Showing posts with label The Zombies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Zombies. Show all posts

Watch a Trailer for a New Documentary About the Zombies: 'Hung Up on a Dream'

 
Details:

In their first ever feature documentary nearly 60 years after they met as teenagers before the British Invasion music scene, THE ZOMBIES tell their story of navigating the tumultuous music industry over the decades and making one of the most influential albums of all time, Odessey and Oracle. “She’s Not There” made them the first British band after The Beatles to reach #1 in the US. After years of touring and many missteps in the 60s, sadly the band missed out on their biggest moment yet, when “Time of the Season” hit #1 and became a global success, inspiring new generations each year. The band looks back on their journey, where true friendship led them to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Vintage Ad: The Zombies "Imagine the Swan" - artwork by Murphy Anderson

Single released on this day in 1969. Artwork for this ad is by the great DC Comics artist Murpy Anderson. If you don't have the great Zombie Heaven box set advertised below, pick it up! Highly recommended - it collects every recording by one of the best British bands.



See a full concert 2013 by the Zombies!

I had a chance to see the band last summer and they were spectacular. Colin Blunstone's voice is still in amazing shape.



See the Zombies' first music video

We've been on a Zombie kick recently, so let's take the look at Blunstone/Argent's new music video, for the song "Any Other Way," from the group's recent studio LP Breathe Out, Breathe In.




Pop focus: The Zombies

I had a chance to see Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone with the current Zombies lineup recently and, like many who have seen the group's tours in recent years, was knocked out.

The band opened with the urgent-sounding "I Love You," featuring a jaw-dropping vocal break that demonstrated that Blunstone hasn't lost a thing in all these years: That breathy, mysterious voice sounds pretty much like it did back in the mid 1960s on hits like "She's Not There" and "Tell Her No."

Argent's jazz and classical-informed keyboard chops are still very much intact, too. Here's a band that, apart from a few big British Invasion hits, was very much underrated in the 1960s showing just how great they were, and still are. Don't miss a chance to see them.

Along with their great singles, the Zombies are recognized now for one of the 1960s best LPs, the fabulous, overlooked, misspelled Odessey and Oracle. If you love Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper's and Forever Changes, you need this one, too. I recall a review that described its sound as "The Beach Boys in Westminster Abbey." That just about nails it.

The best way to collect the group's 1960s recordings, including Odessey, incidentally, is the 4-disk set Zombie Heaven box set, which includes everything - rarities, demos, unreleased tunes and BBC Radio performances -- along with all the singles and album tracks. There's also a nice single disk of Odessey, sold separately, that includes both the mono and stereo mixes of the album.

And, it should be noted, the current incarnation of the group released a well-regarded new studio LP in 2011 along with a live album last year.

Here's a look at the Zombies then and now.