Zack Smith (songwriter)

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American musician, founder of the bands Scandal and Wundercat

Zachary Holt Smith (born 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, technologist, and producer.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

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Smith was born in 1951 and grew up in Westport, Connecticut.[4][5] He attended the University of Colorado, where he met Candy and David Givens, Bobby Birge, and Otis Taylor, members of the ABC recording-artist group Zephyr. After Tommy Bolin left the band for a solo career, Smith joined and played shows as lead guitarist.[6][7]

Career

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Smith moved to NYC after college, where he met Paul Shaffer, whose role as bandleader on Saturday Night Live had ended. Shaffer and Smith organized a cover band with other musicians, including Dee Murray and Davey Johnstone of the Elton John Band. At this time, Smith began actively writing and recording songs.[4][8][1]

In 1981, Smith formed Scandal.[4][3] The first release was a self-titled EP, which quickly became a best-seller and led to a second album, Warrior, which went gold and then platinum.[9] Scandal was featured on Bands Reunited (MTV) and participated in a VH1 Summer Tour in 2012, along with Rick Springfield, Eddie Money, Loverboy, and The Go-Go's. Smith wrote or co-wrote most of the band's hits,[10] including "Goodbye to You", "Love's Got a Line on You", and "Beat of a Heart".[11][12]

After leaving the band, Smith began producing commercial work.[13] He won a 1990 Clio Award for writing the original lyrics and song for the long-running "The Fabric of Our Lives" campaign of Cotton Incorporated.[14][15] The first network-TV spot, "One Day", featured a vocal performance by Richie Havens. Subsequent versions of the Cotton theme featured Aaron Neville, Zoey Deschanel, Miranda Lambert, and Jasmine Sullivan.[15][16]

Smith moved to San Francisco in 1997, where he began working for Apple.[17] At Apple, he created music ecosystems used by iMovie, Clips, and Photos. He holds multiple patents for the technology he developed for Apple.[18]

In 2022, Smith began a songwriting collaboration with Tamsin Smith, a poet and the founding president of Bono's (RED), under the name Wundercat.[19] They released a debut album Two Sided Fortune in 2023, followed by a double LP Digging in 2025.[20] Wundercat performs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.[3]

Personal life

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Smith has four children. His eldest, Zachary Cole Smith, is the founder, frontman, and principal songwriter for the band DIIV.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Zack Smith profile" (PDF). Cash Box. March 26, 1983. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2023.
  2. ^ Matt Arado (November 8, 2010). "Cathy Richardson emerges with new band and harder-edged sound". Daily Herald.
  3. ^ a b c "Zack Smith joins Brian for Morning Music". NorCal Public Media. May 21, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Zachary Holt Smith". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ "Dick Clark Interviews Scandal – American Bandstand 1982". YouTube. 19 September 2012.
  6. ^ Limnios, Michael (November 21, 2024). "Q&A with co-founder of Zephyr".
  7. ^ "History of Zephyr".
  8. ^ "Scandal profile".
  9. ^ "No Brakes: A Solo Well Worth the Waite". The Washington Post. October 4, 1984.
  10. ^ "Goodbye to You by Scandal".
  11. ^ "Rock: Scandal Plays the Ritz". The New York Times. June 13, 1983.
  12. ^ "The Pop Life: Patty Smyth – A Hit in Rock and Romance". The New York Times. April 17, 1985.
  13. ^ a b Jeremy Gordon (January 21, 2016). "All Apologies: DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith Returns From the Brink". Pitchfork.
  14. ^ Allison Fowler (March 1, 2013). "DIVE". Pitchfork.
  15. ^ a b Salfino, Catherine (December 1, 2014). "The Touch, The Feel: The Fabric of Our Lives".
  16. ^ Robinson, Jim (May 11, 2009). "The Fabric of Our Lives Gets a Reprise".
  17. ^ "Zachary H. Smith – Music and Engineering". YouTube. June 2021.
  18. ^ "Inventor: Zachary H. Smith".
  19. ^ Markey, Kevin (May 1, 2018). "Change Agent". Williston.
  20. ^ "Digging by Wundercat".