Insights into … the Zombies
[5 Billboard Hot 100 singles, 1964–69; one certified RIAA gold]
During the “British invasion,” the Beatles were the first Britons to hit the top of the American charts with their own material. The Zombies were the very next.
The Zombies - 1965
Photo Courtesy of Hugh Grundy
(L-R) Chris White, Hugh Grundy (seated), Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone (rear) and Paul Atkinson
Keyboard player Rod Argent was 15 years old when he formed the Zombies in the spring of 1961 with singer Colin Blunstone, guitarist Paul Atkinson, drummer Hugh Grundy and bass player Paul Arnold. All five were students from St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, about 20 kilometers (a dozen miles) beyond the northern reaches of London.
Initially, Rod was cast in the role of lead singer and Colin was designated the band’s rhythm guitar player. After a year or so, the band underwent its first and only personnel change. When bassist Paul Arnold was accepted into medical school, which required his full attention, he found his own replacement for the band: art school student Chris White.
After playing in local clubs for a couple of years, the Zombies came in first in a talent competition, for which they won a recording session. The demo tracks they recorded led to their contract with Decca Records. “She’s Not There,” one song from their initial June, 1964, Decca recording session, hit the charts that October.
Insights about composing “She’s Not There”
“I started messing around with chords and with a vocal line and built it from there. There were a couple of chord sequences I liked very much. Particularly what attracted me was in the bit that goes, ‘it’s too late to say you’re sorry,’ when the chord changes go from a major chord to a minor chord, but the bass doesn’t play the root of the chord. The bass plays the major third and when the chord changes, it plays the minor third. The bass line and the drum segments were intrinsic parts of the song. That’s how I started. Some parts were improvised, but the bass and drums were written.”
— Rod Argent
composer , keyboard player and singer
British invasion frenzy after a Las Vegas concert
“We came running out of the theater toward the coach, which was parked a bit far away. As we darted out the stage door, all of the audience poured out the front door and came running around the back, and girls were chasing after us. I could feel them catching up to me. We all had fairly long hair, and one of the girls managed to grab hold of my hair and threw me off balance, and down I went. I hit my head on the pavement and laid there stunned with all of these girls tearing up to me. It could have been a pushy moment but fortunately, the tour manager, Fat Frankie, saw me and he scooped me up off the pavement and threw me on the coach.”
— Hugh Grundy
drummer
Insights about recording
“Recording is completely different from performing for an audience. On stage you’re providing entertainment, but in the studio you’re focusing your attention on getting a perfect take. That took some getting used to. I think we did our best when we weren’t really trying so hard, but we were simply playing naturally. Our best recordings were those when we were playing for ourselves and not for the producer.”
— Paul Atkinson
guitarist
Advice for fellow musicians
“Be honest with yourself. Look at the recurring patterns in your life if something keeps going wrong. Keep centered, and if an opportunity comes up, take it. Don’t play the safe route. There’s no such thing. Every day is a new challenge. Life is just a ride, so hold on, and get it right, and be truthful to yourself. I learned not to do things for money, because if you try to write a hit song, it never works out. But if you write a good song and even if it’s not a hit, you’re still left with a good song. Of course, you can’t always play to those rules. Sometimes you have to pay the bills, but where you can, do it for the music.”
— Chris White
bass player and composer
Parental concerns about musical careers
“I remember when we let our parents know that we wanted to go on the road and become a professional band. Travel was very unusual for young boys in bands in those days. We didn’t have freeways, and it took us all day to get anywhere. Only Paul Atkinson’s parents were reluctant, but in the end they came around. I was amazed when my parents said, ‘Well, give it a go.’ I think they felt that I would only do it for a year or so. Perhaps they thought it would be good to get it out of my system before I get on with a proper job.”
— Colin Blunstone
lead singer
The Zombies disbanded in 1968, but Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone resurrected the band in 1999, and have been touring and recording since then. The current Zombies configuration also includes guitarist Tom Toomey, bass player Søren Koch and drummer Steve Rodford.
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The narrative and quotations in this article are excerpted from the book Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? — Volume 1, by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March. This material is copyrighted © 2011 by EditPros LLC and may not be reproduced or redistributed without written permission.
You can pick up your copy here: https://www.editpros.com/WHATPSG_Vol_1.html
The Zombies may have only had five Billboard Hot 100 Hits, but THREE of those records made it into The Top Ten ...
"She's Not There" went all the way to #1 in Cash Box Magazine ... and peaked at #2 in Billboard in late 1964.
Their follow-up hit, "Tell Her No," released in January of 1965, climbed to #6 in both Billboard and Cash Box.
And then they hit their lean years. While the band charted six more sides in 1965 alone, none of them made enough of an impact to inspire the band to continue so in 1968, a year after creating what most consider to be their masterpiece, the album "Odessey and Oracle," the group split up.
When Producer Al Kooper convinced Columbia Records to release one of the tracks from that album as a single in 1969, The Zombies soon found themselves with ANOTHER #1 Hit!!!
"Time Of The Season" topped the Cash Box Chart in the Spring of '69. It peaked at #3 in Billboard. But by this point, the group had already disbanded. They had to quickly reform in order to take advantage of their newfound success and get back out on the road to promote their now two year old album!
Sadly, once the hype for "Time Of The Season" died down, The Zombies found themselves in the same boat as before and once again went their separate ways.
Keyboardist Rod Argent enjoyed success with his new band (appropriately named "Argent") and the Top Five Smash "Hold Your Head Up," still a smash hit in regular rotation on the Classic Rock Stations. (It came in at #580 in our Forgotten Hits Poll of The Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All Time.) By the way, "Time Of The Season" placed at #65 in that same poll. In fact, The Zombies' hits "She's Not There" (#365) and "Tell Her No" (#632) both made The Top 1000. Other hits on this list include "This Will Be Our Year" (#2998) and "Imagine The Swan" (#3100) as well as "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" (#3011) by Argent.
I guess you could say that Rod Argent successfully went from Z to A ... and then back to Z again when The Zombies reformed in 1999 for a new album and tour. We were fortunate enough to see them when they opened for Burton Cummings in 2013. (Our concert review can be found below)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2013/10/zombies-concert-review.html
After a mad push, The Zombies were finally inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2019. (kk)
