Photograph by Andrew Eccles
One of the more thrilling, triumphant local rock concerts of the past several years came at the Taft Theatre in 2019, when a British Invasion band that had some memorable hits in the long-ago 1960s, the The Zombies, opened for headliner Brian Wilson. It was a risky venture for the English band whose earlier successes included “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No,” and “Time of the Season,” all with lead vocals sung by Colin Blunstone, whose voice had an arresting, pleasing sense of fragile airiness. The band’s keyboardist, Rod Argent, played in a coolly evocative, slow-burning style influenced by jazz.
In 2019 and for some years before, the band had been on an extensive tour, trying for a “comeback” hinged on reviving interest in a forgotten 1968 album of theirs called Odessey and Oracle (the unconventional spelling of “Odyssey” was an error). The original release—part of the explosion of adventurous, arty and thoughtfully written and produced British albums inspired by The Beatles—had never been all that big, and the Zombies disbanded after it failed, even though the album did contain the Top 5 hit “Time of the Season.”
But the reunion idea was paying off for the band, featuring Argent and Blunstone with drummer Hugh Grundy and bassist Chris White. And the Cincinnati audience responded enthusiastically to their performance, providing robust cheers and an extended standing ovation that surprised and pleased everyone present.
It was that way everywhere they played. “I just think there was an element of mystery about that 1968 album,” Blunstone says in a phone interview from England, ahead of a September 18 appearance at Ludlow Garage at which he’ll once again revive his Zombies songs. “It almost had a life of its own. It was determined to be recognized.”
The Zombies toured extensively for several years after the 2019 Taft appearance. There were at least two other Cincinnati appearances since 2019, both at Ludlow Garage, but then Argent had a stroke in 2024 and retired from touring.
So now Blunstone is stepping forward to perform Zombies music on a tour under his own name featuring three British acts. The others are The Fixx, a 1980s New Wave band whose hits included “One Thing Leads to Another” and “Red Skies,” and Peter Asher, who was in the British Invasion duo Peter and Gordon and later went on to produce such stars as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. (Asher is the subject of the recent documentary film Everywhere Man.)
In my interview, Blunstone, 81, first offers some encouraging news about Argent. “I had lunch with him two days ago, and he’s doing really well,” he says. “He has his own studio and he’s been in there writing and recording, and I’ve been in there singing with him, as have all the members of the Zombies. He’s still involved with music; he’s just decided not to tour anymore, and he probably made the right decision. But he’s still writing and recording.”
Blunstone wants people to know that his voice, after all these years, still has its dreamy, siren-like quality. He works hard to keep it that way, doing voice exercises while on the road. “I’ve been really lucky because I’ve kept my range,” he says. “I think most singers’ voices do change as they get older, and I suspect it probably will happen to me later. But at the moment I’m singing all the Zombies tunes in their original keys, and that’s not a problem.”
During his set, Blunstone plans to highlight the Zombies’ memerable 1960s hit singles, some Odessey and Oracle highlights, and several songs he sang with other British artists, including perhaps the Allan Parsons Project’s “Old and Wise” or “The Eagle Will Rise Again.”
But one thing Blunstone says he won’t do now, but would really like to someday, is perform some of the solo work in the U.S. that’s brought him numerous hits overseas. Starting in 1971, songs like “I Don’t Believe in Miracles,” “Caroline Goodbye,” “Say You Don’t Mind,” and “Andorra” have built an impressive body of work. His voice has both a ghostly quality and a certain choir-boy purity, and he often conjures feelings of melancholy and romanticism.
“I haven’t had hits in America, so people aren’t familiar with my solo records in a way they would be in other countries,” he says. “It is frustrating, but I’ve got those Zombie records, so we will emphasize them.”
He is preparing, after this current tour is over, to offer his solo songs to American audiences in the future. In fact, he’s finishing up an album of new material he wants released in the U.S., with a subsequent tour under consideration.
Blunstone also believes that an innovative and highly regarded album he released way back in 1971, One Year, is ready for the same kind of rediscovery here that Odessey and Oracle has experienced. It was co-produced by Argent and White and features innovative string arrangements on six of its songs. In 2024, Blunstone and his band revived it—with strings—at various British venues.
It was well received, he says, and the time might be ripe for a wider appreciation. “Yes, I think it’s possible,” he says. “A lot of people I talk to are aware of my first album. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I can see a similarity with what happened with Odessey and Oracle. Obviously, that’s much better known than One Year, but people discovered Odessey 40 years after it was recorded, so it could happen again.”
So might there finally be an appreciation in America of Blunstone’s solo work? “Well, it would be lovely, wouldn’t it,” he says. “It would be wonderful. At my age, I haven’t probably got that much longer, so it’d be great if it got some kind of recognition. I would be absolutely thrilled.”
