Bobby Paris

Blue-eyed soul singer Bobby Paris (Died September 24, 2009) was born and raised in New York City -- the product of a Puerto Rican family, he began singing with a neighbourhood doo wop group called the Golden Keys in 1956. He signed with the Indigo label to issue his debut single "Rockin' Concerto" in 1960, followed a year later by the Magenta release "Dark Continent." Paris skipped from independent label to independent label over the next few years, landing with Jolar for 1962's "Is It You," Jairick for 1963's "Are You the One," and Chattahoochee for 1965's "Love Passed Me By." His first and biggest hit was 1966's "Night Owl" -- based on a melody Paris composed on piano at the age of five, the single was a huge hit and kept its struggling label Cameo/Parkway financially solvent. Paris then signed to Capitol, making his label debut with the 1967 ballad "I Walked Away" -- the company also hired him on as a producer, and that same year, he co-produced Bobbie Gentry's country-pop classic "Ode to Billie Joe." Both "Per-So-Nal-Ly" and "Bye, Bye Blackbird" appeared in 1968, and after releasing a rendition of the Hair perennial "Let the Sunshine In" the following year, Paris was silent until 1973, when he issued two final Capitol singles, "Baby, Spread Your Love on Me" and ""Love Looks So Good on You." In the years to follow, "Night Owl," "I Walked Away," and "Per-So-Nal-Ly" all emerged as enduring anthems of Britain's Northern Soul club culture, a fact lost on Paris himself until he was contacted in 1999 to appear in the documentary film The Strange World of Northern Soul -- he later performed live at the film's premiere party as well