Colin Blunstone and The Zombies
Odessey and Oracle is 56 years old today. It was released on 19 April 1968 so what better time to revisit an old interivew.
Colin Blunstone: “The Zombies were a school band really.”
From the Archives
An interview with Colin Blunstone taking in: The Zombies; recording Odessey and Oracle in Abbey Road; 40th Anniversary celebrations of the album; recording his first solo singles in 1969 under the name Neil MacArthur; his first three solo albums (One Year, Ennismore and Journey); working on 1972’s ‘I Don't Believe in Miracles’ with arranger Christopher Gunning; good song-writing; taking care of his voice; the rights to The Zombies’ recordings and much more.
Odessey and Oracle. Photograph by Paul McDermott.
If I was to pick my favourite 60s album it wouldn’t be from the “B” cube of my record collection and a title from the holy trinity of B-bands: The Beatles; The Byrds and The Beach Boys.
No, my go-to 60s fix is found in the last cube nestled between records by Sarolta Zalatnay (Finders Keepers 2007 compilation of funky psych-rock from the Hungarian singer) and Zomes (Asa Osborne and Hanna Olivegren’s 2013 experimental triumph Time Was).
If I had to decide on my “Top 10 favourite albums”, Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies would without doubt be high on that list. It’s a masterpiece.
The Zombies first time in Ireland - 14 February, 2008.
The Zombies played Whelan’s in Dublin on Valentine’s night 2008. The Foggy Notions promoted gig was billed as “Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies” and it was the first time the band had ever played in Ireland. On the night we were treated to all the Zombies’ classics (including ‘Time of the Season’, ‘She’s Not There’, ‘I Love You’ and ‘Tell Her No’) and a whole lot more.
Argent and Blunstone were joined on stage by The Zombies’ Touring Band - Jim Rodford (ex-Argent - Rod’s post-Zombies 70s band) on bass, his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey on guitar.
Apart from ‘Time of the Season’ they also played about half a dozen more songs from 1968’s Odessey and Orcale. They also played a gloriously over-the-top rendition of Rod Argent and Chris White’s Argent classic ‘Hold Your Head Up’.
Colin Blunstone sang a few of his solo hits including, ‘Say You Don’t Mind’ and ‘I Don’t Believe in Miracles’. Blunstone also sang an amazing version of The Alan Parsons Project track ‘Old and Wise’ - he sang lead vocals on the single back in 1982. I was hoping for a track or two from the Keats self-titled album (the short-lived band from the mid-80s featuring Blunstone and various members of The Alan Parsons Project) - but you know, you can’t have everything!
It was an incredible gig and really acted as a warm up for what came next - a few weeks later The Zombies sold out three nights at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Odessey and Oracle. For these gigs The Zombies’ Touring Band, augmented by original Zombies Chris White and Hugh Grundy along with The Wondermints’ Darian Sahanaja, played Odessey and Oracle in full.
Argent - All Together Now (1972), The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky (1982) and Keats - Keats (1984). Photograph by Paul McDermott
The Zombies returned to Dublin for another Whelan’s gig in January 2009 and this second gig was just as memorable as the first. They may have been playing to a few hundred punters in Whelan’s but in Rod Argent’s head they were still playing to thousands in Shepherd’s Bush Empire - his commitment was 100%. In time for this second Dublin visit the band had also released a CD of the March 2008 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Odessey and Oracle concerts and had copies of the album at the merch stall. Argent and Blunstone happily chatted after the gig and signed autographs for fans.
A week or two prior to the gig I got to interview Blunstone for Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM (embedded above). Blunstone was a brilliant interviewee and happily put up with my inane fanboy ramblings. We chatted about the making of Odessey and Orcale and The Zombies recording in Abbey Road:
“The Beatles had just recorded Sgt. Pepper in Abbey Road and they’d pushed back the boundaries of recording techniques to some degree, while they were recording that album. We benefited from all those new approaches that they’d made, and of course we were using the same engineers that they used, in particular Geoff Emerick, who did most of the album with them, and he did two tracks on our album and Peter Vince, who had worked extensively with The Beatles, recorded the rest of it. They were wonderful engineers and at the time, they were leading the world and so was Abbey Road. We were very fortunate.”
One Year (1971), Ennismore (1972) and Journey (1974). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
Apart from chatting about The Zombies, Blunstone was also really happy to chat about the trio of remarkable albums he released in the early 70s: One Year (1971), Ennismore (1972) and Journey (1974). This was a huge personal thrill for me because I’ve long been a fan of those albums:
Paul McDer: After One Year came Ennismore and Journey. A lot of people still talk about that those records and they go for rather large sums of money at record fairs, as I’ve discovered.
Colin Blunstone: [Laughing] That’s good to hear because I’ve got a copy of both of those. We’re rich!
When asked to pick a track from Odessey and Oracle to play on the programme he chose ‘Care of Cell 44’:
“This will just show you how well I can pick singles because I always thought ‘Care of Cell 44’ was a smash hit single, and it’s never been a hit anywhere, but it’s still one of my favorite tracks from the album. I think it’s a fantastic song. The whole idea of a relationship between a guy writing to his girlfriend who is in prison, but at the same time, it’s quite a jaunty song. It’s such an unusual lyric, and musically I think it really works as well. It’s quite a sophisticated piece really, especially for those days.”
The Zombies are still touring and have released two albums in recent years: Still Got That Hunger (2015) and Different Game (2023). Jim Rodford sadly passed away in 2018. Below are photographs a few further items from my collection.
Odessey and Oracle (2001, Repertoire Records) and Into the Afterlife (2007, Big Beat Records). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
Odessey and Oracle (Revisited: The 40th Anniversary Concert - Live At The Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 2008) (2009, Red House Studios) (autographed by Colin and Rod in Whelan’s) and Still Got That Hunger (2015, Cherry Red) (artwork by Terry Quirk, who did the Odessey and Oracle artwork). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
Time of the Season by Greg Russo (1999, Crossfire Publications) and Zombie Heaven (4xCD Box Set) (1997, Big Beat Records). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
I Don’t Believe in miracles - The Very Best of Colin Blunstone (1995, Sony Music) - a compilation of Blunstone’s first three solo albums: One Year (1971), Ennismore (1972) and Journey (1974) - and Planes/Never Even Thought (2015, Cherry Red) - twofer of Blunstone’s fourth and fifth albums: Planes (1976) and Never Even Thought (1979). Photograph by Paul McDermott.