COLIN BLUNSTONE | INTERVIEW
Singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, in addition to being vocalist in The Zombies, is also a successful solo artist, playing Cardiff on Sun 7 Apr. With co-founder Rod Argent, he resurrected the group. A five-LP set, In The Beginning, has just been released (and is reviewed below), while at least 330,000 fans helped vote The Zombies into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. What took them so long, wonders Rhonda Lee Reali as she chats to Colin?
Buzz: Congratulations on The Zombies finally being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame!
Colin Blunstone: Thanks very much. It’s a great honour. This is our fourth nomination. You start to think you’ll never actually be inducted because you’ve had all these nominations, but we’re absolutely thrilled.
You’re more popular then before the group split up prematurely. There’s a mystique. Old and new fans want more and are so happy to see you.
Possibly it’s true [because] we haven’t spent 50 or 60 years on the road playing continuously. There was a huge gap. Because we hadn’t been on the road, we can come back with revived energy. It’s all new to us. We often say there’s more energy on the stage now than in the 60s. It’s so unexpected we would be playing live at this time in our lives. We’re determined to enjoy it.
With regard to The Zombies and my solo band, we’re writing and recording new material right now. Hopefully, there’ll be a new Zombies album early next year. I’ve recorded four or five tracks for [my] album, so I’m closer to finishing that.
After the group split, you worked in an insurance firm for a year. With your talent, it must have been distressing and frustrating you might never do what you love professionally again.
Honestly, when The Zombies finished, I was devastated. I wasn’t sure I would get back in the music industry. The three of us non-writers – me, Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy – we had to get jobs. We didn’t have a choice. We had very poor management, [we] didn‘t have any money. I’ll be as discreet as I can and leave it at that.
To working in insurance, I phoned an employment agency, and that was the first job I was offered. It was a busy office. I didn’t have time to dwell on the sadness of the band ending. A proper job – the phone was ringing constantly. I had to get on with it – get on with life. I threw myself into work and a different lifestyle. It could have been different if I’d sat around doing nothing.
It’s easy to look back with hindsight and say, “you were always going to be a singer,” but when you’re there in the moment, it’s not so obvious. No one knows what’s going to happen. I certainly, for a while, thought [singing] was over for me.
The times I’ve seen The Zombies, you played like guys half your age.
We’re continually writing new material, making new albums, that’s very important. That’s what really gives us our energy onstage. I was saying earlier we hadn’t a hit record, but I’d forgotten – our last album [Still Got That Hunger] did get into the Top 100 in the States! Incidentally, when I come to Cardiff, I’m bringing my solo band. We’ll probably only play a couple of Zombies tunes because I try and keep it separate. I have the same drummer, Steve Rodford, he’s also in The Zombies. Otherwise, it’s a different lineup, and it’s different music, but again, you get that same energy onstage.
You’re such a distinctive vocalist. Who are some of your favourite singers?
I do like singer-songwriters, so often, it’s the whole package with me. People who write beautiful songs and can perform them as well. Off the top of my head, at the top of the tree, I’m not going to say straight away obscure people. People who’ve been incredibly successful like McCartney and Elton John, they’re wonderful performers. They’re such great writers, and they’ve done it over a long period of time. They’re phenomenal. I love a lot of what Sting does – one of my favourite alltime songs is Fragile. I love Joni Mitchell. There’s an English singer-songwriter, Judy Tzuke, who I’m very fond of. Stevie Wonder is probably my favourite vocalist.
There’s a singer-songwriter, he sadly passed away about 10 years ago [actually 1993], Duncan Browne. I love his songs – he had a hit with a song called Journey. I shared a flat with him in the early 70s. A guy in Wales, Christian Phillips, has a band called The Sonic Executives, and basically it’s a studio band. They’ve done one album, but he’s recording a second. They’re absolutely wonderful.
Your solo music, and The Zombies’, is gorgeous and captivating. Do you think that’s why it’s timeless, like She’s Not There?
