It is very difficult to jam thirty plus years of history into a few sheets of paper so, here is an attempt to hi-light some of the events that took place and some of the names that shaped the Halos into how you see them today. The group actually had three origins. The first was on the street corners of the Northside of Pittsburgh where Johnny and Bubba grew up singing a cappella together with some of their childhood friends. The second was in Al's bedroom where he and Ricky practiced their guitars together. And' the third was in Sewickley where Pinky played guitar for a group called the runaways". Three different bands, from three different cultures, with three different ideas, with three different styles of music but, all with something in common. That commonality was the future meeting and life long friendship of what was soon to be... Johnny Angel and the Halos".

It was May 28th, Johnny's birthday, and a call from his cousin, Jim Ehrhardt, invited him to go to a friends house in Westview, who coincidentally was also celebrating a birthday. Johnny agreed and off they went. When they arrived they heard two guitars blasting from within the house. They walked in and found Al and Ricky playing some pop and rock. Johnny and Jim, coming from strong R & B backgrounds, were not impressed with the material being played but thought that it could be integrated with the sounds they knew and loved. Since Jim played bass and Johnny was a drummer, they struck up a conversation with Al and Ricky and decided to try forming a band. The bands home would be the house of Millie and Herman Lipp, Al's parents.

 The Lipp's opened their doors and arms to embrace the young group and experienced many sacrifices to see that the new band had a healthy start. After many rehearsals and failed attempts at becoming rock 'n' roll stars, the band was heading for a nose dive Ricky and Jim left the band Al and Johnny decided to find new members and pursue their dream. Mr. Lipp worked with a man who's son owned a bass, the one and only Pinky. Bubba was not interested in being in a group at the time so, Johnny, Al and Pinky found a DJ named PJ who also played guitar and sang. PJ was working at the YMCA dances and was interested in working with a band PJ agreed to join and the CORDELLS were born. PJ was soon drafted and replaced once again by Ricky.

After many years of playing frat parties, clubs and amusement parks, the band landed their first record on the Steel Town Label. The group now consisted of a horn section (Daryl, Gary & Paul) a new lead singer Eric, Ricky on guitar and keyboards, Pinky on Bass, Al on lead guitar and Johnny singing lead from behind the drums. As the music changed, so did the CORDELLS. The group split only to see Al, Pinky and Johnny in a hard rock band called HAROMBEE. Two years later, all went their own way to perform in various bands.

Shortly after, Pinky and Johnny teamed up with Louie and Walt to form a lounge act called, HIGHER UP. Missing the music and friendship of their earlier groups, they added Bubba, Al and Ricky. When Walt and Louie retired, they added Dave Z. on drums and Bill E. on sax, changing the name of the group to SLOW COOKER for a brief period. One of the shows that grew from the earlier days was a 50's skit... "Johnny Angel & the Halos". The name was re-born and so was the band.