The Zombies

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For the undead creature of Vodou lore, see zombie. For other meanings, see Zombie (disambiguation).
The Zombies
Origin St Albans, Herts, England
Genre(s) Baroque Pop
British invasion
Psychedelic Pop
Beat
Years active 1961 - 1967
Label(s) Decca Records, CBS Records
Associated acts Argent
Colin Blunstone
Members
Rod Argent
Paul Atkinson
Colin Blunstone
Chris White
Hugh Grundy

The Zombies, formed in 1961 in St Albans, were an English rock band. Led by Rod Argent on piano and Colin Blunstone on vocals, the band scored US hits in the mid- and late-1960s with "She's Not There", "Tell Her No," and "Time of the Season." Their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle, comprising twelve songs by the group's principal songwriters, Argent and Chris White, is now considered one of the best of its time and is ranked 80 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[1]

Contents

[edit] Line-up

[edit] History - the 1960s

The group formed in 1961 in St Albans, England, and gained their initial reputation playing the Old Verulamians Rugby Club in that town. The group was formed whilst the members were at school. Some sources state that Argent, Atkinson and Grundy were at St Albans School, while Blunstone and White were students at St Albans Boys' Grammar School (since renamed Verulam School).[2][3] Other sources claim they were all at St Albans Boys' Grammar School;[4] however, this is not correct. After winning a beat-group competition sponsored by the London Evening News, the Zombies signed to Decca and recorded their first hit, "She's Not There" (Argent's second song, written specifically for this session), which was released in mid-1964 and peaked at number 12 in the UK, where it was their only UK Top 40 hit. This minor-key, jazz-tinged number, distinguished by its musicianship and Blunstone's breathy vocal, was unlike anything previously heard in British rock and would become a bona fide classic. It was first aired in the United States in early August 1964 on New York City rock station WINS by Stan Z. Burns, who debuted the song on his daily noontime "Hot Spot" segment during which new songs were played. The tune began to catch on in early fall and eventually climbed to #2.

Like many other British Invasion groups, the Zombies were sent to America to tour behind their new hit single. One of their most memorable early U.S. gigs were Murray the K's Christmas shows at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre, where the band played seven performances a day. Hugh Grundy later recalled also contributing to the sets by the Shangri-Las...not as a musician, but by revving a motorcycle brought backstage as a sound effect for their performance of "Leader of the Pack".

In early 1965, Rod Argent's "Tell Her No" became another big seller in the United States (where it was a hit a second time, in 1983 for American pop vocalist Juice Newton), but had failed to make the Top 40 in the band's native UK. Although subsequent recordings such as "I Love You" (which became a hit for People! in 1968), "Indication", "Whenever You're Ready", and "Is This the Dream" were of uniformly high quality, none achieved the success of the previous two singles.

In 1967, the Zombies signed to CBS Records for one final LP, only the second of their career and the first one produced as a single unit. Their previous LP, Begin Here (1965), was a collection of early singles, half a dozen original songs combined with several R&B covers. The resulting album, Odessey and Oracle, was one of the very first to utilize a Mellotron keyboard, as the band's budget did not allow for the hiring of session musicians. The band discovered too late that "odyssey" had been misspelled by the cover designers and were reportedly deeply embarrassed.

By the time Odessey and Oracle was released in April 1968, the band had broken up. The album sold little, and was only released in the U.S. because musician Al Kooper vouched for it. An album track called "Time of the Season", again written by Argent, was released as a single and eventually (1969) it became a huge nationwide hit (Billboard #3) after a radio DJ discovered it and put it on heavy rotation. Since the group declined to perform, various concocted groups tried to capitalize on the success and falsely toured under the band's name. Another such group toured in 1988, going so far as to trademark the group's name (since the band had let the mark lapse) and recruit a member named Ronald Hugh Grundy, who was passed off as being an original member, although he played bass rather than drums. [5]

[edit] History - later years

After The Zombies, Rod Argent formed a band called Argent, with Chris White as a non-performing songwriter. Colin Blunstone eventually launched a solo career after brief careers outside the music biz including one stint in the burglary claims section of an insurance company. Both Argent and White continued to provide him with new songs.

In 1991 Blunstone, Grundy and White briefly reunited as The Zombies with guitarist Sebastian Santa Maria and recorded the album New World.

On November 25, 1997, all five Zombies reunited at the Jazz Cafe in London's Camden Town as part of a solo show by Blunstone, to perform "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season".

