Jean Karakos

Jean Georgakarakos (born June 26, 1940, Malestroit, Brittany, France - died January 22, 2017, Paris, France) was a French producer, record store owner, and label founder and manager. Born Jean Georgakarakos, early in his career he briefly shortened his surname to Karakos. In 1960, he created the label Star Success and in 1964, followed this with a second label Joc. Around the same time he began importing albums from the United States which he sold in his network of record stores named Pop Shop. In 1967, along with Jean-Luc Young and Fernand Boruso he founded the jazz label BYG Records. In 1976, he co-founded the label and distributor Celluloid and also launched the short lived label Tapioca. Along with Olivier Lorsac, he was responsible for assembling the group Kaoma which had a worldwide hit with "Lambada" in 1989. In 1995, he created the dance label Distance. He also co-founded Musisoft Next which operated from 1997 until 2005. This company merged with Sonodisc in 1998 and was responsible for launching many labels.