PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Eccles
Greg Lake once said that making a comeback with dignity was one of the most difficult things to do. That said, the late Emerson, Lake & Palmer founding member must have missed out on what was going on with his fellow countrymen, The Zombies.
That latter group broke up virtually penniless in 1967, only to see Odessey and Oracle, their oddly spelled 1968 sophomore bow, spawn the 1969 American hit, “Time of the Season.” By then, the individual members had moved on to other projects.
Fast forward to six dates in 1999. Founding members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent hit the road to perform as a duo, evolving into a full-blown Zombies reunion that’s carried on to the present day. It’s an astonishing turnabout for this beloved baroque pop act that not only wound up getting critical acclaim but earned a devoted cult following that translated into the group’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The ever-modest Blunstone is humble about the response and affection his band has been receiving at this late date.
“Isn’t our upcoming induction incredible? I’m really thrilled, actually. Firstly, that loyal and tenacious fans voted over 320,000 times for us in the fan vote. It’s just mind-boggling to me that you can get 320,000 votes. And secondly, that the members of the Rock Hall should have voted to induct us,” he says. “It’s such a lift to get that kind of reaction from fellow professionals. I’m extremely grateful.”
Also known for their 1964 hits, “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No,” The Zombies arrived as part of the British Invasion alongside The Animals, Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, Hollies, Kinks and Dave Clark Five. Only 18 when the band was started, Argent and Blunstone were joined by fellow St Albans natives Hugh Grundy, future A&R exec Paul Atkinson and Paul Arnold, who was replaced by Chris White when the band went to record their first album. The combination of Blunstone’s airy vocal phrasing and Argent’s deftly played organ runs gave the band’s material a sophisticated, chamber pop nuance that took them beyond the charts and earned them a number of latter-day famous fans, including the late Tom Petty and Paul Weller.
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The posthumous fame The Zombies had after their first break-up led to an odd situation where American promoters wound up putting three different fake Zombies groups on the road in 1969 to capitalize on “Time of the Season.” In those pre-internet days, when fans only knew what the band sounded like, it was an easy scam to pull off. One outfit even included Frank Beard and Dusty Hill, the future rhythm section of ZZ Top. The actual Zombies were eventually told about this, and White wound up talking to the manager of one of these fake groups for an article about this scenario. Blunstone gets a kick out of this anecdote.
“Someone at Rolling Stone got Chris White to come into their office and phone the manager of one of these bands and not say who he was,” Blunstone recalls. “Chris then asked him to explain about The Zombies band. So the manager told him this story about how they were all huge fans of The Zombies and since the lead singer was killed in a car crash, they wanted to honor him and the band by keeping the music going, and that’s why they were playing under our name. Then Chris White told him he was The Zombies bass player and that the lead singer wasn’t in a car crash. Reading this in print, it was almost like reading my obituary when I was 22 years old.”
Despite breaking up, the real Zombies stayed in touch. Argent and White went on to find success, while Blunstone reaped his own solo acclaim in the U.K. with a string of hits that never quite cracked the American market. For the latter-day Zombies roster, Blunstone and Argent rounded out the lineup with guitarist Tom Toomey, the late Jim Rodford on bass and Rodford’s son, Steve, on drums.
Rodford, who was Argent’s first cousin, was previously the Kinks bassist from 1978 until 1996. He joined The Zombies in 2004 and played with them until his death on Jan. 20 of last year. A recent memorial service/musical performance was held on the year-anniversary of his death in his hometown of St Albans. Joining Argent and Blunstone were the surviving members of The Zombies, Chris White and Hugh Grundy (Atkinson died in 2004) and opening the show was ARC, made up of Rodford’s granddaughters, Anya and Cara, and his son, Russ.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Blunstone is busy touring solo and with The Zombies, with plans to record a new album with the latter this year. It’s all a bit of a whirlwind that the slight vocalist is being sure to embrace at every turn.
“So, in the last few years, things have gone very well for The Zombies. We’re mature enough now to really appreciate it, because we know how tough this business is,” he says. “That’s why I think we’re very fortunate to enjoy this kind of adventure at this time in our lives. It doesn’t happen to many people that they get these kinds of opportunities at this time in their lives. Believe me, we’re really, really enjoying it and what we’re thinking about is what comes next.”
The Zombies co-headline with Brian Wilson in concert at the Riverside Theater on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m.
