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Colin Blunstone and director Robert Schartman discuss the new film, Hung Up On A Dream: The Zombies Documentary. Then Lisa Cooper and Brremond MacDougall launch their new publishing company Quite Literally Books. Plus Lissa Warren!
In their first ever feature documentary nearly sixty 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. Here's the trailer:Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JctjMqtsFsU Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.
In their first ever feature documentary nearly sixty 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. Here's the trailer:Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JctjMqtsFsU Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Becoming a certified baler, the evocative interplay between chords, and saccades. M. Ross Perkins M ROSS PERKINS- “What's the Matter, M Ross?” [RELEASE DATE: 5/2/2025] - https://www.coleminerecords.com/products/m-ross-perkins-whats "In describing M Ross Perkins, it's not wrong to namecheck Rhodes and Nilsson, but you have to expand that list of influences to include pop-rock visionaries like Brian Wilson, Colin Blunstone, and even John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Let's also throw in the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Kinks as well. Perkins clearly learned plenty of helpful tips from these and other legends that made the late 1960s and early 1970s such a magical musical time, but he has charted his own singular path from the past and back again. Perkins' hooks, arrangements, and overall sense of songcraft are as sophisticated as the work of Wilson and Nilsson, which is remarkable when you consider Perkins not only produced all of the musical arrangements for his sophomore album E Pluribus M Ross, but also played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocal parts on the album. Even more impressive, Perkins is able to evoke all of these iconic figures in his songs without resorting to psych-rock cliches or outright thievery. It's an extraordinary balancing act, and what emerges is a shimmering tapestry of skillfully-woven musical threads, each harkening back to the past while simultaneously pointing toward the future." Excerpt from https://www.coleminerecords.com/collections/m-ross M. Ross Perkins: Bandcamp: https://mrossperkins.bandcamp.com Instagram: @mrossperkins Website: http://www.mrossperkins.com Records: https://www.coleminerecords.com/collections Merch: https://mrossperkins.bandcamp.com/merch The Vineyard: Instagram: @thevineyardpodcast Website: https://www.thevineyardpodcast.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSn17dSz8kST_j_EH00O4MQ/videos
This episode's legend is Colin Blunstone! In a lovely afternoon conversation with Bonnie, Colin shares The Zombies' stories, they discuss his upcoming tour through Germany & The Netherlands as well as live music and performances in general. Colin also gives us an insight into his songwriting process and what he's inspired by.watch a clip of this interview hereInstagram: @colinblunstone & @thezombiesofficialYoutube: @colinblunstoneofficial & @thezombiesAll other links: https://beacons.ai/colinblunstonecover photograph by Megan Finnertytour dates: Berlin DE (April 15th), Venlo NL (Apr 17), Uden NL (Apr 18), Zoetermeer NL (Apr 19), Weert NL (Apr 21), Hengelo NL (Apr 23), Arnhem NL (Apr 24) & Haarlem NL (Apr 25).tickets can be find on colinblunstone.net/liveEnjoyed listening to this episode? You know what you do ... (make sure to subscribe and share this episode with all of your friends and leave a review, so more people can tune in to my conversations with my legends, xoxo)this podcast episode is hosted, edited and produced by bonnie orbison -> Bonnie's writing on cowboys, haunted pasts and silly joys in life is available on thecrylounge.com (her books + zine papers)
Ian launches the final part of the Voices of Russ Ballard Podcast with Colin Blunstone and this time Colin is in conversation with Russ Ballard himself. They talk about how “I Don't Believe in Miracles” was written, the darker side of the music press and even Colin's Olympic potential! “Colin, you've got a unique voice, you're immediately identifiable and I love it when I hear your voice, love it”Russ Ballard to Colin BlunstoneTwo versions are available, one also on Youtube here-(that features a video of Colin & Russ playing “Miracles” live)https://youtu.be/aRG9fUlHsmI
Face the Music: An Electric Light Orchestra Song-By-Song Podcast
Alan Parsons cut his teeth as an assistant on the Beatles' Abby Road, and by 1973 he was the main engineer for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. Producing was the next step and, in 1975, the Scottish band Pilot had a top five it with the song "Magic". Parsons joined with songwriter and keyboardist Eric Woolfson and arranger Andrew Powell and, with Pilot and a number of session musicians vocalist, produced Tales of Mystery and Imagination in 1976. What was originally a one-off collaboration began a full studio band, stripped down for their first hit album I Robot and even further for the third album, Pyramid. Though pretty much an overlooked album in Parsons's catalogue, it features excellent songwriting by Eric Woolfson and the first vocal performances of bassist David Paton and former Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone on one of the Project's records.
In Part Two of Ian's chat with Colin Blunstone, the spotlight turns to his brilliant solo career spanning nearly 60 years. The episode also includes some great music and expect some more “deeper cuts” from Colins solo catalogue. We also focus on his extremely underrated songwriting skills and his famous appearances on The Alan Parsons Project albums. “In many ways, Ennismore was the beginning of me as a writer” Colin Blunstone “Old and Wise is one of my favourite songs that I've ever recorded” Colin Blunstone
MAGI & MIRAKEL To ord, forbundet med endnu et m-ord: Mysterium. For er de virkelige eller eksisterer de kun i fantasier og fortællinger? Kun i forestillingen om en ukendt magt? Det kommer selvfølgelig an på hvor usandsynligt og usædvanligt noget behøver at være, for ordene bruges ofte når mennesker vil beskrive stærke indtryk og oplevelser og man kunne vel argumentere for, at selve livet og mennesket er et mirakel skabt ved.....magi? Desværre eksisterer også meget konkret i verden og lige foran vores øjne, der er alt andet end magisk/mirakuløst (selvom vi ofte lukker dem for det) og egentlig er det nok det ultimative bevis på at ingen mennesker har en reel evne for "magi", for så ville der vel ske mirakler konstant? I hvert fald er endnu et m-ord et magisk mirakel: Musik! Hvilket jeg tror ret mange verden rundt er enige i, selvom heller ikke engang den emotionelle og universelle musik kan skabe det helt store freds-mirakel. Sejrstimen præsenterer sange, der har enten 'Magic' eller 'Miracle' i titlen og de leveres idag af disse navne: Alphaville, Perry Blake, Colin Blunstone, Bowie, Coldplay, Jacob Collier, Electric Light Orchestra, Selena Gomez, Hurts, Labrinth, The Last Shadow Puppets, Little Mix, LP, Nothing But Thieves, SIA, Simple Minds, The Temper Trap og Amy Winehouse plus danske Nelson Can, School of X og Who Made Who.
The Voices of Russ Ballard Podcast is proud to kick off 2025 with an extra special guest, The Zombie's lead vocalist Colin Blunstone. In Part One, Ian chats to Colin about his career in the band and their continued success to this day. It's a fascinating insight into the band's image, Zombies impersonators, Elvis, recording studio secrets and how both John Lennon and George Harrison helped shape the future for them in different ways. Oh and some great music from Colin too…. "When Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles says your voice is just plain sexy, it's difficult to know how to respond!” Colin Blunstone on Susanna Hoff's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech for The Zombies "I was half asleep when we recorded "Tell Her No” and in the first chorus, I definitely mumbled" Colin Blunstone "Odessey and Oracle would have been a totally different album if John Lennon hadn't left his mellotron behind in the studio at Abbey Road” Colin Blunstone
Welcome to the LEGENDS: Podcast by All Day Vinyl, hosted by Scott Dudelson. In this episode, Scott sits down with the legendary Colin Blunstone, co-founder and lead singer of The Zombies, to discuss his incredible life and career. On a previous podcast episode of LEGENDS: Podcast by All Day Vinyl with my guest, Zombies co-founder Rod Argent, we discussed the early days of The Zombies up through the recording of their masterpiece "Odessey and Oracle." In this chat with Colin Blunstone we start off discussing the recording of "Odessey and Oracle" and work our way through the band's break up after the completion of that album and Colin's short journey outside the music industry. Another focus of this chat is Colin's excellent solo output in the early 1970's and we dive deep into the albums "One Year" and "Ennismore" as well as Colin's work with Alan Parsons Project. Colin also opens up about Rod Argent's 2024 health scare and the impact on the band's future, the intriguing saga of the fake Zombies in the late 60's that featured members of ZZ Top, and his latest EP, "Less Is More." Don't miss this insightful conversation with a true music legend. Subscribe, rate, and follow us on Instagram and YouTube at All Day Vinyl for more episodes and updates!
