Teen Finds Father’s Unreleased, Decades-Old Single, Ends Up Playing ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

Jul 05, 2022 by apost team

Zach Montana, a 19-year-old from Arizona, was perhaps trying to launch his own viral music career via social media when instead, in January 2022, he stumbled upon an old unreleased track of his father's from the 1970s. 

Immediately impressed with the hidden gem, Montana recorded a TikTok of himself listening to the single, in a sort of musical unboxing video. From the driver's seat of his car, he started: "Ok I just got out of therapy. And that doesn't really matter but — I dunno — I said it anyways ..." This impromptu setting and Montana's apparent nervousness gave the video a real genuine feeling. It doesn't feel like a marketing stunt, but rather a real moment of discovery. 

Montana continued, explaining how he came to find out the history of the song: "I'm in my car and my dad put music in here. And I was enjoying it. And I found out that he wrote it. In the 70s. It's really f***ing good. Listen to this, listen to this ..." The teen then proceeded to crack the volume, sure to start the song over from the very beginning for maximum effect. 

As the song began, Montana danced in his seat. The tune was definitely older, but undeniably catchy. Periodically, Montana would lean back, holding his fingers to his temples in disbelief. "What! It's so good," he shouted. Although the Gen Z-er conceded, "It's disco but it's so good." Whatever the genre, Montana continued bopping. 

As the swinging track crescendoed into the chorus, Montana again interjected, as he said, "That's him singing too." The teen sat, swaying his arms, singing along to his father's voice. "Surrender to me," he echoed. Montana gleefully called out every little feature of the song to the audience. "It's so good ... that bass line ... wait there's a horn section."

Several million views later, Montana's father's song was not only viral, it was on Spotify. Its popularity soon garnered the attention of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who invited the father and son to perform on his show. Curly Smith, Montana's father, alongside Montana himself sang "Surrender to Me." They were accompanied by Smith's band Fire City Funk. 

After finishing the funky song, the two were interviewed by Kimmel about their sudden stardom and the reemergence of the band. Smith described the difficulties he had signing his band given the competition at the time included groups as big as The Bee Gees. He revealed he recorded "Surrender to Me" in 1978 and then "put it on a shelf for 43 years."  

"Every now and then I would listen to it and go, 'Hey that was pretty good. You know, maybe it'll come out sometime." But, Smith had no formal plans to release the song. That was until his son found it. 

Montana then described the somewhat serendipitous moment when he first heard the song. "I was going on a drive late at night and I went to go plug my phone in to play music and before I could even plug it in, it just started playing." At first, the teen hadn't realized who was behind the music playing. "Then the vocals came in and I was like wait a minute. That voice is really familiar." 

Montana then uploaded his TikTok. "The world needed to hear it so I put it out there," he said. Of course, he was right.

apost.com

What hidden treasures have you found from your parents' past? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family and fellow disco fans!