Lonnie Simmons (December 12, 1944 – February 6, 2019) was an American record producer from Los Angeles, California.
When they released The Gap Band II late in 1979, a song Simmons co-wrote with the Wilson brothers, "Oops Up Side 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.
In 1980, Charlie Wilson went on a trip to Dallas and returned with two new friends: Cavin Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples.
He then transferred the Gap Band and Yarbrough & Peoples (who were already signed to his production company) to the Total Experience label.
During 1984 and 1985, the label expanded from three acts to fourteen, including Bernie Hamilton & the Inculcation Band and Switch.
Not a single one of the newcomers released more than one album with Total Experience (two of them only produced one song) and none of them scored any hits.
With no acts remaining, Lonnie dropped out of music, and his company turned to motion picture and video production.