Colin Blunstone is best known as the lead vocalist of the iconic British rock band The Zombies. Formed in the early 1960s, The Zombies became pioneers of the British Invasion, with Blunstone's distinctively ethereal and breathy vocals shaping the band's unique sound. The group achieved international fame with hits like "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season," and their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle is now regarded as a masterpiece of psychedelic pop. However, after the initial commercial success, The Zombies disbanded in 1968, and Blunstone embarked on a solo career.To watch this podcast and many more interviews please go towww.popthehistorymakers.comBlunstone's solo work, beginning with his 1971 album One Year, showcases his velvety voice in a more introspective, orchestral-pop context. His early solo singles, including "Say You Don't Mind" and "I Don't Believe in Miracles," were well-received, blending soft rock with lush arrangements. Over the decades, Blunstone has maintained a steady presence in the music world, collaborating with artists like Alan Parsons and contributing to the reformation of The Zombies in the 2000s, where he continues to perform and record with the band.photo (c) Alex Lake Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Baxie talks with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Colin Blunstone from The Zombies! Colin talks about the amazing history of the band--including how they broke up just before releasing their biggest hit, "Time of the Season". Colin also talks about the band reformation, their classic 1968 album "Odessey and Oracle, and about his own successful solo work. He also talks very candidly about his long partnership with Rod Argent--who has officially retired from live performances due to his health. Colin, on the other hand, continues to perform (both with The Zombies and as a solo performer). In fact in November he'll be performing his wonderful 1971 debut solo album "One Year" in its entirety. He'll also be performing the Zombies first album 1965's "Begin Here" in its entirety! This is an amazing interview with one of music's most recognizable voices! Listen on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Rock102.com, and on the Rock102 app. Brought to you by Metro Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Chicopee
Join Jay and Deon at the dining room table as they discuss the musical projects they have been obsessed with as of late. Super-special-secret friend Gary Johnson revisits Michigan's rich music history and exposes touring sonic imposters of yesteryear. A Hell's Half Mile Music Festival preview is also included in this joyful and juicy episode. Dig in! Sonic contributors to the twenty-third BONUS episode of Lightnin' Licks radio podcast include: Koreatown Oddity, Brothers Johnson, Jurassic 5, DJ NuMark, Dave Matthews Band, Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Quincy Jones, Left Banque, The Ballroom, October Country, The Fifth Dimension, Shellac, The Pixies, The Breeders, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, The Winkies, Godfather Don, Das EFX, Fu-Shnickens, Public Enemy, Slaunchwise, Bread, Bread Machine, Neko Case, The New Pornographers, Fancey, Randy VanWarmer, The Organ, The Smiths, Jack Ashford, Johnny Griffith, Billy Sha-Rae's Band, Eddie Parker, Sandra Richardson, Lee Rogers, The Magnificents, Cody Chestnutt, Third Company Syndicate, Sault, Big Maybelle, ? and the Mysterians, Earl Van Dyke and the Soul Brothers, Elvets Rednow, Bob James, Bruce Springsteen, Waxahatchee, Billy Joel, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, Steely Dan, The Velvet Underground, REM, Mitch Ryder, Nico, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Cheap Trick, The Zombies, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Daniel Ralston's “The True Story of the Fake Zombies” podcast, Smokey Robinson, Rob Davis, Cathy Dennis, the Texas fake Zombies, ZZ Top, the Michigan fake Zombies, The Excels, Quintet Plus, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, The Monkees, The Archies, Colin Blunstone, Big Star, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Curtis Gadson, Los Bitchos, Liquid Mike, Sungaze, J.W. Francis, Bluhm, and The Monophonics. Bonus # 23 mixtape: [SIDE ONE] (1) Los Bitchos – Don't Change (2) Godfather Don – On & On (3) The Zombies – Hung up on a Dream (4) The Stylists – I Need Your Love (To Satisfy my Soul) (5) Hurray for the Riff Raff – Hawkmoon (6) The Organ – Basement Band Song [SIDE TWO] (1) Liquid Mike – Man Lives (2) The Velvet Underground – I'm Waiting for the Man (3) Waxahatchee – Crowbar (4) October Country – My Girlfriend is a Witch (5) The Breeders – Fortunately Gone (6) Brian Eno & the Winkies – Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch (super special not-so-secret hidden track) Bread Machine – Guitar Man Huge thanks to Gary for one of the most interesting conversations to ever take place across the dining room table. Visit the Michigan Rock & Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Read more about Bay City's doomed teen club of the mid 60s Band Canyon. Subscribe to The True Story of the Fake Zombies podcast. Check out Gary's podcast. Make sure to attend Hell's Half Mile Film and Music Festival in Downtown Bay City, September 26th through 29th. Check out the HHM 2024 Music Playlist, too! Shop at Electric Kitsch. Drink Blue Chair Bay. Be kind. Rewind. EXPLICIT LANGUAGE (Sorry, Gary)
The penultimate episode finds us face to face with the band that inspired the imposter bands, The Zombies. Lead singer Colin Blunstone and chief songwriter, Rod Argent discuss their 63 year partnership, their early impressions of the American rock scene and of course, The Fake Zombies. Got a Fake Zombies story to share? Get in touch with The True Story of The Fake Zombies at Fakezombiespod@gmail.com or @thefakezombies on TikTok. Like and subscribe on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Wanted to let you know that we're taking the last three weeks of August off, and we'll be back the Thursday after Labor Day, Sept. 5, all refreshed and ready with a new Caropop conversation. In the meantime, we encourage you to explore our back catalog. There are 145 episodes, after all.Have you listened to Ep. 102 with jazz-R&B pianist/singer/composer Patrice Rushen? How about Ep. 90 with Suzzy Roche of the Roches? Or Ep. 88 with Eddie “King” Roeser of Urge Overkill? Or Eps. 24 and 25 with, respectively, Colin Blunstone of the Zombies and Sam Phillips? Or Ep. 9 with legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman? How about one of the XTC episodes with Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory or Terry Chambers? You can find these and discover others at https://www.caropop.com/caropopcast or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Producer Chris Cwiak and I wish you all a great end of summer, and we'll talk with you again soon. Thanks!
National Swim a lap day. Entertainment from 1992. Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive, First UFO's reported, St. Johns dance epidemic hit Europe. Todays birthdays - Al Molinaro, Jeff Beck, Colin Blunstone, Mick Fleetwood, Andy McClusky, Curt Smith, Sherry Stringield, Glenn Medeiros, Mindy Kaling. Jackie Gleason died.Intro - Pour some sugar on me - Def Leppard http://defleppard.com/Swimming song - CocomelonI'll be there - Mariah CareyAchy breaky heart - Bill Ray CyrusBirthdays - In da club - 50 Cent http://50cent.com/Odd Couple TV themeCause we ended as lovers - Jeff BeckShe's not there - The ZombiesGo your own way - Fleetwood MacIf you leave - OMDEverybody wants to rule the world - Tears for FearsNothings gonna change my love for you - Glenn MedeirosExit - Its not love - Dokken http://dokken.net/Follow Jeff Stampka on Facebook or cooolmedia.com
The Zombies are rock royalty. Their album, Odessey and Oracle is a classic. And, unlike some of their contemporaries, they're still making quality new music. We talked with lead singed Colin Blunstone about the long saga of the band and what they've been up to now. (Hint: It involves getting their masters back.)For more information, you can follow The Zombies on Facebook, or you can check out their website.
This week I have a remaster of an older episode in which I was Shaking the Family Tree of the Alan Parsons Project! Join me to explore the roots and branches of the band through the music of Pilot, Lenny Zakatek, Colin Blunstone, Dave Paton, Chris Rainbow, Keats, and Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson (together and on their own)!
This week on Cultural Manifesto, hear interviews with Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of the legendary British rock band The Zombies - they'll be performing at the Brown County Music Center on October 19. Along with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, The Zombies were among the first wave of British Invasion bands to hit America during the 1960s. The Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, and their music continues to attract new generations of fans. We'll discuss The Zombies' classic 1968 album "Odessey and Oracle" and their latest recording, "Different Game."
This week on Cultural Manifesto, hear interviews with Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of the legendary British rock band The Zombies - they'll be performing at the Brown County Music Center on October 19. Along with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, The Zombies were among the first wave of British Invasion bands to hit America during the 1960s. The Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, and their music continues to attract new generations of fans. We'll discuss The Zombies' classic 1968 album "Odessey and Oracle" and their latest recording, "Different Game."
