The Buckinghams

The Buckinghams were the most successful of all the 60's Chicago bands. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top selling acts of 1967. In early 1966 the band signed their first recording contract with local label USA Records and recorded twelve songs that year. Several were released as singles, including "I'll Go Crazy" and "I Call Your Name". However, it was their number one single, "Kind of a Drag", that provided them with national exposure. "Kind of a Drag" spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1967 and sold over one million copies. The Buckinghams were courted by several record labels before deciding on Columbia Records where the band produced four more Top-20 hits in 1967: "Don't You Care" (#6), "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (#5), "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)" (#12) and "Susan" (#11). The same year, The Buckinghams were named by Billboard magazine as "The Most Listened to Band in America."