The Zombies Live At The Robin 2 Bilston May 2012

I discovered The Zombies by accident in the Summer of 1990, lurking somewhere on the B side of a 1970’s ‘Best Of The Sixties’ compilation, sandwiched awkwardly between Engelbert Humperdinck & The Tremeloes. The track was ‘Time Of The Season’. It sounded like nothing else on that trashy compilation & even today, in a blues club in the West Midlands, it still sounds fresh.

Time Of The Season

The Zombies formed 1961 in St Albans, the two main protagonists being Rod Argent (piano, organ, and vocals) and Colin Blunstone (vocals). The group surprisingly had minimal chart success in the 60’s, but had a few more hits over in the USA on the back of the British Invasion, even reaching the Billboard number 3 spot in 1968 with Time Of The Season. Their first UK LP, Begin Here (1965), was the typical mix of original songs & R&B covers as was the norm at the time, and it showed great promise for future original compositions. The band continued to record throughout 1965-66 trying to achieve chart success, but the hits didn't come. Even though Argent & White amassed enough material for a follow-up album, the lack of chart success kept most of those tracks from ever being issued.

In 1967, The Zombies signed to CBS Records, for whom they recorded the album Odessey and Oracle. (The word odyssey was misspelled by cover designers.) By the time Odessey and Oracle got released in April 1968, the group had disbanded. The LP had twelve songs which showcased the group's two main songwriters, Argent and Chris White, with tracks such as 'Care Of Cell 44', 'A Rose For Emily' & 'Beechwood Park'. The album ranked Number 80 on Rolling Stone magazine's '500 Greatest Albums of All Time', and regularly gets into 'essential' list's top 25.

Tonight however, The Zombies freight train pulls into The Robin 2, Bilston, West Midlands. It's a good sized venue for bands, both past & present, always booking good credible artists. (Terry Reid for instance, in 10 days time) The last group I came to see here was The Pretty Things, who totally tore it up with hard R&B from their early years. Unfortunately no material post 67’ from them that night, I would have loved to hear some tracks off their 1970 record, Parachute. Phil May nearly dropped his maracas when I requested some.

There are quite a few bands from yesteryear on the touring treadmill who basically, are in it for the money, and fill a gap in the market that a lot of fans (me included) crave for. I can’t blame them, a lot of great groups got ripped off during the 60’s & throughout the 70’s with many other people getting rich off their talent and the songwriters not seeing a single penny. I hasten to add, The Zombies are ‘not’ going through the treadmill of a cabaret/tribute show. They rock it out, & look like they are loving every second of their decade long reformation. The positive media reaction has given The Zombies the respect they deserve, starting with the successful 40th anniversary tour of the Odessey album, and bookending it with great reviews for the new album and recent live shows.

Although only 2 of the original members are on stage, the bass player, Jim Rodford (who looks a bit like David Jason circa ‘A Touch Of Frost’) was actually a founding member of Argent & also took Rod to his first Zombies audition in the early 60’s. Jim’s son Steve is on drums, and he is a great player in his own right, recording with many artists all over the world. The guitarist Tom Toomey (great name) is a very talented guy who according to Rod got the gig by being an amazing acoustic as well as electric player. He didn’t, I fancy, get the gig by having more than a passing resemblance to Harry Enfield’s character DJ Mike Smash, right down to the leather trousers. I like to think he keeps a faux silk Bachman Turner Overdrive tour jacket hanging up in the dressing room.

The set list tonight comprised of material from both of their careers post Zombies, (Argent, Alan Parsons & other assorted solo works) with a large chunk (5-6 songs) dedicated to their new album ‘Breathe Out, Breathe In’. The latest songs surprised me on two levels, the first mainly being that I didn’t realise that they were new, and secondly how easily they fitted into the eclectic nature of tonight's set. Only one new song that I heard had a poor chorus lyric & was pretty throwaway, compared with how the other new tracks sat with ease in the back catalogue. 

Rod’s mike falls off midway & guitarist Tom Toomey steps in to perform a great, impromptu version of Classical Gas to show us that Rod was right, he is indeed a great acoustic player. Another highlight was a section from the band’s seminal ‘Odyssey and Oracle’ album, with Time Of The Season an instant crowd pleaser from the first 2 bars.

Colin Blunstone’s voice is a force of nature. A man of his age and profession just shouldn't be able to still sing like that. From breathy lows to soaring highs, he still has them all, and hits them without breaking sweat. Unbelievable. I mean, just unbelievable.

Colin Blunstone

 At the end of the set, Argent’s ‘Hold Your Head Up’, all 8.30secs of it, is a floorstomping crowd pleaser with Blunstone stepping up, & easily delivering the lead vocal. The set closer, 1964’s She’s Not There is a classic slice of Zombies history that almost everyone knows, even reaching the giddy heights of number 2 in the USA. Santana also had a hit with it in the late 70's, taking it into the realms of Black Magic Woman territory. You can hear it on their 1977 Moonflower album.

 The band stay on stage for the encore and go straight into Argent’s ‘God Gave Rock Gave Rock And Roll To You’. Rod encourages the crowd to join in for the breakdown acapella refrain, and surprisingly the crowd is quiet & subdued apart from one man with a massive gob, belting the chorus out above everyone. (Sorry about that)  The night surprisingly climaxes with ‘Just Out of Reach’, a formulaic R&B single from 65’ which had minor chart success. On the evidence of tonight's tight, crafted set, if you have the chance, go and see The Zombies.

The merchandise stand was also awesome. Yes, the usual cd’s, singles, dvds, posters and so on were on sale. But mainly because there was also vinyl. Not new 180gm vinyl but original vinyl. (Goes giddy) In all fairness they did look they had come out of the sellers own collection, but I like to think of Colin & Rod scouring rare record shops buying up their own Lp's to sell at gigs. I purchased two solo albums, Blunstone’s Ennismore (1972) & Journey (1974).

One minor criticism of a near flawless evening is that Rod Argent likes to talk. A lot. I like the brief snatches of ‘where & how the band evolved' etc, but he tends to go on a just bit too much. “The new album reviews have really knocked us out, we had four star reviews in this, in that…”and so on. It especially drags when telling the crowd about newer bands & artists who are fans, ”Dave Grohl this, The Vaselines that, Paul Weller…..etc”.

Rod & Colin don’t need to justify themselves still being here, playing & making new music, or try to make themselves seem relevant in today's market. They are after all, The Zombies.