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TGIF Rock-n-Roll Oldies: The Zombies - 1964
Reaganite Republican ^
| February 24, 2011
| Reaganite Republican
Posted on 02/25/2011 1:20:51 PM PST by Reaganite Republican
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in 1961 and led by Rod Argent on piano and Colin Blunstone on vocals.
The schoolboy chums who came to be known as The Zombies got their start playing at a St. Alban's rugby club, but soon rose from unknown local act to score major US hits later in the decade, such as "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 White- ranks #80 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the '500 Greatest Albums of All Time'.
The Zombies signed to Decca and recorded their first hit "She's Not There"- which was released in the Summer of 1964 and peaked at #12 in the UK. This minor-key, jazz-tinged number, distinguished by its musicianship and Blunstone's breathy vocal, was unlike anything heard in British rock at the time.
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". The tune began to catch on in early fall and eventually climbed to #2 in the US.
Like many other British Invasion groups, The Zombies were sent to The States to tour in support of a new hit single. Among 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 January 1965 the band made their debut on live U.S. television, playing "She's Not There" to hysterical teen girls on NBC's Hullabaloo. "Tell Her No" became another big seller in the United States (in 1965), but failed to make the Top 40 in the band's native UK.
The Zombies signed to CBS Records, for whom they recorded the album Odessey and Oracle. (The word odyssey was misspelled by cover designers.)
Because the band's budget could not cover session musicians, they used a Mellotron, a device designed to imitate orchestral sections. By the time Odessey and Oracle was released in April 1968, the group had disbanded. The album sold poorly and was only given a U.S. release because musician Al Kooper, then signed to Columbia Records, convinced his label of the album's merits. An album track, "Time of the Season", written by Argent, was released as a single and eventually (1969) became a nationwide hit (#3).
After The Zombies disbanded, Rod Argent formed a band called Argent, with Chris White as a non-performing songwriter. Colin Blunstone started a solo career after a brief period outside the music business... he also later worked with the Alan Parsons Project...
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Previous RR Rock n Roll Oldies features -here-
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TOPICS: History; Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: music; oldies; rock; video
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To: Dixie Yooper
I listened into the night while studying at U of Iowa in Iowa City. Joel Sebastian and Gary Gears (I think that was his name) could do impossible things while reading a live spot over a recorded jingle.
In the early 1980s, Illinois was part of my sales territory and I liked to make my first call and be back in the car in time for Lujack’s “Animal Stories.”
Those were the days.
To: Eric in the Ozarks
Animal Stories! What a blast from the past! There were times I laughed so hard I had to pull off the road!
Remember “sharks usually only bite off dangling appendages, such as an arm or a leg...”?
22
posted on
02/25/2011 4:51:22 PM PST
by
mozarky2
(Ya never stand so tall as when ya stoop to stomp a statist!)
To: Eric in the Ozarks
Animal Stories... Larry: Ok Tommy, there's two things that smell like a fish, and one them’s not a fish...what is it? Tommy: Gee Larry, now you've got me all confused...
23
posted on
02/25/2011 5:42:34 PM PST
by
Dixie Yooper
(Ephesians 6:11)
To: mozarky2
To: Eric in the Ozarks
To which Lujack replied, “Well, if a shark ever bites off one of MY dangling appendages, I hope like Hell it’s an arm or a leg”!
25
posted on
02/26/2011 11:42:47 AM PST
by
mozarky2
(Ya never stand so tall as when ya stoop to stomp a statist!)
To: mozarky2
Lil’ snot-nosed Tommy; always the straight man.
To: mylife
I spend a lot of time in Europe, and the oldies stations still have Argent in heavy rotation today... exp. “God Gave..”
To: bigbob
Well, it was a big deal, because only one guy showed up - a guitarist who claimed to have played with the group and now called himself “The Zombie”.Was it Rob Zombie?
28
posted on
02/27/2011 8:05:43 AM PST
by
dfwgator
To: mylife
29
posted on
02/27/2011 8:08:58 AM PST
by
dfwgator
To: dfwgator
30
posted on
02/27/2011 8:20:18 AM PST
by
mylife
(Opinions: $1.00 ~ Halfbaked: 50c)
To: Reaganite Republican
Great album!
31
posted on
02/27/2011 8:32:10 AM PST
by
Fresh Wind
(TOTUS knows how to give a speech. Obama knows how to read.)
32
posted on
02/27/2011 8:36:48 AM PST
by
mylife
(Opinions: $1.00 ~ Halfbaked: 50c)
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