Johnny and the Hurricanes

Johnny and the Hurricanes comprised a rock-and-roll group in the late 50's and early 60's that had its own unique
sound and produced a number of instrumental hits, one of which made the top ten and is closely associated with the
group.

The group was formed in Toledo, Ohio in 1958 and at first was known as the Orbits. The original members were
saxophonist Johnny Paris [real name: John Pocisk], Paul Tesluk on organ, Tony Kaye on drums, guitar player
Dave Yorko, and Lionel "Butch" Mattice on bass. The group started off recording with rockabilly artist Mack
Vickery.

They soon went to Detroit to look for work as a back-up band for aspiring recording artists. Two music promoters
there, Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik, signed the group to a recording contract of their own. [Micahnik later
worked as Del Shannon's manager.] In 1959 they made their first recording on the Twirl label, which was owned by
Balk and Micahnik. It was a dance song that had been written by pianist T. J. Fowler called Crossfire. Loaded with
reverb, the recording was leased to the Warwick label and reached number 23 on the charts in 1959. Johnny and
the Hurricanes were on their way.

The group's leader was nineteen-year-old Johnny Paris, and his hard-driving saxophone playing was prominent on
a number of the group's recordings. Their next record, however, would feature Tesluk's Hammond organ and would
become the group's biggest hit ever. That was Red River Rock, a reworking of the old standard Red River Valley
that the group had transformed into pure rock-and-roll. It was a huge success, reaching number five on the national
charts. Don Staczek sat in for regular drummer Tony Kaye on Red River Rock and drummer Bo Savich took
Kaye's regular spot in the band late in 1959.

The group continued to use rocking versions of familiar old songs as its formula. The Army bugle call of Reveille
became Reveille Rock. In 1960, Burl Ives' Blue Tail Fly was turned into Beatnik Fly by the group. Both songs
made the top forty. When The Saints Go Marchin' In became Revival. Another song that was an original
composition by Fowler called Rockin' Goose featured Paris' honking sax. All were instrumentals, and all on the
Warwick label.

A lot of the material they had used was out of copyright. Balk and Micahnik claimed credit as having written many
of their songs, using the names Tom King and Ira Mack. Johnny and the Hurricanes had a total of nine chart
entries from 1959 to 1961. They toured extensively. Eventually, the hits were not coming anymore, there were
rumors that they were unhappy with the way the band was managed, and they became fatigued from being on the
road so much. The band split up in 1961.

Johnny Paris went to Europe and settled in Hamburg. He played there at the same time as the Beatles, just before
the Beatles became international superstars. In 1965 he started his own label which he called Attila, and for which
he recorded the album Live At The Star Club. In 1970 he closed Attila. Paris formed a new Hurricanes group and
toured in the 70's and 80's.

The hits in the Billboard Hot 100 :