Zon was a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band formed in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1977. The band consisted of

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Denton Young,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Brian Miller,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Jim Samson,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Kim Hunt, and keyboard player Howard Helm. The band released three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

History

In Toronto, during the mid 1970s, several local musicians formed a group called Act III. One member of Act III was guitarist

Rik Emmett Richard Gordon Emmett (born July 10, 1953) is a vocalist, guitarist, and member of the Canadian hard rock band Triumph (band), Triumph. Career In Toronto, during the mid 1970s, several local musicians formed a progressive rock group called Act ...

who left the group to join Triumph. This led to the break up of Act III. Other members of the group formed Zon. Emmett says that one of the songs he performed with Act III was "The Blinding Light Show", a tune which he later recorded with Triumph. Don V. Lorusso produced Zon's first album, ''Astral Projector,'' released in 1978, and a run of copies were released on blue

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

. The album garnered the band a

Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year The Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year is presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to the best new musical group in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada ...

nomination. Zon opened concerts for

The Tubes The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their self-titled 1975 debut album included the single " White Punks on Dope", while their 1983 single " She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the ear ...

at Toronto's

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

, and for

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

and Foreigner at CNE Stadium. ''Back Down to Earth,'' released in 1979, was produced by Lorusso and the late Vancouver keyboard player Dale Jacobs. The band played in Toronto as headliners with up to 17,800 attendees. Zon was dropped from Epic after a thorough corporate housecleaning of the A&R Department despite Zon already having their contract signed for a third album. After a legal battle they did manage one more album for Falcon Records called ''I'm Worried About the Boys!'', produced by then former CBS/Epic A&R executive Bob Gallo. The record featured a cover version of

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

's " Sweet Jane". As part of the 1980 album tour Zon did an opening slot for

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

at CNE Stadium. When Cooper failed to appear minutes before showtime, Denton Young was given the onerous task of telling the audience. A riot ensued and police had to be called out. The band broke up shortly after, despite the 1981 single "For You" reaching No. 2 on CKOC (higher than any of the previous singles on Epic Records).

Post-Zon

Young has featured on Rik Emmett's solo work since the disbanding of Zon, whilst Hunt joined the bands Hanover, Urgent, and Moxy. Samson also joined Moxy and Miller worked at the Toronto guitar store 12th Fret. Helm joined Michael Fury, a Canadian band that later became Refugee. In 1988, Helm accepted a job as touring keyboardist for

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

and Ian Hunter, subsequently spending four years touring the world. He co-wrote many of the

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

theme songs with

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician. He is signed to WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in WWE when it was still known as the World Wrestling ...

. Helm is currently writing for the TBS (TV network) in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

in Orlando, Florida. He continues to play keyboards as a session musician for bands such as Seven Mary Three. In 2003 Helm and his former Zon bandmates were contemplating a new studio album to coincide with the re-issues of that band's back catalogue on CD, but nothing ever materialized. Guitarist Brian Miller died in Toronto on September 28, 2015 at the age of 60 after a bout with cancer.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Astral Projector'' (1978) (#44 Canada, May 13, 1978) * ''Back Down to Earth'' (1979) * ''I'm Worried About the Boys!'' (1980)

Live albums

* ''Live'' (2017)

Singles

* "Melody" (1978) * "On the Road" (1978) * "Talkin About" (1978) * "Back Down to Earth" (1979) * " Sweet Jane" / "Takin' the Easy Way Out" (1980) * "For You" / "Just the Other Side" (1981) AN No. 49ref> * "Better Get Up" (1981)

References

External links

rockreport
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zon (band) Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian progressive rock groups 1977 establishments in Ontario 1981 disestablishments in Ontario Epic Records artists Bellaphon Records artists