It is. It’s a timeless classic. It sounds as fresh and as relevant now as it did when it was first recorded. There’s a lot more going on, musically, than people realise. I’m always interested if I play that with another band and they rarely… they never get it right. It’s subtle and sophisticated and when you think Rod Argent was 18 when he wrote that – it’s a little masterpiece.
When Odessey And Oracle [the second Zombies album, and their best known] was released, commercially it was not a success. There’s a mystery about it. Today it sells more than it ever did when it first came out. Rolling Stone had it at No. 80 in their top 500 albums of all time, yet it was released to complete indifference by the media. People will – I’m not saying us – but media people will talk about Sgt Pepper, Pet Sounds and Odessey And Oracle as the albums of the 60s. Over a period of time, it’s come to be recognised as an important piece of work.
We’ve never followed trends. We’ve never tried to be overtly commercial. If a song means something to me – whether I’ve written it or not – then we would hope that song could mean something to other people, and that’s how we choose what we’re going to record.
Colin Blunstone, Earl Haig Memorial Club, Whitchurch, Cardiff, Sun 7 Apr. Tickets: £16 via Eventbrite. Info 029 2062 6015
THE ZOMBIES ****
In The Beginning (Demon)
This new collection has all The Zombies’ hallmarks: sumptuous songwriting from singers/musicians Rod Argent and Chris White, many in haunting minor-key with killer piano/organ jazz jams, and breathtakingly lovely, airy sounds from lead vocalist Colin Blunstone. Known for Argent’s mastery of classical and jazz-influenced keyboards, bassist White, guitarist Paul Atkinson and drummer Hugh Grundy are as superb technicians as their peers The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and others, if not better. And the harmonies! They’ve been underappreciated for far too long.
This five-LP box set starts with Begin Here, the 1965 UK debut album presented in mono. The diamond, is of course, their first hit single, 1964’s She’s Not There – two minutes and 20 seconds of perfection – like nothing else out there then and still timeless. I Remember When I Loved Her: slow and eerily beautiful with a Latin vibe. Gershwin’s Summertime: delicious and languid as honey. White’s three compositions also standouts. The only weak links of this set are the R&B covers: nothing bad, but The Animals had the slight edge and the material doesn’t show Blunstone’s vocals to their best advantage. Cool cover photo by the great Dezo Hoffmann. This and Odessey And Oracle were the only two ‘proper’ albums released during the original lineup.
The next two (also in mono) are compilations of various A-sides, B-sides and EP tracks, including second Zombies hit Tell Her No. The B-sides on Early Days could easily have been switched around: astonishing that tunes like the hard-driving I Love You and She Does Everything For Me, with its electric sitar, weren’t top choices. Surprising, too, the urgently smouldering I Want You Back Again and others weren’t bigger contenders.
The excellence continues on Continue Here which includes She’s Coming Home (its intro pure Phil Spector), three from the Bunny Lake Is Missing soundtrack – one of which is the fab Blunstone-penned Just Out Of Reach, where he lets rip over a raw, garage-style beat.
R.I.P. (stereo) was supposed to be a posthumous release of overdubbed outtakes, axed when new band Argent formed after The Zombies broke up. More maturation on lovely ballads featuring harpsichord (and flute) on songs like the evocative and moody Smokey Day. Side 2 is more glorious mid-60s pop-rock.
Odessey And Oracle (stereo), their 1968 swansong, remains their pièce de résistance. On many industry ‘Greatest Albums’ lists. Melancholic and uplifting. Magnificent baroque and psychedelic pop and prog that still stands up today.
These albums are 180gm, on different coloured vinyl and sound very clean. Many press cuttings/photos from Phil Smee’s extensive collection are reproduced on the inner sleeves, and everything is contained in a rigid slipcase. I only wish there were more detailed liner notes and a booklet with more info and images.
words RHONDA LEE REALI