Championed in the U.S. by artists like Tom Petty and in the U.K. by Paul Weller, Odessey and Oracle is now considered a classic, ranking 100th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums.
When this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations were announced yesterday, it marked the fourth time in five years that The Zombies were nominated. It leaves Blunstone hoping the fourth time is the charm.
Colin Blunstone should need no introduction. As the honeyed voice of the Zombies, he lent his distinctive pipes to some of the most beloved songs of the 1960s British Invasion, including 'She's. Apr 26, 2019 Terry Gross spoke with the lead singer of The Zombies, Colin Blunstone, in 1998. They started with the group's first single. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, 'SHE'S NOT THERE') THE ZOMBIES: (Singing) Well, no one told me about her, the way she lied.
'When the band first started way back in 1961, I would never have dreamed of this kind of recognition. And even after all these years, it’s still a thrill to be nominated by such a respected and revered institution,' he said. 'I’m keeping everything crossed for the final vote in the hope that this time around The Zombies will go one step further and join the other inductees of 2019!'
I spoke with Colin Blunstone about the happenstance that led to the band owning their masters, placement of their music on soundtracks and in commercials as a revenue stream despite turbulent times in the music industry, the fiftieth anniversary of Odessey and Oracle, sampling of his music by artists like Eminem as an introduction of The Zombies to a new generation and more. A lightly edited transcript of our phone conversation follows below.
On October 26, The Zombies embark upon a European tour through Italy, Germany, Netherlands and more that makes its way through Scandinavia in November before returning to the U.S. in February. Inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced in December and inducted during a ceremony in New York on March 29 at Barclays Center.
Q. I’ve heard you say that Rod Argent is one of the biggest influences on you. What does that partnership with Rod mean to you after all these years and what’s been the key to maintaining it?
Colin Blunstone: Well, I think that we’re really fortunate in that, basically, we grew up together. We’ve been in a band together off and on and when The Zombies weren’t active, Rod was also producing my albums or I was working with him on another project. So we’ve been working together since 1961.
He learned to write songs from my voice. So, even subconsciously, when he’s writing a song, he’s hearing my voice singing it. And, conversely, I learned to sing singing Rod’s songs. So he’s really helped me as a vocalist.
Even today, when we record a song, we will go very thoroughly into the phrasing of that song so that, usually, I’ll know exactly what I’m going to sing before I sing. We’ll talk about it extensively and we’ll experiment with different ways of singing it but by the time I get to the studio, I know what I’m going to sing.
And I think that that relationship’s been very important for me as a vocalist. I would say that he’s been the biggest influence on me as a vocalist of anyone.
And it’s probably a deeper relationship now than it’s ever been.
Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
Q. Last year you guys celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Odessey and Oracle album. I would imagine it’s not something you’re listening to a lot otherwise. What was it like revisiting the album in that kind of depth for those performances? Did anything about that process surprise you?
CB: It was very interesting. Because you’re right - I don’t listen to any of the material that I’ve recorded over the years very often because I’m always concentrating on what comes next. And I know that that’s true of all of the guys in the band. And so it was interesting to go back and hear those songs that I probably hadn’t heard for a few years.
And some of those songs, I’d never sung live. And that’s true of the other guys - they hadn’t played them live. We just played them in the studio. So it was almost like playing new songs really. I certainly had to put a bit of time into it to familiarize myself with things like 'Maybe After He’s Gone' or “Brief Candles.” I’d never sung those live before we did the Odessey and Oracle shows. We did actually celebrate the fortieth anniversary which I think was in 2008. And so that was the first time that I would’ve sung the album in its entirety.
So you do have to remind yourself of what you’re doing.
Q. When “Time of the Season” hit, The Zombies were already broken up for about two years. How bizarre of an experience was it to have put that chapter of your life behind you only to have it come rushing back in the form of a hit song?
CB: It was very strange. It was almost unbelievable really.
When the record started to break in America, I’m not sure I really believed what was happening. And, also, remember there was no internet then, so we’re just getting phone calls from publishers or record companies or things like that. And it may be that I would’ve got a message even from someone in the band rather than from a record company. It was almost like Chinese whispers. It was reaching me a bit sort of third and fourth hand. It was unbelievable.
It was made more strange by the fact that, “Time of the Season,” one of the only countries in the world it wasn’t a hit in was the U.K. It wasn’t a hit here. And so we were in isolation here. Nothing was happening here with Odessey and Oracle or “Time of the Season.” And yet, eventually, we realized that something was happening in America. It was a really strange feeling.
