Lonnie Simmons
| Lonnie Simmons | |
|---|---|
| Genres |
R&B Quiet Storm Funk |
| Occupation(s) |
Record Producer Composer |
| Associated acts | The Gap Band, Yarbrough and Peoples |
Lonnie Simmons is an American record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is founder and president of the now-defunct Total Experience Records. As a composer, he co-wrote several #1 R&B songs for his label's major acts, The Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples.
Lonnie Simmons operated an LA nightclub in the mid-1970s called "The Total Experience" (The club made several appearances in movies like Dolemite and Black Fist). Simmons' nightclub booked R&B-oriented musical acts, and Simmons interest in music led him to buy a studio. In 1978, he signed a little-known R&B act, the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band, (shortened in 1973 by a typo to the Gap Band) to his production company, and secured them a record deal with Mercury. The band, consisting of twelve members, was reduced officially to the three Wilson brothers. Their first Total Experience produced single, 1979's "Shake" went to #4 on the R&B charts.
Simmons' skills as a composer, however, would take the Gap Band to the next level. When they released The Gap Band II late in 1979, a song Simmons co-wrote with the Wilson brothers, "Oops Upside Your Head" not only matched the success of "Shake" on the R&B charts, reaching #4 also, but exceeded it by propelling the album to over half-a-million in sales. Simmons had co-written only one song on The Gap Band, but co-wrote six of The Gap Band II's seven tracks.
In 1980, Charlie Wilson went on a trip to Dallas and came back with 2 new friends: Cavin Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples. After a brief audition, Simmons exchanged contact information with them. When they showed up in LA, he suggested they record a demo with the label's other producer, who also served as their songwriter. They recorded the demo, and when he heard it, Simmons had yet another act in his ranks: Yarbrough and Peoples. That year, Simmons co-wrote two songs which peaked on the R&B charts at #1 back-to-back: "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)", which was released on The Gap Band III, and "Don't Stop the Music" which was released on Yarbrough & Peoples' debut album, The Two of Us. The latter album went gold, while the former went platinum, selling over a million copies.
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