My guest this week is singer, songwriter and musician, Colin Blunstone In a career spanning over fifty years, The Zombies rose to fame in the mid 1960s and enjoyed a string of hits, including She's Not There, Tell Her No, She's Coming Home and Time Of The Season. A documentary about the group. 'Hung Up On A Dream' gets its UK premiere on November 04th at London's Barbican, as part of the Doc 'n' Roll Festival. For more more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.docnrollfestival.com/films/hung-up-on-a-dream-the-zombies/ The band have a very special homecoming event at St Albans Museum and Gallery on November 10th. For tickets visit: https://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/zombies-come-home-conversation-and-acoustic-set The Zombies performing at their Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks1agImDmAk&themeRefresh=1
Episode #172 Colin Blunstone is the lead singer of The Zombies and an accomplished solo artist. The band just released their new album 'Different Game' and are out on tour in the US. The Zombies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019, 50 years to the day that 'Time of the Season' hit #1 in the US. Colin checked in with Mistress Carrie from his country home just outside of London to talk about touring, the new album, his home town, surviving the 60's, arriving in the US as part of the British Invasion, recording at Abbey Road Studios, Hung Up On A Dream the new documentary, Halloween, vinyl, protecting his voice, wild foxes and so much more! Episode Notes Check out the custom playlist for Episode #172 here See The Zombies at The Cabot Theater in Beverly on 10/26 Find Colin Blunstone Online: Website Linktree Twitter Instagram Facebook Find The Zombies online: Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube Find Mistress Carrie online: Official Website The Mistress Carrie Backstage Pass on Patreon Twitter Facebook Instagram Threads YouTube Cameo Pantheon Podcast Network Find The Mistress Carrie Podcast online: Instagram Threads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, coming to direct from the guest house in Eastbourne, Guy and Gary present more of the best of Rockonteurs. This week, we dive into the archive for the best guests from the 60s. Bona fide legends, that includeShel Talmy, Colin Blunstone, Nick Mason, Marianne Faithful, Jerry Shirley and Hank Marvin.Rockonteurs is produced by Ben Jones and Ian Callaghan for Gimme Sugar Productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, coming to direct from the guest house in Eastbourne, Guy and Gary present more of the best of Rockonteurs. This week, we dive into the archive for the best guests from the 60s. Bona fide legends, that includeShel Talmy, Colin Blunstone, Nick Mason, Marianne Faithful, Jerry Shirley and Hank Marvin.Rockonteurs is produced by Ben Jones and Ian Callaghan for Gimme Sugar Productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
National swim a lap day. Entertainment from 1969. Women allowed to drive in Saudia Arabia, St. Johns dance hits Europe, Target started, 1st recorded UPF. Todays birthdays - Al Molinaro, Jeff Beck, Colin Blunstone, Mick Fleetwood, Andy McClusky, Curt Smith, Sherry Stringfield, Glenn Medeiros, Mindy Kaling. Jackie Gleason died.Intro- Pour some sugar on me - Def Leppard http://defleppard.com/Swimming song - CocomelonGet back - the BeatlesRunning bear - Sonny JamesGoing to the chapel - The Dixie CupsBirthdays - In da club - 50 Cent http://50cent.com/ Theme from the Odd CoupleCause we've ended as lovers - Jeff BeckShe's not there - The ZombiesGo your own way - Fleetwood MacIf you leave - OMDNothings gonna change my love for you - Glenn MedeirosExit - It's not love - Dokken http://dokken.net/
You may not know this, but the Zombies are the only band still touring after 50 years whose lead singer is not Mick Jagger! The Zombies are more than their biggest hits, “She's Not There” and “Time of the Season.” Denny goes way back and deep with Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent as they launch their newest album, documentary, and tour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on the show—two British Invasion legends: Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies. The band formed in the early ‘60s in St Albans, and remarkably, they are still out on the road and making new music. The band's new album is called Different Game, and it's out on Cooking Vinyl Records on March 31st. The album is being released in advance of a new feature documentary as well, called Hung Up On A Dream, directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman in collaboration with Tom Hanks' Playtone media company, slated for release later in 2023. We've had the pleasure of seeing The Zombies a handful of times—unlike so many of their peers, they're still truly active. How do you sustain that kind of run? That was our focus in this chat, which also touches on their classic single “Tell Her No” and landmark LP Odessey and Oracle, their relationship to super fan Tom Petty, and of course, we had to ask them about the fake Zombies that toured in the wake of the band's late ‘60s breakup. Transmissions is produced in partnership with Talkhouse Podcast Network. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its Patreon supporters. We'll be back next Wednesday with a new episode featuring Sharon Van Etten.
Today on Transmissions, we're joined by Saskatchewan-born songwriter Andy Shauf to discuss getting sober, God, and how these big topics relate to his latest album of introspective folk pop, Norm. Fans of his ‘70s-styled songcraft will still find lots to love here, but as we discuss, the production is deeply rooted in modern experimentation and the anything goes sonic possibilities of digital recording: “I like the way that records transport you. It doesn't mean you have to listen to a record and be transported to the past; you can use new technologies to transport you to somewhere else…if not the future, a present that exists somewhere else.” Transmissions is produced in partnership with Talkhouse Podcast Network. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its Patreon supporters. We'll be back next Wednesday with a new episode featuring Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies.
The Zombies - from St Albans, Hertfordshire – were one of the most interesting British bands of the 1960s. Their second record, Odessey and Oracle, remains as beguiling now as it did when it was released in 1968, as the group imploded. The spelling mistake in the title is symbolic of the group's legacy; spoiled brilliance. And yet all these years on – over half a century – the group is revered, and celebrated, in the way they perhaps always should have been. How did that happen then? Maybe there is hope for my long defunct teenage indie rock band after all. An active concern since the band regrouped some twenty odd years ago, on March 31st, The Zombies – featuring founding keyboardist Rod Argent and singer Colin Blunstone - release a new record, Different Game, on Cooking Vinyl. There's a UK tour to follow as well. I was lucky enough to get some time with Colin to talk about all of the above – and a whole lot more too... Twitter - @jamesjammcmahon Substack - https://spoook.substack.com YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vf_1E1Sza2GUyFNn2zFMA Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesmcmahonmusicpod/
On the show today I have the great pleasure of chatting with Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. If you're not aware of them by name I am sure you are by tune, as they have written some of the most familiar songs of the mid-'60s, including "Time Of The Season" and "She's Not There," which we get a fascinating story about during this episode! Colin and the band have a new album coming out on March 31 called Different Game that we discuss as well. This was one of those conversations I wish could have gone on and on, as Colin is full of energy and a great storyteller. https://www.thezombiesmusic.com/ https://www.songfacts.com/ https://www.facebook.com/songfacts https://twitter.com/Songfacts http://pantheonpodcasts.com/ https://twitter.com/pantheonpods Hosted and Edited by Corey O'Flanagan https://twitter.com/ofe1818 https://www.instagram.com/coreyofe/ corey@songfacts.com Songfacts Podcast Spotify Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3IThMW5yB8XnFh5cS2gTxR?si=KAhiqWRcSIy5uxb2sZPFTA This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
På nollnolltalet var The Concretes ett av världens mest omsusade indieband. De hyllades på båda sidor av Atlanten och gjorde långa turnéer. Men efter en spelning i Boston 2006 fördes sångerskan Victoria Bergsman till sjukhus med hjärtstillestånd. Det fick henne att lämna gruppen och starta soloprojektet Taken By Trees. Hemma hos Strage pratar Victoria om sin flygrädsla och sitt fågelintresse, om den nya EP:n med Colin Blunstone-covers, om åren i Los Angeles, om att spela huvudrollen i en New Order-video, om att vara indiekid med falskleg i Stockholm på nittiotalet och om sin gothperiod då hon döpte sin suicidala hamster till Robert Smith. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
An interview with Colin Blunstone, lead singer of The Zombies, about their 2023 studio album "Different Game." He talks about singing and his voice, the video for "Love You While I Can" and the lyric video for "Dropped Reeling & Stupid," the story behind the album cover, the musical influences and backstories on some of the album tracks, Søren Koch's bass playing, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join Kyle Long as he listens back to some of his favorite interviews of 2022. Enjoy words and music from a wide variety of local and national artists, including Son Lux, Falu, Karate, Guns and Tanning, Medicine Singers, and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies.
Join Kyle Long as he listens back to some of his favorite interviews of 2022. Enjoy words and music from a wide variety of local and national artists, including Son Lux, Falu, Karate, Guns and Tanning, Medicine Singers, and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies.
