Zoom hailed from Los Angeles.
The Group comprised of:
Nolan Joseph Semien (vocals) (b. Nolan Joseph Semien, 18th July 1952, Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.A. d. December 2019, Oceanside, California, U.S.A.)
S. Todd Duncan (keyboards)
John Haynes (bass)
Floyd Bonner (lead guitar)
George Mitchell (drums)
Marcus Robinson (keyboards)
Henry Prejean (woodwinds)
and
Darryl Williams (trumpet)
From Los Angeles, Zoom were signed to Polydor Records in 1981 and were taken under the wing of session drummer James Gadson (who was a former member of a Kansas City group called the Carpets).
Nolan Semien, the lead singer, was a local vocalist, singing at bars before joining the group.
That year the band released an album on Polydor entitled 'Saturday, Saturday Night'.
The album has, since it's release, become highly sought after for the rare groove ballad 'Love Seasons', with it's unusual synthesiser noises by session musician Wayne Stallings.
James Gadson had Wayne Stallings, on the synthesiser, hit the same note that Nolan Semien hit for that high note he held, following which he had the synthesiser trailoff the note to make the listener believe Nolan held it longer and higher.
The group recorded a further album two years later, entitled 'Blasting Off' for the MCA imprint, this time without the assistance of James Gadson.
Nolan J. Semien
Nolan J. Semien's stage name was Doc Semco.
He told me 'I'm Minister of Music here in Oceanside, Ca. at Genesis Church'.
Nolan, sadly, passed away in December 2019.
I would like to thank Lonnie Cook for his invaluable information on this page.
saturday, saturday night - 1981 / blasting off - 1983
Albums:
Saturday, Saturday Night (Polydor Records 1981)
Blasting Off (MCA Records 1983)
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