BRIDGEPORT — Before Johnny Veliotis became a hot dog joint owner admired by foodies the world over, the Bridgeport guy was a crooner admired by his neighbors in The Outfit — that's the Chicago mob.
Veliotis, who sang ballads and jazz standards under the name Johnny Powers, was working at his hot dog stand one day when a well-dressed mob guy came in with a pal and asked him — in the friendliest way a neighborhood mobster asks a guy for a favor — to record a couple songs he wrote.
“The guy who wrote the songs — an Outfit guy, can’t remember his name, but he was always dressed immaculately —said, ‘Johhny O, we hear you can sing.’ I told ‘em I did a little singing. And he said, 'We’d like you to record our songs,'” Veliotis said.
The Outfit guys thought the songs, titled, "Back to Rome" and "Lovers Quarrel" would be a smash hit if Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett got ahold of them.
"So I recorded the songs," Veliotis said. "I did a hell of a job singing but, eh, they didn’t go anywhere.”
Give a listen to Veliotis' rendition of Lovers Quarrel: