the zombie
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The band's journey started in April 1961 in St Albans when all five original members of the group - Rod Argent, Paul Atkinson, Hugh Grundy, Chris White and Colin Blunstone - met at the Blacksmith's Arms pub and went onto the Pioneer Club where they had their very first rehearsal.
The band began gathering a following in mid-1962 in the St. Albans area. In 1963 they were approaching college age and began to discuss breaking up, as several members were thinking about going to university. That same year they entered a rock contest in which first prize was a recording contract with Decca Records. They made the finals and, even before the winner was chosen, they impressed Decca executives so much that they were offered a contract anyway (as it turned out, they actually did win the contest).
The band began gathering a following in mid-1962 in the St. Albans area. In 1963 they were approaching college age and began to discuss breaking up, as several members were thinking about going to university. That same year they entered a rock contest in which first prize was a recording contract with Decca Records. They made the finals and, even before the winner was chosen, they impressed Decca executives so much that they were offered a contract anyway (as it turned out, they actually did win the contest).
June 24, 2023:
It’s the time of the season The Zombies’ 2023 North American tour. The British psych-pop legends are headed to the US and Canada this October in support of their recent album Different Game.
The Zombies will kick things off in New Westminster, British Columbia on October 1st, before hitting cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Cincinnati, and New York. The 20-date trek will wrap up outside Philadelphia on October 29th.
Tickets for all tour dates are on sale now over at Ticketmaster.
It’s the time of the season The Zombies’ 2023 North American tour. The British psych-pop legends are headed to the US and Canada this October in support of their recent album Different Game.
The Zombies will kick things off in New Westminster, British Columbia on October 1st, before hitting cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Cincinnati, and New York. The 20-date trek will wrap up outside Philadelphia on October 29th.
Tickets for all tour dates are on sale now over at Ticketmaster.
Rod Argent explained how they got their name to Jim Clash posted at Forbes: "We got together in 1961, at the very beginning of the English band scene. That was even a year before the Beatles. We didn't know what to call ourselves. For the first month or so, we were called the Sundowners. But I think that may well have been a western film in the same way as the Searchers' name was from a John Wayne movie. We were also the Mustangs for a couple of weeks, but never went out on a gig with that name.
One day, our bass player at the time, who was the only one initially who left the band before we were professional, said, "What about The Zombies?" This was in the days before any of the crop of zombie films, like "Return Of The Living Dead." Now I just about knew what a zombie was. It had something to do with Haiti, and some sort of voodoo, unsavory sorts of things. Colin [Blunstone] didn't even know that. He hated the name! But I loved it. If we were lucky enough to get any recognition later, then very soon the name itself would be unimportant. It would just become whomever the members of the band were. A year after the Beatles were named, no one that I know thought about insects or even the play on words. They just thought about John, Paul, George and Ringo. That proved to be the case with us. "
One day, our bass player at the time, who was the only one initially who left the band before we were professional, said, "What about The Zombies?" This was in the days before any of the crop of zombie films, like "Return Of The Living Dead." Now I just about knew what a zombie was. It had something to do with Haiti, and some sort of voodoo, unsavory sorts of things. Colin [Blunstone] didn't even know that. He hated the name! But I loved it. If we were lucky enough to get any recognition later, then very soon the name itself would be unimportant. It would just become whomever the members of the band were. A year after the Beatles were named, no one that I know thought about insects or even the play on words. They just thought about John, Paul, George and Ringo. That proved to be the case with us. "
In 1964, "She's Not There" got to number 12 in the UK but went to number one in the US.
In 1965 the band did the soundtrack for the film Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), and made a brief appearance in the film as themselves. Unfortunately, the film was not successful. In addition, the records they were putting out didn't sell well. The band also began having problems with Decca, which they believed wasn't letting them do the kind of music they wanted to do, and they eventually split from the label. They were signed by CBS Records, for which they recorded the album "Odessey and Oracle", which was finished at The Beatles' Abbey Road Studios in 1967. After the album was done, the band broke up.
In 1965 "Tell Her No" made the US top 10 and in 1968 Time of the Season went to number one.
The band split in 1967 before the release of their album Odessey and Oracle in 1968.
The Zombies reformed in the late 1990s after Argent and Blunstone met up at a charity concert.
April 1, 2004: Paul Atkinson, who had retired as a performer and began a career as an A&R man, died in Santa Monica, California.
March 29, 2019: At Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, The Zombies joined Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, and Roxy Music as the 2019 Class of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Fittingly, the Induction Ceremony took place exactly 50 years to-the-day after The Zombies’ classic “Time of the Season” first hit #1 on the charts in America.
August 22, 2019: Blumstone on their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: “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 because all musicians are looking for peer group acceptance. It’s such a lift to get that kind of reaction from fellow professionals. It’s really beyond my wildest imagination that we should be honored in this way and I’m extremely grateful.”
January 26, 2023
We are excited to announce that @ajsmithmusic is joining us as support on the Life Is a Merry-Go-Round Tour this March in Texas & Louisiana! Tickets are going fast so get yours now to rock out with us!!!https://t.co/hR4LXQj32q pic.twitter.com/YQnGFKvJr3
— The Zombies (@TheZombiesMusic) January 26, 2023