This week, the panel begins by discussing the new Martin McDonagh dramedy, The Banshees of Inisherin. Then, they look at composer Michael Giacchino's foray into directing with Werewolf by Night on Disney+. Finally, they reflect on the generational divide over emoji use. In Slate Plus, the panel talks about Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, being the new face on a US coin. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Dana: Happened upon this endorsement because kept me up late watching. If you are a cult horror fan you are probably already familiar with Carnival of Souls. If you aren't familiar, it has this feeling of creepy rightness that makes it worth watching. It's all vibes. Julia: A new work by a little singer-songwriter you may have missed…Taylor Swift's new release, Midnights is out now. It's sort of halfway between pop-Taylor and folk-Taylor. Check out the song Anti-Hero. Steve: Everybody knows The Zombies, but you may have missed lead singer Colin Blunstone's masterpiece of a solo record One Year. Blunstone reissued the album last year. His vocals are so precise and unexpectedly baroque. The album saved my life this Halloween from the poison of poptimism. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama. Outro music is "Haunted Playhouse" by Stationary Sign. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You'll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Slate.com/cultureplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, the panel begins by discussing the new Martin McDonagh dramedy, The Banshees of Inisherin. Then, they look at composer Michael Giacchino's foray into directing with Werewolf by Night on Disney+. Finally, they reflect on the generational divide over emoji use. In Slate Plus, the panel talks about Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, being the new face on a US coin. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Dana: Happened upon this endorsement because kept me up late watching. If you are a cult horror fan you are probably already familiar with Carnival of Souls. If you aren't familiar, it has this feeling of creepy rightness that makes it worth watching. It's all vibes. Julia: A new work by a little singer-songwriter you may have missed…Taylor Swift's new release, Midnights is out now. It's sort of halfway between pop-Taylor and folk-Taylor. Check out the song Anti-Hero. Steve: Everybody knows The Zombies, but you may have missed lead singer Colin Blunstone's masterpiece of a solo record One Year. Blunstone reissued the album last year. His vocals are so precise and unexpectedly baroque. The album saved my life this Halloween from the poison of poptimism. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama. Outro music is "Haunted Playhouse" by Stationary Sign. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You'll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Slate.com/cultureplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of Ear and Loathing, your hosts Aaron, Damon and George (The Gitmo Bros) talk about Jackyl sacks, Mac Attacks, cork lamps, and John Lloyd's Tangible Variety: Incident in Plano, Texas. In the Torture Chamber segment, Aaron and George compete for meaningless points by making Damon listen to his most hated songs. Will Damon survive the Torture Chamber long enough to play one of his favorite songs? Tune in and find out! Songs featured in this episode: "Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me" (Mac Davis), "She Loves My Cock" (Jackyl), "How Wrong Can One Man Be" (Colin Blunstone)
Episode one hundred and fifty-four of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs is the last of our four-part mini-series on LA sunshine pop and folk-rock in summer 1967. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a fifteen-minute bonus episode available, on "Baby, Now That I've Found You" by the Foundations. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources There is no Mixcloud this week, because there were too many Turtles songs in the episode. There's relatively little information available about the Turtles compared to other bands of their era, and so apart from the sources on the general LA scene referenced in all these podcasts, the information here comes from a small number of sources. This DVD is a decent short documentary on the band's career. Howard Kaylan's autobiography, Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, Etc., is a fun read, if inevitably biased towards his own viewpoint. Jim Pons' Hard Core Love: Sex, Football, and Rock and Roll in the Kingdom of God is much less fun, being as it is largely organised around how his life led up to his latter-day religious beliefs, but is the only other book I'm aware of with a substantial amount of coverage of the Turtles. There are many compilations of the Turtles' material available, of which All The Singles is by far and away the best. The box set of all their albums with bonus tracks is now out of print on CD, but can still be bought as MP3s. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript We've spent a lot of time recently in the LA of summer 1967, at the point where the sunshine pop sound that was created when the surf harmonies of the Beach Boys collided with folk rock was at its apex, right before fashions changed and tight sunny pop songs with harmonies from LA became yesterday's news, and extended blues-rock improvisations from San Francisco became the latest in thing. This episode is the last part of this four-episode sequence, and is going to be shorter than those others. In many ways this one is a bridge between this sequence and next episode, where we travel back to London, because we're saying goodbye for a while to the LA scene, and when we do return to LA it will be, for the most part, to look at music that's a lot less sunshine and a lot more shadow. So this is a brief fade-out while we sing ba-ba-ba, a three-minute pop-song of an episode, a last bit of sunshine pop before we return to longer, more complicated, stories in two weeks' time, at which point the sun will firmly set. Like many musicians associated with LA, Howard Kaylan was born elsewhere and migrated there as a child, and he seems to have regarded his move from upstate New York to LA as essentially a move to Disneyland itself. That impression can only have been made stronger by the fact that soon after his family moved there he got his first childhood girlfriend -- who happened to be a Mouseketeer on the TV. And TV was how young Howard filtered most of his perceptions -- particularly TV comedy. By the age of fourteen he was the president of the Soupy Sales Fan Club, and he was also obsessed with the works of Ernie Kovacs, Sid Caesar, and the great satirist and parodist Stan Freberg: [Excerpt: Stan Freberg, "St. George and the Dragonet"] Second only to his love of comedy, though, was his love of music, and it was on the trip from New York to LA that he saw a show that would eventually change his life. Along the way, his family had gone to Las Vegas, and while there they had seen Louis Prima and Keeley Smith do their nightclub act. Prima is someone I would have liked to do a full podcast episode on when I was covering the fifties, and who I did do a Patreon bonus episode on. He's now probably best known for doing the voice of King Louis in the Jungle Book: [Excerpt: Louis Prima, "I Wanna Be Like You (the Monkey Song)"] But he was also a jump blues musician who made some very good records in a similar style to Louis Jordan, like "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" [Excerpt: Louis Prima, "Jump, Jive, an' Wail"] But like Jordan, Prima dealt at least as much in comedy as in music -- usually comedy involving stereotypes about his Italian-American ethnic origins. At the time young Howard Kaylan saw him, he was working a double act with his then-wife Keeley Smith. The act would consist of Smith trying to sing a song straight, while Prima would clown around, interject, and act like a fool, as Smith grew more and more exasperated, and would eventually start contemptuously mocking Prima. [Excerpt: Louis Prima and Keeley Smith, "Embraceable You/I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good"] This is of course a fairly standard double-act format, as anyone who has suffered through an episode of The Little and Large Show will be all too painfully aware, but Prima and Smith did it better than most, and to young Howard Kaylan, this was the greatest entertainment imaginable. But while comedy was the closest thing to Kaylan's heart, music was a close second. He was a regular listener to Art Laboe's radio show, and in a brief period as a teenage shoplifter he obtained records like Ray Charles' album Genius + Soul = Jazz: [Excerpt: Ray Charles, "One Mint Julep"] and the single "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis: [Excerpt: Bobby Lewis, "Tossin' and Turnin'"] "Tossin' and Turnin'" made a deep impression on Kaylan, because of the saxophone solo, which was actually a saxophone duet. On the record, baritone sax player Frank Henry played a solo, and it was doubled by the great tenor sax player King Curtis, who was just playing a mouthpiece rather than a full instrument, making a high-pitched squeaking sound: [Excerpt: Bobby Lewis, "Tossin' and Turnin'"] Curtis was of course also responsible for another great saxophone part a couple of years earlier, on a record that Kaylan loved because it combined comedy and rock and roll, "Yakety Yak": [Excerpt: The Coasters, "Yakety Yak"] Those two saxophone parts inspired Kaylan to become a rock and roller. He was already learning the clarinet and playing part time in an amateur Dixieland band, and it was easy enough to switch to saxophone, which has the same fingering. Within a matter of weeks of starting to play sax, he was invited to join a band called the Nightriders, who consisted of Chuck Portz on bass, Al Nichol on guitar, and Glen Wilson on drums. The Nightriders became locally popular, and would perform sets largely made up of Johnny and the Hurricanes and Ventures material. While he was becoming a budding King Curtis, Kaylan was still a schoolkid, and one of the classes he found most enjoyable was choir class. There was another kid in choir who Kaylan got on with, and one day that kid, Mark Volman came up to him, and had a conversation that Kaylan would recollect decades later in his autobiography: “So I hear you're in a rock 'n' roll band.” “Yep.” “Um, do you think I could join it?” “Well, what do you do?” “Nothing.” “Nothing?” “Nope.” “Sounds good to me. I'll ask Al.” Volman initially became the group's roadie and occasional tambourine player, and would also get on stage to sing a bit during their very occasional vocal numbers, but was mostly "in the band" in name only at first -- he didn't get a share of the group's money, but he was allowed to say he was in the group because that meant that his friends would come to the Nightriders' shows, and he was popular among the surfing crowd. Eventually, Volman's father started to complain that his son wasn't getting any money from being in the band, while the rest of the group were, and they explained to him that Volman was just carrying the instruments while they were all playing them. Volman's father said "if Mark plays an instrument, will you give him equal shares?" and they said that that was fair, so Volman got an alto sax to play along with Kaylan's tenor. Volman had also been taking clarinet lessons, and the two soon became a tight horn section for the group, which went through a few lineup changes and soon settled on a lineup of Volman and Kaylan on saxes, Nichol on lead guitar, Jim Tucker on rhythm guitar, Portz on bass, and Don Murray on drums. That new lineup became known as the Crossfires, presumably after the Johnny and the Hurricanes song of the same name: [Excerpt: Johnny and the Hurricanes, "Crossfire"] Volman and Kaylan worked out choreographed dance steps to do while playing their saxes, and the group even developed a group of obsessive fans who called themselves the Chunky Club, named after one of the group's originals: [Excerpt: The Crossfires, "Chunky"] At this point the group were pretty much only playing instrumentals, though they would do occasional vocals on R&B songs like "Money" or their version of Don and Dewey's "Justine", songs which required more enthusiasm than vocal ability. But their first single, released on a tiny label, was another surf instrumental, a song called "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde": [Excerpt: The Crossfires, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde"] The group became