Johnny and the Hurricanes

Johnny and the Hurricanes is a rock band formed in 1957 by saxophonist Johnny Paris (born John Pocisk, 1940-2006) as "The Orbitals" was founded in Toledo (Ohio). The members were school friends who initially Mack Vickery, a relatively unknown local rockabilly singer, accompanied. The band released exclusively instrumental numbers. ==Career[ Edit] == In 1959, the band signed a contract with Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik of Twirl Records. They changed their name to Johnny and the Hurricanes. Their first song, "Crossfire", was recorded in an abandoned cinema to create the desired echo effect. The number hit in the summer of 1959 on number 23 of the national US chart. As a result, their contract was loaned to Warwick Records, a subsidiary of United Telefilm.

Their next single, a cover of Red River Rock, Red River Valley, a folk song from the country music, millions of copies were sold. The song touched on number 5 in the u.s. and at number 3 in the UK. At that time the band consisted of Johnny Paris (saxophone), Paul Tesluk (organ), Dave Yorko (guitar), Neil (bass guitar) and Lionel ' Butch ' Bill ' Little Bo ' S (drums).

Followed two similar singles: Reveille Rock (an adaptation of the clarion call that recruits in the u.s. military were awakened) and Beatnik Fly. The pure sound, with each instrument clearly recognizable, it would be characteristic of the musical style of the group.

In the summer of 1960 moved the band to Bigtop Records. Under this label appeared Down Yonder, Rocking Goose, Revival (an adaptation of When the Saints Go Marching In) and You Are My Sunshine.

Johnny and the Hurricanes were also known in Europe. In 1962 they played in the famous Star-Club in Hamburg with the then still relatively unknown opening act for the Beatles . ==Declining success[ Edit] == Johnny and the Hurricanes still remained about a year, but their sound, old songs with a rock 'n roll beat, hit no longer, and the sale of their singles went strong backwards. From the beginning of 1960 hit the group more or less into obscurity. They took another eight singles on Bigtop Recordsfor, but the last success.

Not for them the financial also went the wind. Most of the songs were written by t. King and i. Mack, pseudonyms for Bar and Micahnik, their managers. The members of the Group also got so little recognition or royalties for their musical contribution, even though the Group was responsible for the arrangements of the songs.

After a tour in Britain the band went to Jeff Records for even one single, then they moved to the Sattilalabel for another five numbers. In 1965 they ended their recording sessions with two singles for Bigtop Records:"Old Smokie" (a cover of "On Top of Old Smokey") and "Traffic Jam", an original song.

At that time Paris was the only member of the original group. Johnny Paris and his band toured with varying occupation still sporadically in Europe until the end of 2005. Paris died on May 1, 2006 in the University Hospital of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Paris claimed that more than 300 musicians had been part of the band during the 50-year existence.