Gary Zekley was a former West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 associated with 1960s, 1970s and 1980s bands and songs in the bubblegum

Bubblegum pop

Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...

, rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, sunshine pop

Sunshine pop

Sunshine pop is a subgenre of pop music originating in the United States, mainly the state of California, in the mid-1960s. Sunshine pop, by nature, is cheerful and upbeat music which is characterised by warm sounds, prominent vocal harmonies, as well as sophisticated productions...

, and surf genres.

Zekley sang, wrote or produced songs featured by bands such as Big Pig

Big Pig

Big Pig were a seven-piece Australian pop/rock band that existed from 1985 to 1991.-Biography:In 1983 Australian drummer Oleh Witer, frustrated over playing in a string of unsuccessful groups, travelled from Australia to London....

, Bonnie, Dick and Dee Dee, The Grass Roots

The Grass Roots

The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...

, Jan and Dean

Jan and Dean

Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...

, Spanky and Our Gang

Spanky and Our Gang

Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s...

, The Ragamuffins

The Ragamuffins

The Ragamuffins are a British indie pop band based in the North West of England, close to Manchester and Liverpool.-Biography:The band was formed by David Jaggs and Richard Nicholson in 2007 under the name The Rascallies, but they later decided to change the name to The Ragamuffins due to fellow...

, Alder Ray, The Clique

The Clique (Texas band)

The Clique are a late 1960s U.S. sunshine pop band from Beaumont, Texas, 90 miles east of Houston.The group was centered around record producer/songwriter Gary Zekley, who often employed session musicians...

, The Fun & Games, The Mamas & the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...

, The Matadors, and The Yellow Balloon. His songs have been covered by R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

, who covered "Superman", and L.A. rock band Sweathog

Sweathog (band)

Sweathog was an American rock band.Group members Lenny Goldsmith and David Leonard Johnson first met in 1967 while Johnson was playing in a group called The Persuaders at the Wayne Manor nightclub in Sunnyvale, California. After Johnson did a stint with the Beach Boys and Dr...

.

External links

• Discography and biography- spectropop.com
• Discography- yahoo.com
• REM and Zekley sing "Superman” live, 10/21/86, The Field House, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL- youtube.com
• Zekley filmography- imdb.com