Carl Bonafede was born in the Little Italy Chicago community on October 16, 1940. 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 Lounsbury Jim Lounsbury (February 24, 1923, in Colo, Iowa – January 8, 2006, in Tucson, Arizona) was an early pioneer in rock and roll music and a radio news anchor. Lounsbury hosted many of the first rock and roll radio programs (WIND and WJJD, Chicago ...

's TV show in Chicago. He went on to promote local bands with his weekly dances at local ballrooms including the Aragon Ballroom, Madura's Danceland and 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 Gem-tones, whose saxophone player, Harry Manfredini, became a movie musical score arranger for the "

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

" movies. He then turned to managing and promoting local teen bands (garage-bands in the early 60s). His most famous clients were

The Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed ...

and the all-girl group The Daughters of Eve. He also managed Thee Prophets, from Wisconsin and Mickey & Larry and the Exciters from Boston. He managed The Delights, in Chicago. He worked for the Willard Alexander Booking Agency with agent Herb Gronauer, who now promotes celebrities in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by la ...

. He also worked for the CASK Attractions agency. As a young band manager Bonafede promoted many young teens in a new phenomenon – the

garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

. One of these groups included The Fabulous Centuries. The Centuries consisted of

Nick Fortuna The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-forme ...

, Curtis Bachman, Carl Giammarese and Jerry Elarde. Carl Bonafede first crossed paths with

Phil Orsi Phil Orsi (born June 14, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and musician. Early life Orsi was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. His passion for music began with the gift of a small radio from his grandmother. Orsi's father ...

in 1964 when Phil was fronting Phil Orsi and the Little Kings at the Vogue Ballroom in Chicago. Another group with great vocal harmonies was known as The Pulsations.

John Poulos John Poulos (March 31, 1947 – March 26, 1980), also known by his nickname Jon Jon, was the original drummer for The Buckinghams, and one of its founding members in 1965. Early life His mother Ann and father John Sr. are of Greek origin. H ...

, Dennis Miccolis, George LeGros and Dennis Tufano were members of The Pulsations. These two groups merged to form

. One day, Sheldon Cooper, an executive at WGN-TV, witnessed a promotion of Carl's outside

Lane Tech High School In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

across the street from WGN-TV's studios. Carl's discussion with Cooper led to The Pulsations entering and winning a competition to appear for 13 weeks on The All-Time Hits, Chicago's first locally produced TV program broadcast in color, 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

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and r ...

studios in Chicago, Illinois to record "

Kind of a Drag "Kind of a Drag" is a song written by Jim Holvay and recorded by the Buckinghams. It was the title track of their debut LP. The single reached #1 on the U.S. Hot 100 in February 1967, becoming the first #1 single within the new calendar year, r ...

" with the Buckinghams co-producer 'Dan Belloc and arranger Frank Tesinsky.

Jim Holvay James Steven "Jimmy Soul" Holvay (born May 16, 1945) is an American songwriter and musician best known for writing " Kind of a Drag", a number one hit for The Buckinghams. He is one of the founding members of The MOB, the first rock band to p ...

of the local Chicago group The Mob was the composer of "

Present day

As of 2017, Carl Bonafede aka "The Screaming Wildman" (a nickname given to him by a priest who witnessed Carl running a local parish teenage dance) still lives and works in Chicago in the Lincoln Park area, close to the lakefront.

Discography

The Daughters of Eve

USA 1779, 1966. * "Hey Lover" ** Originally a modest hit for Debbie Dovale in 1963. * " Stand by Me" ** Produced by Carl Bonafede and Ron Malo. USA 891, 1967. * "Symphony of My Soul" ** Penned by Chicago songwriter James Butler (with a little help from Tchaikovsky). * "Help Me Boy" ** As "Help Me Girl", a hit for

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, po ...

and

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound an ...

earlier in 1967. ** Produced by Carl Bonafede and James Butler. Spectra Sound 920, 1967. * "Don't Waste My Time" ** Written by John Serafini. * "He Cried" ** As popularised by

The Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits " Remember (Walking in the Sand)", " Give Him a ...

, and previously a hit, as "She Cried", for

Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Y ...

in 1962. ** Produced by Carl Bonafede, engineered by Ron Malo. Cadet 5600, 1968. * "Social Tragedy" ** Written by James Butler, and subsequently recorded, as "Don't Let It Slip Away", by Ral Donner. * "A Thousand Stars" ** Introduced by The Rivileers in 1954, but popularised by

Kathy Young Kathy Young (born October 21, 1945) is an American musician; she was a teen pop singer during the early 1960s, whose rendition of " A Thousand Stars", at age 15, rose to No. 3 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Biography A native of Southern ...

and The Innocents in 1960. ** Produced by Carl Bonafede, engineered by Gary Knipper and Ed Cody.

References

External links

The Buckinghams official web site

* ttp://thescreamingwildman.blogspot.com/ The Screaming Wildman Blogspot
Carl Bonafede Blogspot

Carl Bonafede Official Web site

Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonafede, Carl American music managers Record producers from Illinois People from Chicago Living people 1940 births