Tufano & Giammarese
Marty Grebb left The Buckinghams and eventually formed the band “The Fabulous Rhinestones.” Nick Fortuna left to play in R&B bands, forming his own band, “Crystal,” and John Poulos pursued music management. Giammarese started writing songs, as did Dennis Tufano. Tufano and Giammarese decided to form a duo. Leaving behind national teen idol images and reputations, they used the names “Dennis and Carl” as they played small Chicago club venues.
The duo recorded a demo of their compositions and used several members of the group Poco as session players on the recording session. Acting as their first manager, John Poulos took the demo to multiple Grammy winner Lou Adler, who signed the duo immediately and insisted on producing their first album, which carried their new identity as the title: “Tufano & Giammarese.”
Lou Adler generously shared publishing rights and royalties with the new duo. Dennis and Carl wrote material for three albums recorded for Adler’s Ode Records, “Tufano & Giammarese,” “The Tufano-Giammarese Band,” and “The Other Side (released on the Ode/Epic label)” They worked with Adler, Jack Richardson (of Nimbus 9 Productions), Tom Scott and Hank Cicalo as producers on the second and third albums, respectively. Their first single from their self-titled album, “Music Everywhere,” went to the Top 50 on the charts as the duo chose not to capitalize on their previous identities as members of The Buckinghams.
Adler sent them on tour with colleagues from Grammy winner Carole King, with good results, to Cheech and Chong, whose personalities clashed with the acoustic duo. Three albums later, the duo split and Tufano remained in California to pursue an acting career. Giammarese returned to Chicago.
Read more about this topic: Carl Giammarese