In 1963 in Chicago, a band was formed. Yes, yet another group of teenage boys assembled in hopes of creating a sound that would remind teenage girls of the hits of the day across Chicago radio. They'd recognize and appreciate those songs these bands recreated when performed at weekend sock hops and teen dances held at some of the busiest venues in town, such as Dan Belloc's Holiday Ballroom, the Aragon Ballroom, the Embassy Ballroom, or Dex Card's Wild Goose to name a few. At the time virtually every teenage guy who’d heard The Beatles on the radio had joined or formed a band. Most of the bands were headquartered in someone’s garage, or more likely their basements, safely nestled away in their obscurity. Others, but only a select few, made it out of the basement and into paying gigs where they began to draw a reputation and a following.
This time in Morton Grove, one group that was founded named themselves "The Kingsmen." This band was the inspiration of Gerald (Jerry) Elarde, drummer and a vocalist who was a student at Niles West High School. Jerry invited his cousin, Carl Giammarese, to join a band he was putting together.
Jerry Elarde, back row, 4th from left.Carl readily accepted, as he'd been playing guitar since age 15. Elarde invited two of his Niles West schoolmates to join in: Nick Fortuna and Curtis Bachman, both of whom lived in Morton Grove. Carl, Nick and Curtis were (wait for it) guitarists, and Curtis was willing to play the bass. These personnel would come into and out of each other's lives several times in the ensuing decade; this was just the first of many musical groupings.
Curtis was fascinated by multiple instruments, including the drums. As a younger musician he recalled going over to Morton Grove neighbor Tom Radtke's house and watching him practice on his drum kit, since Curtis didn't own drums. Eventually Radtke (who grew up to be a first-call drummer in Chicago as an older teen and adult) needed a new kit for a new gig he'd signed up for, so Curtis bought Radtke's old Pearl white finish kit for $100 and then refinished them to a sky blue. Before Jerry had his first set of drums, he would then go over and play on Curtis's drum kit. Eventually, Jerry got his own drum kit. Interestingly, all three drummers would become music professionals for their primary careers.
Elarde’s home was one of the early rehearsal sites, but they also shared rehearsal time at Bachman's home, as their parents could only handle “practice” for just so long before the cover songs of early British invasion music and numerous other song styles made their way upstairs into the family home. Giammarese said, "In our earliest days, we had Jerry playing the drums and singing and then Nick, Curtis and I were all on guitars, our little Silvertone models, and we played through one amplifier! It sounded awful!" But such are the commonalities of the early beginnings of bands. From awful to well-known to beloved to superstars--there are many levels you can achieve, with practice.
The Centuries (as the quickly renamed band became better known to the public) got fairly well known in neighborhoods, especially in Morton Grove, where just Jerry's relatives alone in attendance could create the perfect large crowd! They got better and their band came to the attention of longtime icon of Chicago’s radio stations, pitchman Carl Bonafede. Also known as the Screamin’ Wildman, Bonafede had name recognition across 50,000 Watts of wherever radio stations broadcast. He worked every weekend record hop at Dan Belloc’s Holiday Ballroom and was constantly listening to every group in town in search of new talent to record and bands to book. Stars were waiting to be born!
Bonafede was also notorious for his rapid-fire speech pattern that allowed him to cram three minutes’ of information into 60 seconds of radio advertising. Bonafede had business cards printed up noting he was the band’s manager, with his phone number for booking and the promise they were up and coming stars of rock and roll.
They did a little traveling outside the neighborhoods, but realistically they were just another teenage band in Chicago. One day in 1964, Bonafede was in his station wagon, his band in tow, and they were speeding to a gig, with still a long way to go. A policeman spotted the “speedwagon” and pulled them over. The usual questions ensued.
It's all about the promotion. See what Bonafede brought to promoting his groups?“Officer, you’ve got to let us go. We’re late for a concert and my boys here have to get there in time. Teenagers are piled up over there waiting to hear them play,” said Bonafeded. The officer replied warily, “Who are they?” Bonafede said, “They’re the Kingsmen!” and the officer brightened up a bit and said, “The Kingsmen? “Louie Louis? That Kingsmen?”
Bonafede, ever one to take a mile if you give him an inch, said, “Absolutely! Yeah, these are’The Kingsmen’! Boys, sing him a little of your hit song!” To which, the “other” Kingsmen started singing “Louie, Louie, whoa whoa, we gotta go now, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” The officer let Bonafede go without a ticket, and off they went, laughing and singing “Louie, Louie” the rest of the way to the gig.
