TUFANO: Unfortunately, this is where some legal matters came into the picture and took a lot of the shine off the music business for us. We’d been working 200 days a year and selling millions of records, and so we decided we’d take some of the money and pay off our parents’ houses. They’d been so supportive, and we felt like it was the least we could do for them. We decided to do this together and have a big party. Well, we learned there wasn’t really any money there. The band had been paying for things we probably shouldn’t have been charged for, and then there were some issues with song rights, and in the end we spent our last year and a half together paying legal fees and it cost us a lot. In the end, we only got back 50% of what we were supposed to get back. Honestly Rick, after all that touring and all those records, I ended up with about $13,000 when we broke up in 1970 and only because I had saved a little money.

So, the whole legal thing, the acrimony between the band and management and the label — that’s why you broke up?
Instead of having the band get fragmented, we figured we should just bring it to a close. Our relationship with the label had been soured and we played out the contract and disbanded. There had been a lot of manipulation; we couldn’t put it all back together, and we made the choice to break up the band. Lesson learned about management. But you know, I don’t want to get into too many details. I want people to remember the joy of the music, not the ugly underbelly; I don’t want fans to know the dark side of things. Fans need to hear the good things because they invest their lives in the music.

I know that Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna are currently appearing as the Buckinghams, but you aren’t playing with them even though you sang the lead on all those great hits. Why aren’t you working with them, and how do you feel about them playing as the Buckinghams?
After the group broke up Carl and I recorded for a few years as a duo, and then we kind of went our separate ways. Then about 1980, a DJ from Chicago called and asked if we’d get back together for Chicagofest, so we got most of the remaining members together and played. It went over well, and in fact, so well that they had us do several more appearances. I was living in LA and commuting to do these, and after a few months, Carl and Nick wanted to put the band together again. I was into some other things as a solo artist and didn’t really want to do it full-time again. I couldn’t just stop what I was doing at the time. I told them if they wanted to do it they had my blessing. We all owned the group name under the trademark law, but by letting them use the name I was told that I lost all ownership of it. That’s okay, though. They do a good job and I’m glad they keep the music alive.

I know these days you do a Bobby Darin show, and you also sing the songs you did with the Buckinghams. But why Bobby Darin? I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone else doing him, and in fact I saw a video of you doing “Beyond the Sea” as him and it was great!
Thanks. Well, back in high school his music was really big — “Splish Splash,” “Dream Lover,” and songs like that — and very accessible. His music was clean and stood out. I saw him on television, and he was sitting in a cardboard bathtub with no shirt on rubbing his back doing “Splish Splash.” Something about that appealed to me; I thought, “Here’s a guy with a sense of humor.” After I stepped back from doing music full time, working with Olivia Newton-John and others, I was in acting for 18 years — which is another story! Then, seven years ago I wanted to get back into music. I was at my sister’s house and she had a Bobby Darin CD playing, and she said, “Are you aware your voice tones and quality are very similar to Bobby Darin’s?” I’d never really thought about it, but he was an inspiration, so when I got back to LA I bought a box set and four CDs, and I listened to them and started thinking about an act. He was so versatile and did so many genres, all of them authentically. I decided I wanted to do a show of his life chronologically. I think because he died young — in his 30s — he got pushed aside. I realized I could do the songs as close as I could to his way, and I hoped it would work and people would accept it. And they did. I do stay close to his arrangements but I don’t try and change it up or imitate him. I have a ball doing it and the response has been great.

You mention the response, and I’m sure you get that response about the Buckinghams songs. Any final thoughts on the Buckinghams’ music and your performing those songs today? Why do you think those Buckinghams songs remain so popular?
All of our songs, except “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” were about “You broke my heart but I still love you.” Every one of them, and that’s a universal theme of life. I’m 68 years old now but I can still sing those songs with integrity and not worry that I’m too old to sing the songs. I feel like I’m 19 again when I sing them! Even now the energy on stage is great. Now, I get to talk to fans and hear how there are stories attached to these songs. We talk about the music and sometimes we’re in tears because it has affected someone’s life that much, and I know we didn’t realize it at the time. I’m so grateful and humbled that this late in the game I can go out and perform. I’m just having a good time.

Rick Simmons

Dr. Rick Simmons has published five books, the two most recent being Carolina Beach Music from the '60s to the '80s: The New Wave (2013) and Carolina Beach Music: The Classic Years (2011). Based on his interviews with R&B, “frat rock,” and pop music artists from the '50s, '60s, and '70s, his books examine the decades-old phenomenon known as Carolina beach music and its influence on Southern culture. His next book, The Carolina Beach Music Encyclopedia, 1940-1980, will be published by McFarland in 2018. He currently lives in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.