popular enough locally that they became the house band at the Revelaire Club in Redondo Beach. There as well as playing their own sets, they would also be the backing band for any touring acts that came through without their own band, quickly gaining the kind of performing ability that comes from having to learn a new artist's entire repertoire in a few days and be able to perform it with them live with little or no rehearsal. They backed artists like the Coasters, the Drifters, Bobby Vee, the Rivingtons, and dozens of other major acts, and as part of that Volman and Kaylan would, on songs that required backing vocals, sing harmonies rather than playing saxophone. And that harmony-singing ability became important when the British Invasion happened, and suddenly people didn't want to hear surf instrumentals, but vocals along the lines of the new British groups. The Crossfires' next attempt at a single was another original, this one an attempt at sounding like one of their favourite new British groups, the Kinks: [Excerpt: The Crossfires, "One Potato, Two Potato"] This change to vocals necessitated a change in the group dynamic. Volman and Kaylan ditched the saxophones, and discovered that between them they made one great frontman. The two have never been excessively close on a personal level, but both have always known that the other has qualities they needed. Frank Zappa would later rather dismissively say "I regard Howard as a fine singer, and Mark as a great tambourine player and fat person", and it's definitely true that Kaylan is one of the truly great vocalists to come out of the LA scene in this period, while Volman is merely a good harmony singer, not anything particularly special -- though he *is* a good harmony singer -- but it undersells Volman's contribution. There's a reason the two men performed together for nearly sixty years. Kaylan is a great singer, but also by nature rather reserved, and he always looked uncomfortable on stage, as well as, frankly, not exactly looking like a rock star (Kaylan describes himself not inaccurately as looking like a potato several times in his autobiography). Volman, on the other hand, is a merely good singer, but he has a naturally outgoing personality, and while he's also not the most conventionally good-looking of people he has a *memorable* appearance in a way that Kaylan doesn't. Volman could do all the normal frontman stuff, the stuff that makes a show an actual show -- the jokes, the dancing, the between-song patter, the getting the crowd going, while Kaylan could concentrate on the singing. They started doing a variation on the routine that had so enthralled Howard Kaylan when he'd seen Louis Prima and Keeley Smith do it as a child. Kaylan would stand more or less stock still, looking rather awkward, but singing like an angel, while Volman would dance around, clown, act the fool, and generally do everything he could to disrupt the performance -- short of actually disrupting it in reality. It worked, and Volman became one of that small but illustrious group of people -- the band member who makes the least contribution to the sound of the music but the biggest contribution to the feel of the band itself, and without whom they wouldn't be the same. After "One Potato, Two Potato" was a flop, the Crossfires were signed to their third label. This label, White Whale, was just starting out, and the Crossfires were to become their only real hit act. Or rather, the Turtles were. The owners of White Whale knew that they didn't have much promotional budget and that their label was not a known quantity -- it was a tiny label with no track record. But they thought of a way they could turn that to their advantage. Everyone knew that the Beatles, before Capitol had picked up their contracts, had had their records released on a bunch of obscure labels like Swan and Tollie. People *might* look for records on tiny independent labels if they thought it might be another British act who were unknown in the US but could be as good as the Beatles. So they chose a name for the group that they thought sounded as English as possible -- an animal name that started with "the", and ended in "les", just like the Beatles. The group, all teenagers at the time, were desperate enough that they agreed to change their name, and from that point on they became the Turtles. In order to try and jump on as many bandwagons as possible, the label wanted to position them as a folk-rock band, so their first single under the Turtles name was a cover of a Bob Dylan song, from Another Side of Bob Dylan: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "It Ain't Me Babe"] That song's hit potential had already been seen by Johnny Cash, who'd had a country hit with it a few months before. But the Turtles took the song in a different direction, inspired by Kaylan's *other* great influence, along with Prima and Smith. Kaylan was a big fan of the Zombies, one of the more interesting of the British Invasion groups, and particularly of their singer Colin Blunstone. Kaylan imitated Blunstone on the group's hit single, "She's Not There", on which Blunstone sang in a breathy, hushed, voice on the verses: [Excerpt: The Zombies, "She's Not There"] before the song went into a more stomping chorus on which Blunstone sang in a fuller voice: [Excerpt: The Zombies, "She's Not There"] Kaylan did this on the Turtles' version of "It Ain't Me Babe", starting off with a quiet verse: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "It Ain't Me Babe"] Before, like the Zombies, going into a foursquare, more uptempo, louder chorus: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "It Ain't Me Babe"] The single became a national top ten hit, and even sort of got the approval of Bob Dylan. On the group's first national tour, Dylan was at one club show, which they ended with "It Ain't Me Babe", and after the show the group were introduced to the great songwriter, who was somewhat the worse for wear. Dylan said “Hey, that was a great song you just played, man. That should be your single", and then passed out into his food. With the group's first single becoming a top ten hit, Volman and Kaylan got themselves a house in Laurel Canyon, which was not yet the rock star Mecca it was soon to become, but which was starting to get a few interesting residents. They would soon count Henry Diltz of the Modern Folk Quartet, Danny Hutton, and Frank Zappa among their neighbours. Soon Richie Furay would move in with them, and the house would be used by the future members of the Buffalo Springfield as their rehearsal space. The Turtles were rapidly becoming part of the in crowd. But they needed a follow-up single, and so Bones Howe, who was producing their records, brought in P.F. Sloan to play them a few of his new songs. They liked "Eve of Destruction" enough to earmark it as a possible album track, but they didn't think they would do it justice, and so it was passed on to Barry McGuire. But Sloan did have something for them -- a pseudo-protest song called "Let Me Be" that was very clearly patterned after their version of "It Ain't Me Babe", and which was just rebellious enough to make them seem a little bit daring, but which was far more teenage angst than political manifesto: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Let Me Be"] That did relatively well, making the top thirty -- well enough for the group to rush out an album which was padded out with some sloppy cover versions of other Dylan songs, a version of "Eve of Destruction", and a few originals written by Kaylan. But the group weren't happy with the idea of being protest singers. They were a bunch of young men who were more motivated by having a good time than by politics, and they didn't think that it made sense for them to be posing as angry politicised rebels. Not only that, but there was a significant drop-off between "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Let Me Be". They needed to do better. They got the clue for their new direction while they were in New York. There they saw their friends in the Mothers of Invention playing their legendary residency at the Garrick Theatre, but they also saw a new band, the Lovin' Spoonful, who were playing music that was clearly related to the music the Turtles were doing -- full of harmonies and melody, and inspired by folk music -- but with no sense of rebelliousness at all. They called it "Good Time Music": [Excerpt: The Lovin' Spoonful, "Good Time Music"] As soon as they got back to LA, they told Bones Howe and the executives at White Whale that they weren't going to be a folk-rock group any more, they were going to be "good time music", just like the Lovin' Spoonful. They were expecting some resistance, but they were told that that was fine, and that PF Sloan had some good time music songs too. "You Baby" made the top twenty: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "You Baby"] The Turtles were important enough in the hierarchy of LA stars that Kaylan and Tucker were even invited by David Crosby to meet the Beatles at Derek Taylor's house when they were in LA on their last tour -- this may be the same day that the Beatles met Brian and Carl Wilson, as I talked about in the episode on "All You Need is Love", though Howard Kaylan describes this as being a party and that sounded like more of an intimate gathering. If it was that day, there was nearly a third Beach Boy there. The Turtles knew David Marks, the Beach Boys' former rhythm guitarist, because they'd played a lot in Inglewood where he'd grown up, and Marks asked if he could tag along with Kaylan and Tucker to meet the Beatles. They agreed, and drove up to the house, and actually saw George Harrison through the window, but that was as close as they got to the Beatles that day. There was a heavy police presence around the house because it was known that the Beatles were there, and one of the police officers asked them to drive back and park somewhere else and walk up, because there had been complaints from neighbours about the number of cars around. They were about to do just that, when Marks started yelling obscenities and making pig noises at the police, so they were all arrested, and the police claimed to find a single cannabis seed in the car. Charges were dropped, but now Kaylan was on the police's radar, and so he moved out of the Laurel Canyon home to avoid bringing police attention to Buffalo Springfield, so that Neil Young and Bruce Palmer wouldn't get deported. But generally the group were doing well. But there was a problem. And that problem was their record label. They rushed out another album to cash in on the success of "You Baby", one that was done so quickly that it had "Let Me Be" on it again, just as the previous album had, and which included a version of the old standard "All My Trials", with the songwriting credited to the two owners of White Whale records. And they pumped out a lot of singles. A LOT of singles, ranging from a song written for them by new songwriter Warren Zevon, to cover versions of Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year" and the old standard "We'll Meet Again". Of the five singles after "You Baby", the one that charted highest was a song actually written by a couple of the band members. But for some reason a song with verses in 5/4 time and choruses in 6/4 with lyrics like "killing the living and living to kill, the grim reaper of love thrives on pain" didn't appeal to the group's good-time music pop audience and only reached number eighty-one: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Grim Reaper of Love"] The group started falling apart. Don Murray became convinced that the rest of the band were conspiring against him and wanted him out, so he walked out of the group in the middle of a rehearsal for a TV show. They got Joel Larson of the Grass Roots -- the group who had a number of hits with Sloan and Barri songs -- to sub for a few gigs before getting in a permanent replacement, Johnny Barbata, who came to them on the recommendation of Gene Clark, and who was one of the best drummers on the scene -- someone who was not only a great drummer but a great showman, who would twirl his drumsticks between his fingers with every beat, and who would regularly engage in drum battles with Buddy Rich. By the time they hit their fifth flop single in a row, they lost their bass player as well -- Chuck Portz decided he was going to quit music and become a fisherman instead. They replaced him with Chip Douglas of the Modern Folk Quartet. Then they very nearly lost their singers. Volman and Kaylan both got their draft notices at the same time, and it seemed likely they