Not long after that, Bonafede realized that he was lucky that the policeman didn’t know the real Kingsmen were from Portland, Oregon, and was grateful his group had changed their name to “The Centuries.” But when Carl Bonafede has his promo mind in full gear, you have to have a demand-driven adjective describing your band. He billed them, in all his advertising glory, as “The Fabulous Centuries!”
Bonafede got the guys into the Spectra Sound recording studio owned by Dan Belloc, to record two songs, both of which were written by Geoff (Jeff) Boyan. At the time Boyan was a popular songwriter who performed as part of the duo, Ron and Geoff as well as in other groups in Chicago. Boyan had a good handle on songs the crowds like to dance to at the ballrooms.
Years ago, Carl Giammarese told “Forgotten Hits” that the two songs “Yeh; It’s Alright” and “I Love You No More” were recorded in late 1964 at Lawrence and Western…I think it was the old St. Louis Insurance Building.”
Chicago music researcher Joseph Pytel, who maintains Carl Bonafede’s archives online, posted both songs on YouTube. Curtis Bachman has the lead on “I Love You No More”:
Hear Jerry Elarde sing lead on “Yeh; It’s Alright”, and to hear a young Carl Giammarese play a fiery guitar solo or two, check out these “Spectra-Sound Recording Stars”:
Because Carl Giammarese has been a lead vocalist since 1982, it’s easy to forget what an amazing guitarist he was at age 17. Fortunately, in this video you get to see some rare footage of the teenagers, including Jerry Elarde, the drumming vocalist, Carl, Nick, and Curt. Giammarese said, “I’ve always admired Jerry’s great singing voice, but it blows me away he could sing and never miss a beat on the drums at the same time.”
Life can change in the blink of an eye. Eventually Curt Bachman left The Centuries to join Jean Terry and the Tri-Dells for a few months. It was not at all uncommon for band members to come and go in various bands while people searched for sympatico sounds and personalities and found their groove together. But Curt was the only one playing the bass at the time, and it left the band without a key element.
At this point, Jon-Jon Poulos and Dennis Tufano would try to convince Carl to join the group then called The Pulsations, and that was one of the toughest choice Carl would ever have to make. It was anything but easy for him, but Jerry was gracious and understood and put love of family over personal feelings.
Later, The Pulsations needed a bass player so Carl, with the approval of Jon-Jon and Dennis Tufano, invited Curtis to join them, and he accepted. The new configuration sounded great and George LeGros sang primary lead vocals with Dennis Tufano on harmony. Curtis played with them for a while, especially through the first 3 weeks of their 13 weeks on the "All Time Hits" TV show.
Two more personnel changes would happen before the end of their TV residency: Curtis had a real affinity for a heavier sound and ultimately left them, and the continued TV audience recognition, to join another band, Truth, which had a slightly harder sound. So, with that vacancy at bass, ultimately, at Carl’s suggestion, The Pulsations invited Nick Fortuna to play bass (which Nick learned fast as he’d been playing rhythm guitar far longer) for the newly rechristened Buckinghams as they were now known. Nick had his first experience with the bass as he auditioned for and got the gig working for Chicago's well known act, Baby Huey (and the Babysitters). John Poulos was already the drummer and primary founder of The Pulsations.
Their manager was (wait for it) Carl Bonafede. And of course Bonafede billed them in promo pictures and posters as "The Fabulous Buckinghams -- Royalty in Rock and Roll."
Undaunted, Jerry formed several of his own combos and became a very well-known musician in upscale Chicago restaurants and venues. Everyone in Chicago enjoyed his music throughout his career. Coincidently, many years later, Jerry and Curtis would play together again at one of the lovely restaurants in Miami (FL)'s famed hotel, The Fontainebleau. Some things just come full circle.
Flash forward to many decades later. Recently, Carl invited Jerry over to his Twenty-four Seven recording studio and suggested they record some songs again, since Jerry still had such a great voice and Carl was experimenting with his new recording setup. Turns out that was a great idea. Carl really enjoyed producing the tracks and even sang harmony in sections.
Because Carl's fans have been enjoying new music that he's been writing and releasing throughout the COVID-19 quarantine at home, he decided longtime fans from back in the days of The Centuries forward would enjoy hearing these songs featuring Jerry. Naturally, these days the easiest delivery system is digital streaming.
Carl said, "It's my pleasure to share two songs featuring Jerry Elarde, and they’re live across all streaming media now." Timing on this is fortunate, as Jerry is now making great progress from a recent slight health challenge. Both guys have discussed the possibility of recording more songs together later this year.
Check out Jerry's tunes on Spotify: “I’ll Still Be Loving You” here and “Unchained Melody” here. If you enjoy the songs, give them a “heart” and “Follow” Gerald Elarde as an artist to get notified when new songs are uploaded.
