Johnny Paris(1940-2006)
- Soundtrack
In 1957 17-year-old tenor saxophonist Johnny Pocisk formed a jazz combo
composed of fellow students at Rossford Roman Catholic High School in
Toledo, Ohio; he called the group "The Orbits" and they played local
gigs and also as a studio band. In 1958 they signed with Irving
Micahnik and Harry Balk of Artists, Inc., a local management agency,
who changed the group's name to "Johnny and the Hurricanes" and signed
them to their label, Twirl Records. Among the group's hits for Twirl,
and later Warwick Records and Big Top Records, were "Crossfire" (Twirl,
1959, got to #23 on the charts), the million-selling "Red River Rock"
(Warwick Records, 1959, got to #5 on the charts), a riff on the
traditional folk song "Red River Valley", and "Rocking Goose" (Big Top,
1960; charted #3 in the United Kingdom). In 1962 the Hurricanes played
the StarClub in Hamburg, Germany, where a then unknown group called
The Beatles opened for them.
In the US he was involved in the business of real estate and vending machine. He moved to Germany in the 1980s, came back in the 1990s and worked on his music project and as president of his record company, Atila Records, and his music publishing company Sirius 1 Music, plus he still played live, his last Johnny and the Hurricanes tour was in Sweden in November of 2005. He also established the Lion Heart Bullmastiff kennel together with his wife, Sonja, in the US.
In the US he was involved in the business of real estate and vending machine. He moved to Germany in the 1980s, came back in the 1990s and worked on his music project and as president of his record company, Atila Records, and his music publishing company Sirius 1 Music, plus he still played live, his last Johnny and the Hurricanes tour was in Sweden in November of 2005. He also established the Lion Heart Bullmastiff kennel together with his wife, Sonja, in the US.