The Atomic Fireballs were a Detroit swing revival band led by vocalist/songwriter John Bunkley. The group was formed during 1996 with Bunkley on vocals, James Bostek on trumpet, Tony Buccilli on trombone, Duke Kingins on guitar, Shawn Scaggs on double bass, Eric Schabo on tenor sax, Geoff Kinde on drums, and Randy Sly on piano. Scaggs was replaced by Seán E. Harris on double bass and Bostek was replaced by Kenneth Ferry Jr. on trumpet. The band was discovered by former Kid Rock manager Michael Rand. After booking the band nearly 60 concerts, Rand began the process of introducing the band to major record labels. The band was signed to

Lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

by A&R executives Rick Goetz and

Jason Flom Jason Flom (born c. 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group. He is also an advocate ...

. The Atomic Fireballs released two albums: ''Birth of the Swerve'', which was released independently in 1998, produced at Tanglewood Studio in

Brookfield, Illinois Brookfield (formerly Grossdale) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located west of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,476. The city is home to the Brookfield Zoo. Geography Brookfield is located at ...

, and '' Torch This Place'', which was released by

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

in 1999. ''Torch This Place'' was recorded at

Armoury Studios Armoury Studios is a Canadian recording studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia's Kitsilano neighbourhood. History The Armoury building was constructed, from the ground up, in 1992 by Canadian songwriter/producer Jim Vallance. Vallance co ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, and was produced by Bruce Fairbairn along with engineers Mike Plotnikoff and Paul Silveira. The band's biggest hit, " Man with the Hex", which sampled the call and response from the 1947 film ''

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer'' (released as ''Bachelor Knight'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American screwball romantic comedy-drama film directed by Irving Reis and written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, a ...

'', was included on the soundtracks of '' American Pie'', '' Scooby Doo'' and ''

The Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is display ...

''. This sample was also used in ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

''. "Man with the Hex" was used in several TV shows, most notably ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'', and was featured on both '' Dancing With the Stars'' and ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

'' as a quickstep. Visuals of the band performing " Swing Sweet Pussycat" are shown in the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

of the 1999 film '' Three to Tango''. The group disbanded in 1999, leaving the members to their own ventures. Bunkley produces paintings and solo works of music on hi
Bandcamp page
Kinde teaches drums and percussion a
Oz's Music Ann Arbor
online lessons a
Atomic Drummer
and performs solo a
Roland Remington
Schabo teaches history at Crestwood High School in

Dearborn Heights, Michigan Dearborn Heights is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 63,292 at the 2020 census., Dearborn Heights is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and is considered a bedroom community. History Dearborn Heig ...

. Sly performs with

The Verve Pipe The Verve Pipe is an American rock band from Michigan. It was formed in 1992 in East Lansing by Brian Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown. History In November 1992, Brian Vander Ark of the band "Johnny with an Eye" signed a production dea ...

Influences

The band's influences include Louis Jordan and Black Flag.

Discography

*''Birth of the Swerve'' (1998) *'' Torch This Place'' (1999)

References

Swing revival ensembles Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Detroit American jazz ensembles from Michigan 1996 establishments in Michigan Jazz musicians from Michigan {{US-jazz-band-stub