On top of that, Odessey and Oracle still really didn’t do that much at the time - possibly because there was no band to promote it. And it took about another ten or fifteen years before Odessey and Oracle started to get the attention of the media. People like Tom Petty in the States started to talk about it and in the U.K. Paul Weller.
Now people talk about it with a fair degree of reverence now which intrigues me. Because it was released unnoticed at the time. It just slipped through the net. And it intrigues me that all these years later that people have grown to admire and respect it.
It’s great for us. It’s wonderful for us.
Q. Was it tempting at all to get back together when that song started to hit in America? Did you guys even consider it?
CB: It was never ever talked about. I think everyone was committed to other projects by the time it was a hit. And there was never one discussion about getting back together again.
Colin Blunstone mimes shooting the rest of the Zombies (L-R Chris White, Paul Atkinson, Rod Argent, Hugh Grundy), West London, 1965. (Photo by Stanley Bielecki/ASP/Getty Images)
Q. Obviously the music industry is changing quickly. And it’s become difficult to monetize recorded music. With “Time of the Season,” you were able to place that on soundtracks and in commercials. And that’s become a great new revenue stream now for a lot of artists. How much say do you and Rod have in that process?
CB: First of all, we were really fortunate - and to some degree this was a bit of a luck - but originally in the 60s we signed to a production company and that production company signed to the record company. “She’s Not There' and the early tracks, that was with Decca in England and London Records in the States - although it came out on a subsidiary called Parrot.
But we didn’t sign to the record company. And with Odessey and Oracle, again, we were with the same production company and they did the deal with CBS. Again we came out on a subsidiary called Date Records but it was billed CBS (or Sony as it is now).
And that meant that the masters reverted to us after a period of time. So we’re very fortunate. It was chance. But many 60s bands really didn’t earn what they should’ve on royalties from their records. But, in that respect, we were really fortunate now that the tracks are being used on commercials.
Incidentally, we don’t have an awful lot of input in that. Again, this production company - they’re called Marquis Music - they represent us, our whole catalog. So everything goes through them. They’ve done a fantastic job.
Not only is it an incredible revenue stream but it helps our profile as well. If we’re in a major film or a big commercial - especially something like Chanel - it really, really helps for the touring band. Because it brings The Zombies into the world of a lot of people that probably wouldn’t hear The Zombies otherwise.
Q. Speaking of introducing your music to a new crowd, Eminem kind of assisted there as well. His “Rhyme or Reason” samples “Time of the Season.” What was it like hearing that and were you in favor of it when the idea was presented initially?
CB: Absolutely. I thought he did a great job. It sounded fantastic. And, of course, that helped introduce us to a very young part of the population.
And it’s one of the things that, again, intrigues me. When we play, especially in America, there’s really a large element of the audience that are in their teens or in their twenties. You might come to one of our concerts and think that it’s all going to be people our age - and there are people that have followed us since our first record and, of course, we’re incredibly grateful that they’ve done that. But it’s also gratifying to see all ages at a concert.
And I think that the Eminem cover helps to introduce us to the younger element in the audience.
Q. When you guys put out the Still Got That Hunger album in 2015, you utilized crowdfunding with a PledgeMusic campaign. Obviously, that’s a little bit different way of releasing an album than what you grew up accustomed to. What was that experience like embracing that type of new technology?
CB: I think it’s a great idea. I just started a solo album actually and I would hope to do the same thing with that. We’ll start a new Zombies album next year and I would like to think that we will at least consider doing that again.
It’s not just the matter of raising money, it’s awareness. In effect, they’re buying the record in advance. They can share in the experience of recording that album. You can give them a day by day account of what’s going on if you want to.
And I think that that’s a very interesting way to look at recording an album and for your fanbase to join you in that experience.
Q. You guys continue to make new music. The Zombies do not exist solely as a nostalgia act. How important is it after all these years to continue to push things forward and make new music?
CB: It’s absolutely imperative. We all agree that if we weren’t making new records and playing new songs, then we probably wouldn’t be touring. We love to play the old songs. It’s great. But it’s absolutely imperative to us that we write and record new material.
One of the most satisfying things and exciting things is that our audience seems to respond as enthusiastically to our new material as they do to the old standards. It’s really heartwarming.
We must be doing something right to get that kind of reaction.