Johnny Restivo (September 13, 1943 – September 9, 2012) was an American rock and roll vocalist.
John Charles Restivo was born in the North Bronx, New York. He enrolled in Cliffside Park Junior High School, New Jersey and was graduated in June of 1958.
Johnny and his 9 year younger brother Gerard were sons of Jack and Jeanette Restivo. In 1959 Johnny was discovered by Joe Mulhall and Paul Neff and on June 9th of that year at 15 years old, he recorded "The Shape I'm In" and "Ya, Ya" at RCA with Paul Simon (aka Jerry Landis) playing the guitar together with Bucky Pizzarelli and Mundell Lowe. It reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100. Restivo was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but lost to Bobby Darin. Restivo never charted another hit. Johnny also achieved fame as a muscular young bodybuilder while in his teens. He was on the covers of Tomorrow's Man and Model Parade.
In 1960-1961 Johnny was on tour in Australia. He played in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth as well as many other places while there. From there he also had engagements in South America, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium.
Johnny went on a South African tour in 1963. He visited Kenya, Southern Rhodesia and Johannesburg. This part of the tour lasted about 6 months. While in Johannesburg during 1963-1964 he recorded an album on the RCA label entitled "Spotlight On Johnny Restivo". In 1965 he went on to London, England, where he performed at the London Palladium as well as many other venues.
During the years of 1965-1966 London became Johnny's home base for the next leg of his tour. From there he spent 2 months touring Israel. One of the places he performed at was the Caliph Club in Jaffa. He also had engagements in Eilat. Then it was on to Italy for a multi-city tour working through the "Johnny Pangazio Agency". After completion of the Italian segment of his tour he went on to Paris, France, for a short stay. In 1967 the final leg of the tour took him back home to the USA. Once back home in New York City Johnny was represented by many different agencies including the William Morris Agency. He mostly worked nightclubs, resorts and cruises throughout the USA.
In 1971 Johnny took a European discharge and remained in Europe for the next 6 months, after which he headed back home to the USA. In that same year Johnny and his brother Gerard began working together, Gerard as his drummer and musical director, as he attempted to get his career back on track. They did primarily club dates, hotels and resorts throughout America. They also travelled to Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as playing cruises in the Caribbean. In 1978 Johnny formally ended his career in show business after a performance at the Nevelle Hotel in the Catskill Mountains town of Ellenville, New York. During these years and beyond, Johnny has been married and divorced 4 times and has 3
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children from oldest to youngest: Kelli Hope, Darin and Brandon. He has been in business for himself since 1981 with "Rockland Mattress", which sells bedding, headboards and beds. In 2002 Johnny retired to the state of Florida (as he always wanted to be in a warm climate). He spent most of his time playing golf and winding down.
According to Wikipedia Johnny is alive, yet secondhandsongs.com report that Restivo died 9 September 2012 a few days short of his 70th birthday. (Any confirmation would be appreciated.Edited mainly from rockabilly.nl)