The Zombies In Session – Top Of The Pops – 1965 Sessions – BBC Radio 1 –
The Zombies in session from 1965 to end out the week. Recorded for the BBC Radio 1 Saturday Club program with Brian Matthew. Like The Kinks, The Zombies were one of those bands who rode the initial wave of The British Invasion, had for a time more popularity in the U.S. than the UK, but whose popularity has been consistent all this time, and has seen a renewal in interest, particularly among a newer generation of listeners who maybe missed them the first time around, thanks to an induction into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. Ironically, their final album in 1968, Odessey And Oracle has become one of the 100 greatest rock albums of all time (so sez Rolling Stone). Truths to tell, that album was a masterpiece that practically got tossed away by the record label as there were no longer a Zombies to promote the album. During their period of breakup (which lasted into the 90s) various founding members went off to solo careers and other groups, most notably Argent, founded by Rod Argent and Russ Ballard. That group scored a number of hits before packing it in around 1976.
But where Argent were hovering between Psych, Prog and hard rock in the 1970s, The Zombies proved, in many ways, to be the more enduring throughout the 80s until their eventual reunion in 1990 – with fits and starts until officially reuniting in 2004. The Zombies were, and still are, timeless.
Like many of their brethren bands of the British invasion era, The Zombies dipped into a very rich reservoir of American Soul and R&B of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In less capable hands, those songs were afterthoughts in sessions were the hit single was the primary focus, and the other cuts were regarded as filler. With The Zombies, songs like Will You Love Me Tomorrow, or their 1966 session track featuring Going Out Of My Head (the Little Anthony & The Imperials hit) – they infused those songs with their own interpretations and their own personalities – not detracting from, but rather complimenting the original.
This session starts with their second hit Tell Her No and ends with I Must Move – in between is Will You Love Me Tomorrow – offering further proof that timeless bands are that way for a reason.
Hit the play button and crank it up. You can sing along too – no one will notice.