would end up having to go and fight in the Vietnam war. Kaylan was distraught, but his mother told him "Speak to your cousin Herb". Cousin Herb was Herb Cohen, the manager of the Mothers of Invention and numerous other LA acts, including the Modern Folk Quartet, and Kaylan only vaguely knew him at this time, but he agreed to meet up with them, and told them “Stop worrying! I got Zappa out, I got Tim Buckley out, and I'll get you out.” Cohen told Volman and Kaylan to not wash for a week before their induction, to take every drug of every different kind they could find right before going in, to deliberately disobey every order, to fail the logic tests, and to sexually proposition the male officers dealing with the induction. They followed his orders to the letter, and got marked as 4-F, unfit for service. They still needed a hit though, and eventually they found something by going back to their good-time music idea. It was a song from the Koppelman-Rubin publishing company -- the same company that did the Lovin Spoonful's management and production. The song in question was by Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner, two former members of a group called the Magicians, who had had a minor success with a single called "An Invitation to Cry": [Excerpt: The Magicians, "An Invitation to Cry"] The Magicians had split up, and Bonner and Gordon were trying to make a go of things as professional songwriters, but had had little success to this point. The song on the demo had been passed over by everyone, and the demo was not at all impressive, just a scratchy acetate with Bonner singing off-key and playing acoustic rhythm guitar and Gordon slapping his knees to provide rhythm, but the group heard something in it. They played the song live for months, refining the arrangement, before taking it into the studio. There are arguments to this day as to who deserves the credit for the sound on "Happy Together" -- Chip Douglas apparently did the bulk of the arrangement work while they were on tour, but the group's new producer, Joe Wissert, a former staff engineer for Cameo-Parkway, also claimed credit for much of it. Either way, "Happy Together" is a small masterpiece of dynamics. The song is structured much like the songs that had made the Turtles' name, with the old Zombies idea of the soft verse and much louder chorus: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Happy Together"] But the track is really made by the tiny details of the arrangement, the way instruments and vocal parts come in and out as the track builds up, dies down, and builds again. If you listen to the isolated tracks, there are fantastic touches like the juxtaposition of the bassoon and oboe (which I think is played on a mellotron): [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Happy Together", isolated tracks] And a similar level of care and attention was put into the vocal arrangement by Douglas, with some parts just Kaylan singing solo, other parts having Volman double him, and of course the famous "bah bah bah" massed vocals: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Happy Together", isolated vocals] At the end of the track, thinking he was probably going to do another take, Kaylan decided to fool around and sing "How is the weather?", which Bonner and Gordon had jokingly done on the demo. But the group loved it, and insisted that was the take they were going to use: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Happy Together"] "Happy Together" knocked "Penny Lane" by the Beatles off the number one spot in the US, but by that point the group had already had another lineup change. The Monkees had decided they wanted to make records without the hit factory that had been overseeing them, and had asked Chip Douglas if he wanted to produce their first recordings as a self-contained band. Given that the Monkees were the biggest thing in the American music industry at the time, Douglas had agreed, and so the group needed their third bass player in a year. The one they went for was Jim Pons. Pons had seen the Beatles play at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964, and decided he wanted to become a pop star. The next day he'd been in a car crash, which had paid out enough insurance money that he was able to buy two guitars, a bass, drums, and amps, and use them to start his own band. That band was originally called The Rockwells, but quickly changed their name to the Leaves, and became a regular fixture at Ciro's on Sunset Strip, first as customers, then after beating Love in the auditions, as the new resident band when the Byrds left. For a while the Leaves had occasionally had guest vocals from a singer called Richard Marin, but Pons eventually decided to get rid of him, because, as he put it "I wanted us to look like The Beatles. There were no Mexicans in The Beatles". He is at pains in his autobiography to assure us that he's not a bigot, and that Marin understood. I'm sure he did. Marin went on to be better known as Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong. The Leaves were signed by Pat Boone to his production company, and through that company they got signed to Mira Records. Their first single, produced by Nik Venet, had been a version of "Love Minus Zero (No Limit)", a song by Bob Dylan: [Excerpt: The Leaves, "Love Minus Zero (No Limit)"] That had become a local hit, though not a national one, and the Leaves had become one of the biggest bands on the Sunset Strip scene, hanging out with all the other bands. They had become friendly with the Doors before the Doors got a record deal, and Pat Boone had even asked for an introduction, as he was thinking of signing them, but unfortunately when he met Jim Morrison, Morrison had drunk a lot of vodka, and given that Morrison was an obnoxious drunk Boone had second thoughts, and so the world missed out on the chance of a collaboration between the Doors and Pat Boone. Their second single was "Hey Joe" -- as was their third and fourth, as we discussed in that episode: [Excerpt: The Leaves, "Hey Joe"] Their third version of "Hey Joe" had become a top forty hit, but they didn't have a follow-up, and their second album, All The Good That's Happening, while it's a good album, sold poorly. Various band members quit or fell out, and when Johnny Barbata knocked on Jim Pons' door it was an easy decision to quit and join a band that had a current number one hit. When Pons joined, the group had already recorded the Happy Together album. That album included the follow-up to "Happy Together", another Bonner and Gordon song, "She'd Rather Be With Me": [Excerpt: The Turtles, "She'd Rather Be With Me"] None of the group were tremendously impressed with that song, but it did very well, becoming the group's second-biggest hit in the US, reaching number three, and actually becoming a bigger hit than "Happy Together" in parts of Europe. Before "Happy Together" the group hadn't really made much impact outside the US. In the UK, their early singles had been released by Pye, the smallish label that had the Kinks and Donovan, but which didn't have much promotional budget, and they'd sunk without trace. For "You Baby" they'd switched to Immediate, the indie label that Andrew Oldham had set up, and it had done a little better but still not charted. But from "Happy Together" they were on Decca, a much bigger label, and "Happy Together" had made number twelve in the charts in the UK, and "She'd Rather Be With Me" reached number four. So the new lineup of the group went on a UK tour. As soon as they got to the hotel, they found they had a message from Graham Nash of the Hollies, saying he would like to meet up with them. They all went round to Nash's house, and found Donovan was also there, and Nash played them a tape he'd just been given of Sgt Pepper, which wouldn't come out for a few more days. At this point they were living every dream a bunch of Anglophile American musicians could possibly have. Jim Tucker mentioned that he would love to meet the Beatles, and Nash suggested they do just that. On their way out the door, Donovan said to them, "beware of Lennon". It was when they got to the Speakeasy club that the first faux-pas of the evening happened. Nash introduced them to Justin Hayward and John Lodge of the Moody Blues, and Volman said how much he loved their record "Go Now": [Excerpt: The Moody Blues, "Go Now"] The problem was that Hayward and Lodge had joined the group after that record had come out, to replace its lead singer Denny Laine. Oh well, they were still going to meet the Beatles, right? They got to the table where John, Paul, and Ringo were sat, at a tense moment -- Paul was having a row with Jane Asher, who stormed out just as the Turtles were getting there. But at first, everything seemed to go well. The Beatles all expressed their admiration for "Happy Together" and sang the "ba ba ba" parts at them, and Paul and Kaylan bonded over their shared love for "Justine" by Don and Dewey, a song which the Crossfires had performed in their club sets, and started singing it together: [Excerpt: Don and Dewey, "Justine"] But John Lennon was often a mean drunk, and he noticed that Jim Tucker seemed to be the weak link in the group, and soon started bullying him, mocking his clothes, his name, and everything he said. This devastated Tucker, who had idolised Lennon up to that point, and blurted out "I'm sorry I ever met you", to which Lennon just responded "You never did, son, you never did". The group walked out, hurt and confused -- and according to Kaylan in his autobiography, Tucker was so demoralised by Lennon's abuse that he quit music forever shortly afterwards, though Tucker says that this wasn't the reason he quit. From their return to LA on, the Turtles would be down to just a five-piece band. After leaving the club, the group went off in different directions, but then Kaylan (and this is according to Kaylan's autobiography, there are no other sources for this) was approached by Brian Jones, asking for his autograph because he loved the Turtles so much. Jones introduced Kaylan to the friend he was with, Jimi Hendrix, and they went out for dinner, but Jones soon disappeared with a girl he'd met. and left Kaylan and Hendrix alone. They were drinking a lot -- more than Kaylan was used to -- and he was tired, and the omelette that Hendrix had ordered for Kaylan was creamier than he was expecting... and Kaylan capped what had been a night full of unimaginable highs and lows by vomiting all over Jimi Hendrix's expensive red velvet suit. Rather amazingly after all this, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, and Hendrix, all showed up to the Turtles' London gig and apparently enjoyed it. After "She'd Rather Be With Me", the next single to be released wasn't really a proper single, it was a theme song they'd been asked to record for a dire sex comedy titled "Guide for the Married Man", and is mostly notable for being composed by John Williams, the man who would later go on to compose the music for Star Wars. That didn't chart, but the group followed it with two more top twenty hits written by Bonner and Gordon, "You Know What I Mean" and "She's My Girl". But then the group decided that Bonner and Gordon weren't giving them their best material, and started turning down their submissions, like a song called "Celebrity Ball" which they thought had no commercial potential, at least until the song was picked up by their friends Three Dog Night, retitled "Celebrate", and made the top twenty: [Excerpt: Three Dog Night, "Celebrate"] Instead, the group decided to start recording more of their own material. They were worried that in the fast-changing rock world bands that did other songwriters' material were losing credibility. But "Sound Asleep", their first effort in this new plan, only made number forty-seven on the charts. Clearly they needed a different plan. They called in their old bass player Chip Douglas, who was now an experienced hitmaker as a producer. He called in *his* friend Harry Nilsson, who wrote "The Story of Rock & Roll" for the group, but that didn't do much better, only making number forty-eight. But the group persevered, starting work on a new album produced by Douglas, The Turtles Present The Battle of the Bands, the conceit of which was that every track would be presented as being by a different band. So there were tracks by Chief Kamanawanalea and his Royal Macadamia Nuts, Fats Mallard and the Bluegrass Fireball, The Atomic Enchilada, and so on, all done in the styles suggested by those band names. There was even a track by "The Cross Fires": [Excerpt: The Cross Fires, "Surfer Dan"] It was the first