Looking at James L. Richard's family, it was fairly safe to say that the Oakland native was not going to be a street sweeper or a computer programmer. From the get go, the current band leader/music director for the Bay Area Icons, The Sekret Service and Club Nouveau, was introduced to music by his talented musical family. His uncles are William Richard and Roy Richard of the doo wop group The Robins, and original members of the chart topping icons, The Coasters. His older brother Billy has been a member of the legendary R&B group since 1962. James Dad was the legendary Rev J L Richard, Pastor and founder of the Evergreen Baptist Church of Oakland, and Baptist icon. He lead the political charge for Black people in the Bay Area and across the nation. A celebrity in his field, working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Julian Bond, and a young Jesse Jackon among others. James Mom, Dortha Lee Richard, lived with Frank Sinatra working as Nancy Sinatra's personal assistant (from the ages of 17-21 at that). She dressed Mrs. Sinatra (bought all her clothes and jewelry), handled all her appointments, acted as her single personal liaison and even took care of Frank Jr. and Tina until she married Rev. Richard in the early 50s. By the mid-80s, Richard had another brother who started making waves in the music industry, Jay King. King was the Dictator behind the Timex Social Club, who had a hit with Rumors, and Club Nouveau. Club Nouveau and took the world by storm with such charted hits as "Situation Number 9," "Why You Treat Me So Bad," "Jealousy," "Heavy On My Mind" and the number one Grammy award winning remake of the Bill Withers classic: "Lean On Me." Their songs have been covered or sampled by such varied artists as J-Lo, R Kelly and Puff Daddy, Jessica Simpson and The Luniz. As The Sekret Service™, James has spent his adult life scoring films, composing commercials, designing sounds, producing and engineering recordings. He has worked with artists such as R&B outfit Tony! Toni! Tone!, of course Club Nouveau, Karyn White and dozens of rap/hip hop artists such as Askari X, Dru Down, Young Dre and Rodney O.