Carl Bonafede

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Carl Bonafede was the original manager of Chicago-based group ”The Buckinghams”, who charted in Billboard’s Hot 100 in February 1967 with “Kind of a Drag”.

Carl Bonafede was born in Chicago in an area called “Little Italy”. He appeared as a young boy on local television on Morris B. Sach’s Amateur Hour singing and playing the accordion. He appeared on an interview show Ernie Simon’s “Curbstone Cut-up”. He sang his hit record “Were Wolf” on disc-jockey Jim Lounsberry’s TV show in Chicago. He went on to promote local bands with his weekly dances at local ballrooms including the Aragon, Madura’s Danceland & The Holiday Ballroom with owner and collaborator Dan Belloc of big band fame…(Billy May Orchestra). He recorded and produced over 200 records with various recording artists. He fronted a local group -The Gemtones whose saxophone player, Harry Manfredini, became a big-time movie muscial score arranger for the “Friday the 13th” movies. He then turned to managing and promoting local teen bands (garage-bands in the early 60s). His most famous clients were “The Buckinghams” (“Kind of a Drag”) and the all-girl group The Daughters of Eve (Help Me Boy”). He also managed Thee Prophets out of Wisconsin and Mickey & Larry and the Exciters out of Boston. He managed The Delights in Chicago. He worked for the Willard Alexander Booking Agency with celebrity agent Herb Gronauer whose now promoting celebrities in Palm Springs, California. He worked for the CASK Attractions agency who were big in the nightclub circuit.

As a young band manager Bonafede promoted many, many young teens in a new phenomena - the "garage band. One of these groups included The Fabulous Centuries. Another group with great vocal harmonies was known as The Pulsations. These two groups merged to form The Buckinghams. One day, Sheldon Cooper,an executive at WGN-TV, witnessed a promotion of Carl's outside Lane Technical High school across the street from WGN-TV's studios. Carl's discussion with Mr. Cooper led to the inclusion of the Pulsations on The All-Time Hits color tv program featuring a variety of musical guests. By the end of the 13-week run, the Pulsations/Fabulous Centuries became The Buckinghams. He was on hand at the historic Chess studios in Chicago, Illinois to record Kind of a Drag with the Buckinghams co-producer Dan Belloc and arranger Frank Tesinsky added horns to the opening riffs of the song (launching the Chicago horn sound later employed by the groups Chicago, & Blood, Sweat and Tears, & Earth, Wind & Fire. (The engineer at Chess was the late Ron Malo.) Jimmy Holvay of the local Chicago group The Mob was the composer of “Kind of a Drag”.

As of 2009, Carl Bonafede still lives and works in Chicago in the Lincoln Park area, close to the lakefront.

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