Blunstone and Argent reunited for an album and tour together in 2001 under the Blunstone & Argent monicker and continued playing live shows together into 2004 when they began going out under The Zombies name again. The new line up included Rod's cousin Jim Rodford (formerly of The Kinks and Argent), his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey (brother of Don Airey) on guitar.

An album of new material released in 2004, As Far as I Can See..., received mixed reviews. A 120-track compilation of the original band's work, Zombie Heaven, was much better regarded.

Guitarist Paul Atkinson died in Santa Monica, California, on April 1, 2004. Having retired as a performer, he was an A&R man for many years.

In 2005 Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies released a DVD and 2-CD album (Live At The Bloomsbury Theatre), which received excellent reviews in the Times, Mojo, The Sun and other publications.

In 2006 Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone carried on touring as The Zombies.

Their U.S. tour of 2007 garnered stellar reviews. "The Zombies, still led by original keyboard wizard Rod Argent and featuring the smoked-silk vocals of Colin Blunstone, is the finest British-invasion-era band still touring that doesn't have Mick Jagger as a frontman"- The Washington Times.

To mark the 40th anniversary of Odessey & Oracle the four surviving original members of The Zombies participated in a three-night series of concerts at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire Theatre between 7th and 9th March 2008. For the opening set Blunstone and Argent, with their current touring group, played a selection of other Zombies songs, two Argent songs, and some of Blunstone's solo material, for which a string quintet joined them on stage. For the second set, introduced by Al Kooper, The Zombies, with Keith Airey handling the guitar parts of the late Paul Atkinson, played the album in its entirety, and to reproduce the many overdubs on the album, they were joined by a horn section, additional vocalists and percussion, including Jim and Steve Rodford and Darian Sahanaja on memotron. They closed the set by performing Tell Her No and She's Not There. [6] [7] [8] Rod and Colin's respective sites had advertised that the 8th March concert was recorded for a CD and/or DVD release later in 2008, and the CD has been officially posted by Amazon.com to be presold for a release of July 1 2008.

[edit] Film & Advertising

Bunny Lake is Missing, 1965 feature film - directed by Otto Preminger

Songs on the soundtrack:

  • "Just Out of Reach" (Colin Blunstone) played on the television in the pub and later on the radio
  • "Nothing's Changed" (Chris White) played on the television in the pub
  • "Remember You" (Chris White) played on the television in the pub

In 1991 Time of the Season appeared in the movie Awakenings.

This Will be Our Year, was featured in a 2006 Nike advertisement dedicated to Tiger Woods's late father.

Use of the Begin Here album track The Way I Feel Inside in the soundtrack to the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has spurred on another generation to seek out and revive their music.

Many of their songs are used in the 2004 film Dear Wendy.

A remix of She's Not There can be heard in Kill Bill Volume 2 as The Bride enters Bill's home.

Time of the Season was used by Bulmers/Magners cider in their March 2007 spring television advertisement campaign (http://www.bulmers.ie/the-ads/) in the UK (as Magners) and Republic of Ireland (as Bulmers).

Time of the Season" was also used in Noxzema commercials in the late 90s.

[edit] Quotation

  • "Over the course of the ensuing decades, [The Zombies'] final album...Odessey and Oracle - a beautifully arranged, harmony drenched pristine pop paean to memory, the changing seasons, the passage of time and lost love - slowly began to be recognised as one of the greatest albums of the 1960s." New York Times, 1998

[edit] Discography

Main article: The Zombies discography

[edit] Covers

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
  1. ^ The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time : Rolling Stone
  2. ^ Zombies' heyday recalled - The Hendon Times
  3. ^ Classic Bands - The Zombies
  4. ^ The Zombies
  5. ^ "Jim Powers, The Zombies Biography", enotes.com
  6. ^ Coplin, James (2008-03-10). The Zombies - Shepherds Bush Empire, London - Music-News.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  7. ^ Petridis, Alexis (2008-03-10), The Guardian, <http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,2263788,00.html> 
  8. ^ Sinclair, David (2008-03-10), The Times, <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article3516439.ece> 
  9. ^ "MC Tom, Flop: 2 Degrees Separated from Cat Butt", Lamestain

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Zombies
Colin Blunstone · Rod Argent · Chris White · Paul Atkinson · Hugh Grundy
Albums
Singles
"She's Not There" · "Leave Me Be" · "Tell Her No" · "She's Coming Home" · "Whenever You're Ready" · "Remember You" · "Is This the Dream" · "Indication" · "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself" · "Goin' Out of My Head" · "Friends of Mine" · "Care of Cell 44" · "Time of the Season"