time the group had conceived of an album as a piece, and nine of the twelve tracks were originals by the band -- there was a track written by their friend Bill Martin, and the opening track, by "The US Teens Featuring Raoul", was co-written by Chip Douglas and Harry Nilsson. But for the most part the songs were written by the band members themselves, and jointly credited to all of them. This was the democratic decision, but one that Howard Kaylan would later regret, because of the song for which the band name was just "Howie, Mark, Johnny, Jim & Al". Where all the other songs were parodies of other types of music, that one was, as the name suggests, a parody of the Turtles themselves. It was written by Kaylan in disgust at the record label, who kept pestering the group to "give us another 'Happy Together'". Kaylan got more and more angry at this badgering, and eventually thought "OK, you want another 'Happy Together'? I'll give you another 'Happy Together'" and in a few minutes wrote a song that was intended as an utterly vicious parody of that kind of song, with lyrics that nobody could possibly take seriously, and with music that was just mocking the whole structure of "Happy Together" specifically. He played it to the rest of the group, expecting them to fall about laughing, but instead they all insisted it was the group's next single. "Elenore" went to number six on the charts, becoming their biggest hit since "She'd Rather Be With Me": [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Elenore"] And because everything was credited to the group, Kaylan's songwriting royalties were split five ways. For the follow-up, they chose the one actual cover version on the album. "You Showed Me" is a song that Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark had written together in the very early days of the Byrds, and they'd recorded it as a jangly folk-rock tune in 1964: [Excerpt: The Byrds, "You Showed Me"] They'd never released that track, but Gene Clark had performed it solo after leaving the Byrds, and Douglas had been in Clark's band at the time, and liked the song. He played it for the Turtles, but when he played it for them the only instrument he had to hand was a pump organ with one of its bellows broken. Because of this, he had to play it slowly, and while he kept insisting that the song needed to be faster, the group were equally insistent that what he was playing them was the big ballad hit they wanted, and they recorded it at that tempo. "You Showed Me" became the Turtles' final top ten hit: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "You Showed Me"] But once again there were problems in the group. Johnny Barbata was the greatest drummer any of them had ever played with, but he didn't fit as a personality -- he didn't like hanging round with the rest of them when not on stage, and while there were no hard feelings, it was clear he could get a gig with pretty much anyone and didn't need to play with a group he wasn't entirely happy in. By mutual agreement, he left to go and play with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and was replaced by John Seiter from Spanky and Our Gang -- a good drummer, but not the best of the best like Barbata had been. On top of this, there were a whole host of legal problems to deal with. The Turtles were the only big act on White Whale records, though White Whale did put out some other records. For example, they'd released the single "Desdemona" by John's Children in the US: [Excerpt: John's Children, "Desdemona"] The group, being the Anglophiles they were, had loved that record, and were also among the very small number of Americans to like the music made by John's Children's guitarist's new folk duo, Tyrannosaurus Rex: [Excerpt: Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Debora"] When Tyrannosaurus Rex supported the Turtles, indeed, Volman and Kaylan became very close to Marc Bolan, and told him that the next time they were in England they'd have to get together, maybe even record together. That would happen not that many years later, with results we'll be getting to in... episode 201, by my current calculations. But John's Children hadn't had a hit, and indeed nobody on White Whale other than the Turtles had. So White Whale desperately wanted to stop the Turtles having any independence, and to make sure they continued to be their hit factory. They worked with the group's roadie, Dave Krambeck, to undermine the group's faith in their manager, Bill Utley, who supported the group in their desire for independence. Soon, Krambeck and White Whale had ousted Utley, and Krambeck had paid Utley fifty thousand dollars for their management contract, with the promise of another two hundred thousand later. That fifty thousand dollars had been taken by Krambeck as an advance against the Turtles' royalties, so they were really buying themselves out. Except that Krambeck then sold the management contract on to a New York management firm, without telling the group. He then embezzled as much of the group's ready cash as he could and ran off to Mexico, without paying Utley his two hundred thousand dollars. The Turtles were out of money, and they were being sued by Utley because he hadn't had the money he should have had, and by the big New York firm, because since the Turtles hadn't known they were now legally their managers they were in breach of contract. They needed money quickly, and so they signed with another big management company, this one co-owned by Bill Cosby, in the belief that Cosby's star power might be able to get them some better bookings. It did -- one of the group's first gigs after signing with the new company was at the White House. It turned out they were Tricia Nixon's favourite group, and so they and the Temptations were booked at her request for a White House party. The group at first refused to play for a President they rightly thought of as a monster, but their managers insisted. That destroyed their reputation among the cool antiestablishment youth, of course, but it did start getting them well-paid corporate gigs. Right up until the point where Kaylan became sick at his own hypocrisy at playing these events, drank too much of the complimentary champagne at an event for the president of US Steel, went into a drunken rant about how sick the audience made him, and then about how his bandmates were a bunch of sellouts, threw his mic into a swimming pool, and quit while still on stage. He was out of the band for two months, during which time they worked on new material without him, before they made up and decided to work on a new album. This new album, though, was going to be more democratic. As well as being all original material, they weren't having any of this nonsense about the lead singer singing lead. This time, whoever wrote the song was going to sing lead, so Kaylan only ended up singing lead on six of the twelve songs on what turned out to be their final album, Turtle Soup. They wanted a truly great producer for the new album, and they all made lists of who they might call. The lists included a few big names like George Martin and Phil Spector, but one name kept turning up -- Ray Davies. As we'll hear in the next episode, the Kinks had been making some astonishing music since "You Really Got Me", but most of it had not been heard in the US. But the Turtles all loved the Kinks' 1968 album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, which they considered the best album ever made: [Excerpt: The Kinks, "Animal Farm"] They got in touch with Davies, and he agreed to produce the album -- the first time he did any serious outside production work -- and eventually they were able to persuade White Whale, who had no idea who he was, to allow him to produce it. The resulting album is by far the group's strongest album-length work, though there were problems -- Davies' original mix of the album was dominated by the orchestral parts written by Wrecking Crew musician Ray Pohlman, while the group thought that their own instruments should be more audible, since they were trying to prove that they were a proper band. They remixed it themselves, annoying Davies, though reissues since the eighties have reverted to a mix closer to Davies' intentions. Some of the music, like Pons' "Dance This Dance With Me", perhaps has the group trying a little *too* hard to sound like the Kinks: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Dance This Dance With Me"] But on the other hand, Kaylan's "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" is the group's last great pop single, and has one of the best lines of any single from the sixties -- "I look at your face, I love you anyway": [Excerpt: The Turtles, "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain"] But the album produced no hits, and the group were getting more and more problems from their label. White Whale tried to get Volman and Kaylan to go to Memphis without the other band members to record with Chips Moman, but they refused -- the Turtles were a band, and they were proud of not having session players play their parts on the records. Instead, they started work with Jerry Yester producing on a new album, to be called Shell Shock. They did, though bow to pressure and record a terrible country track called "Who Would Ever Think That I Would Marry Margaret" backed by session players, at White Whale's insistence, but managed to persuade the label not to release it. They audited White Whale and discovered that in the first six months of 1969 alone -- a period where they hadn't sold that many records -- they'd been underpaid by a staggering six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They sued the label for several million, and in retaliation, the label locked them out of the recording studio, locking their equipment in there. They basically begged White Whale to let them record one last great single, one last throw of the dice. Jim Pons had, for years, known a keyboard player named Bob Harris, and had recently got to know Harris' wife, Judee Sill. Sill had a troubled life -- she was a heroin addict, and had at times turned to streetwalking to earn money, and had spent time in prison for armed robbery -- but she was also an astonishing songwriter, whose music was as inspired by Bach as by any pop or folk composer. Sill had been signed to Blimp, the Turtles' new production and publishing company, and Pons was co-producing some tracks on her first album, with Graham Nash producing others. Pons thought one song from that album, "Lady-O", would be perfect for the Turtles: [Excerpt: Judee Sill, "Lady-O"] (music continues under) The Turtles stuck closely to Sill's vision of the song. So closely that you haven't noticed that before I started talking, we'd already switched from Sill's record to the Turtles' version. [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Lady-O"] That track, with Sill on guitar backing Kaylan, Volman, and Nichol's vocals, was the last Turtles single to be released while the band were together. Despite “Lady O” being as gorgeous a melody as has ever been produced in the rock world, it sank without trace, as did a single from the Shell Shock sessions released under a pseudonym, The Dedications. White Whale followed that up, to the group's disgust, with "Who Would Ever Think That I Would Marry Margaret?", and then started putting out whatever they had in the vaults, trying to get the last few pennies, even releasing their 1965 album track version of "Eve of Destruction" as if it were a new single. The band were even more disgusted when they discovered that, thanks to the flurry of suits and countersuits, they not only could no longer perform as the Turtles, but White Whale were laying legal claim to their own names. They couldn't perform under those names -- Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and the rest were the intellectual property of White Whale, according to the lawyers. The group split up, and Kaylan and Volman did some session work, including singing on a demo for a couple of new songwriters: [Excerpt: Steely Dan, "Everyone's Gone to the Movies"] When that demo got the songwriters a contract, one of them actually phoned up to see if Kaylan wanted a permanent job in their new band, but they didn't want Volman as well, so Kaylan refused, and Steely Dan had to do without him. Volman and Kaylan were despondent, washed-up, has-been ex-rock stars. But when they went to see a gig by their old friend Frank Zappa, it turned out that he was looking for exactly that. Of course, they couldn't use their own names, but the story of the Phlorescent Leech and Eddie is a story for another time...
