>>PREVIEW
THE ZOMBIES
Friday, March 9
Frank Sisson’s Silver Dollar Casino
On the day before my interview with The Zombies’s Colin Blunstone, I receive a call from his American publicist.
"We have to move the interview time an hour back," she informs me. "He’s watching the rugby game and it won’t be done by then."
So, while Paul McCartney is busy fleeing intrusive paparazzi and Mick Jagger is quite possibly dunking himself in honey and rolling around in $100 bills, fellow British Invasion survivor Blunstone is sitting in his southwest London local cheering on his favourite team.
But that’s always been his way.
Even during their mid-’60s heyday, when the St. Alban’s five-piece was at the top of the charts with hits such as "Tell Her No," "She’s Not There" and "Time of the Season," the band’s members never considered themselves pop idols.
"We still lived in the same town we always did," says the soft-spoken Blunstone.
"We had all the same friends. We weren’t treated like we were in a big band. We were treated like ordinary people."
The Zombies formed in 1961 while keyboardist Rod Argent, guitarist Paul Atkinson and drummer Hugh Grundy were still spotty-faced students at St. Alban’s Grammar School. Shortly after, bassist Chris White and Blunstone (who joined as rhythm guitarist but ended up the singer) rounded out the lineup.
By 1964, the band had signed to Decca Records and recorded its debut album, Begin Here, which featured "She’s Not There." A few months later, the album was re-titled The Zombies and released in the United States, where "She’s Not There" became a number one smash.
While The Zombies attracted their fair share of screaming teenyboppers, the fact they drew inspiration from such diverse musical styles as jazz, classical, blues and even traditional church melodies proved there was more to this band than just the odd catchy pop hook.
"In 1964, when we made our first record, we were very fortunate that in the band we had two very prolific, and in the end, very sophisticated songwriters (Argent and White)," Blunstone says.
"They wrote many great songs, in which there are quite complicated chord structures and three-part harmonies. Chris White also used to write some very wordy songs. But I was lucky because I was working with the writers and we would discuss the phrasing at great length. So I really understood the song before I tried to sing it."
After being blasted to the top of the charts with "She’s Not There" and "Tell Her No," The Zombies tried to continue their chart domination. But a string of failed singles brought the band crashing down.
Frustrated with their lack of success on both sides of the pond, The Zombies called it quits in 1967. But not before recording what would become their biggest-selling album, Odessey and Oracle, featuring the FM radio staple, "Time of the Season."
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios just after The Beatles laid down Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Odessey & Oracle is considered one of the seminal psychedelic albums of that era, alongside Love’s Forever Changes, The Beach Boys’s Pet Sounds and of course, Sgt. Pepper’s.
"With the benefit of hindsight, it would have been interesting to see what we would have done next," says Blunstone, who forged a successful career in the U.K. as a solo artist follwing the split.
"I think with Odessey and Oracle we found something new. I think we were beginning to sound a bit more accomplished and a bit more sophisticated in what we were doing. In Odessey and Oracle it all came together. I think it would have been interesting to see where we would have gone after that."
The Zombies could have very well remained a footnote in rock ’n’ roll history books, but a funny thing happened to the band back in the ’90s.
A new crop of bands, with a penchant for rich harmonies and decidedly more orchestral arrangements, arrived on the scene. And many of these groups (My Life Story, Zumpano, The High Llamas et al.) cited The Zombies as an influence.
A Zombies tribute CD – 1994’s World of The Zombies – featured such then-popular northwest indie acts as Young Fresh Fellows, Fastbacks, Flop and The Posies performing their favourite Zombies tunes.
Suddenly, it seemed a shame there were only three Zombies tracks that classic rock and golden oldies stations would play, especially when there were songs like "Whenever You’re Ready," "Just Out of Reach," "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself" and the beautifully melancholic "The Way I Feel Inside" kicking around.
Yet this resurgence of interest eventually led Blunstone and Argent to re-form The Zombies for a few one-off shows and now as a full-time touring band. The two are currently on a North American tour – which stops in Calgary on Saturday night at Frank Sisson’s Silver Dollar Casino – and will be reuniting with the remaining Zombies (sadly, Atkinson passed away two years ago) to perform Odessey and Oracle in London to mark the album’s 40th anniversary next year.
"I’m really very pleasantly surprised with the increased interest in The Zombies catalogue," says Blunstone.
"I have no idea why it’s happened, but we’re certainly aware of it. We can see it in record sales, interest in the media and of course at the concerts we play. It’s fantastic.
"We’re very happy because it’s what we love to do. We feel very fortunate because we’ve been given a chance in this time in our lives to play again."
The Zombies, featuring Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, perform on Friday at Frank Sisson’s Silver Dollar Casino. Tickets are $30. |
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