On this day in 1964 The Zombies released their classic hit 'She's Not There' in the US! It became one of the first big British hits reaching number 2 on Billboard and going to number 1 on the Cash Box chart! On this episode you'll hear from The Zombies lead singer COLIN BLUNSTONE as he talks about how young they all were when the song was written and recorded and the origins of the song.You can hear the full interview with Colin Blunstone on Episode 4 of Vintage Rock Pod!
‘In the beginning,' Billy Joel entertained Long Island locals, with The Hassles and Attila, prior to forging a solo career in 1971. One year later, the singer-songwriter-pianist captivated college students when “Captain Jack” dominated the Philadelphia airwaves. ‘And so, it goes…' ‘Cold Spring Harbor' was rife with barrelhouse piano and tear-stained balladry but with ‘Turnstiles' Joel realized his dream of forming a stellar band. The success of ‘The Stranger' led to sold-out arenas and ‘52nd Street' honored the heyday of American jazz, while ‘The Nylon Curtain' highlighted socio-economic inequities and wartime brotherhood. 1993's ‘River of Dreams' fused reggae and world music. Then, in the early 2000's, his celebration of classical works ushered in a sea change. Unquestionably, Billy's catalogue has thrived, despite constantly changing trends in the music industry. Over a fifty-plus year span, many of his relatable songs have become standards, covered by countless artists. The third best-selling solo artist in the U.S. has continued to attract multi-generational audiences across the planet, so if you're ‘all in the mood for a melody,' read on. As part of Sonicbond's On Track series, “Billy Joel Every Album, Every Song” contains behind-the-scenes stories and an analysis of Joel's extensive studio recordings, many of which became top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The book also features a foreward by legendary Billy Joel drummer Liberty DeVitto.Rock journalist Lisa Torem has written features, profiles and reviews for American and British outlets for over a decade, and has interviewed Ian Anderson, Colin Blunstone, Eric Burdon, Dave Brubeck, Dave Davies, Janis Ian, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sarah McLachlan, Robin Trower, Suzanne Vega, Dweezil Zappa among others. She co-authored “Through the Eye of the Tiger” with Survivor's Jim Peterik in 2014 and “All That Glitters” with vocalist Ava Cherry in early 2022.Purchase a copy of "Billy Joel: Every Album, Every Song" in the UK through Burning Shed: https://burningshed.com/lisa-torem_billy-joel-on-track_bookPurchase a copy of "Billy Joel: Every Album, Every Song" in the US through Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1789521831/Listen to a playlist of the music discussed in this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/78ncIeq4uBzxoBwYFeSt40?si=bbe7010b260f486cListen to “Wonder Woman” by Billy Joel's early band Attila: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWvjb4I8lIYFollow Lisa Torem:Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisatoremFacebook: www.facebook.com/lisa.toremInstagram: www.instagram.com/lisatoremThe Booked On Rock Website: www.bookedonrock.comFollow The Booked On Rock with Eric Senich:FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/bookedonrockpodcastTWITTER: https://twitter.com/bookedonrockINSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/bookedonrockpodcast/?hl=enSupport Your Local Bookstore! Find your nearest independent bookstore here: www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finderContact The Booked On Rock Podcast:thebookedonrockpodcast@gmail.comThe Booked On Rock Music: “Whoosh” & “Nasty” by Crowander (www.crowander.com)
Legendary vocalist of the Zombies, Colin Blunstone, guests on the Fake Show podcast with host Jim Tofte...enjoy!!!
...And you will know us by the trail of clicks. It's time for another all-new episode of Click Vortex from WASTOIDS. Every two weeks, Sam Means (The Format) and Jason Woodbury (Aquarium Drunkard) go on a cyberspace cruise, following links wherever they may lead. This latest episode was recorded fairly early in the morning–expect a little grogginess—and finds the intrepid online adventurers discussing the psychedelic pop of The Zombies and Colin Blunstone, the saga of the "Fake Zombies" who toured America in the late '60s, the tape loop instrumental wonder known as the Mellotron, Fender's Bass VI, producer Mike McCarthy, and post-punkers ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes, celebrating its 20th anniversary. All that plus the debut of a new segment...tune in now and head over to WASTOIDSDOTCOM to check out a playlist of YouTube videos referenced in this episode. Got something you wanna share with your clicking friends? Call us any time at 1-877-WASTOIDS and leave a message. Seriously, you can call whenever.
Legendary British rock band The Zombies have a legacy spanning half a century, from their origins in St. Albans, England to international tours and their 2019 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In this episode of Cultural Manifesto, we sit down with Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone, their lead vocalist, to discuss the band's history.
Lead vocalist for legendary British rock band The Zombies sits down with us to discuss the band’s history.
Give us about ten minutes a day and we will give you all the local news, local sports, local weather, and local events you can handle. SPONSORS: Many thanks to our sponsors... Solar Energy Services because solar should be in your future! The Kristi Neidhardt Team. If you are looking to buy or sell your home, give Kristi a call at 888-860-7369! Rehab 2 Perform And Alpha Engineering Today... Poetry Month in Annapolis and this is cool. OPACY is 30 years old and they have a lot of new food to experience. Rams Head wants to know who you loved last year--vote in the Rammie Awards-link on Eye On Annapolis. Dropped a bonus pod yesterday with Colin Blunstone from The Zombies and will be dropping one with Mary Ramsey, the lead singer from 10,000 Maniacs! Keep an eye open! It's Thursday, which means that Trevor from Annapolis Makerspace is here with your Maker Minutes with great ideas to work out your mind and hone your skills. And as usual, George from DCMDVA Weather is here with your local weather forecast! Please download their APP so you can keep on top of the local weather scene! The Eye On Annapolis Daily News Brief is produced every Monday through Friday at 6:00 am and available wherever you get your podcasts and also on our social media platforms--All Annapolis and Eye On Annapolis (FB) and @eyeonannapolis (TW) NOTE: For hearing impaired subscribers, a full transcript is available on Eye On Annapolis
About that headline...we're not talking Walking Dead zombies, but THE ZOMBIES! You know, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band The Zombies. Time of the Season, She's Not There...THOSE Zombies! Today we speak with Colin Blunstone, a founding member about his incredible career and the staying power of The Zombies. His favorite song to play, and one that makes him collapse in laughter because it is so bad--in his opinion! Rams Head Presents will be bringing The Zombies to Maryland Hall on April 19th and it is a perfect way to work off that "I just filed my taxes" hangover! Have a listen first... and then get a pair of tickets! LINKS: The Zombies (Website) The Zombies (Facebook) The Zombies (Twitter) The Zombies (YouTube) The Zombies (Spotify) The Zombies (Instagram) Rams Head Presents (Tickets)
Great Rock Stories Volume 1 is a mix of some of amazing tales told by some legendary stars, including 3 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees! You'll hear about The Beatles before they were famous, kicking the door down for women in rock, an iconic song that helped to bring down the iron curtain, the early days of punk in the UK, how Sting came to sing on one of MTV's most played videos, how it felt to replace Keith Moon in The Who and how a now lauded and idolised album was pretty much disregarded on release – absolutely brilliant stories I promise you!My guests on this episode include Klaus Meine from The Scorpions, John Illsley from Dire Straits, Suzi Quatro, Kenney Jones from the Faces, Colin Blunstone from The Zombies and more!
Great Rock Stories Volume 1 is a mix of some of amazing tales told by some legendary stars, including 3 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees! You'll hear about The Beatles before they were famous, kicking the door down for women in rock, an iconic song that helped to bring down the iron curtain, the early days of punk in the UK, how Sting came to sing on one of MTV's most played videos, how it felt to replace Keith Moon in The Who and how a now lauded and idolised album was pretty much disregarded on release – absolutely brilliant stories I promise you!My guests on this episode include Klaus Meine from The Scorpions, John Illsley from Dire Straits, Suzi Quatro, Kenney Jones from the Faces, Colin Blunstone from The Zombies and more!Part of Pantheon Podcasts
Great Rock Stories Volume 1 is a mix of some of amazing tales told by some legendary stars, including 3 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees! You'll hear about The Beatles before they were famous, kicking the door down for women in rock, an iconic song that helped to bring down the iron curtain, the early days of punk in the UK, how Sting came to sing on one of MTV's most played videos, how it felt to replace Keith Moon in The Who and how a now lauded and idolised album was pretty much disregarded on release – absolutely brilliant stories I promise you! My guests on this episode include Klaus Meine from The Scorpions, John Illsley from Dire Straits, Suzi Quatro, Kenney Jones from the Faces, Colin Blunstone from The Zombies and more! Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices