The Zombies
Pat Sansone
Fri, April 18, 2014
8pm – $32.00 – $35.00
Cat’s Cradle
Carrboro, NC
http://www.catscradle.com
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As invasions go, this one didn’t seem either strategic or tactical, but being the mid-sixties, the British invasion left a permanent musical imprint. It was rebellious and cheeky, fueled by the skiffle craze that had already taken over the UK. It burst right through Bobby Vinton, Fabian, Skeeter Davis, and Bobby Darrin, taking a rightful, and righteous (IMHO) place next to The Beach Boys and Roy Orbison. Pop meet the next generation.
All of a sudden, our white bread ears were listening, dancing, and yes, screaming to The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Yardbirds, Peter & Gordon, Animals, Stones, and The Kinks. Factoid Alert: One May day in 1965, the USA’s Top 10 in the Hot 100’s was ruled by the British Commonwealth, with one exception, Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
And they kept on coming ashore. The Who. The Hollies. The Zombies. These mostly blues and guitar-based bands, bringing with them a healthy respect for their own R&B heroes, most of whom lived right here in the U.S. Long, floppy hair and mod clothes horrified our parents. These are the people they warned us about.
The Zombies “She’s Not There” took five months to hit #2 in 1964, followed a year later by “Tell Her No” which only got to #6. Odessey and Oracle (1968), released after the band broke up still enjoys critical acclaim and included “Time of the Season,” often sound-tracked as the definition of the 60’s.
To say I was looking forward to seeing The Zombies at Cat’s Cradle when they played there for the first time in 2012 would be as understated as a little black dress, matched only by my initial-excitement-followed-by-sheer-terror at scoring an interview with original member Rod Argent.
Half expecting their musical, road-weary age to show through the edges of their performance, their energy level and extraordinary talent circled around and surprised me. For weeks after, I chided everyone I know who didn’t go. I was now invested in The Zombies. Again.
In an unrelated email sometime this past January, Cradle owner Frank Heath added a quick PS saying “Zombies will be coming back to Cat’s Cradle in April, by the way.” Yes, I would be interested in talking with Rod again.
So, as not complete strangers this time, Rod Argent and I caught up a few days ago on all that’s happened since they were last here in 2012. And they haven’t just been laying about this last two years.
First big surprise for the band was the call that Eminem wanted to re-sample “Time of the Season” for his 2013 single “Rhyme or Reason,” an angry spew toward his absent father. Second, was the new Chanel perfume ad for Coco Mademoiselle airing on TV starring Kiera Knightly that’s set to “She’s Not There.”
And they’re barely off the boat from a five-day Moody Blues Cruise performing with Roger Daltry (The Who), Carl Palmer (ELP), Starship and Little River Band. Argent claims they were almost too busy aboard the ship to attend all the shows. They’ve been having a ball and doing what they love. And there’s a new album in the works.
“I can’t remember exactly what our set list was,” Argent responded when I asked how this show might be different than two years ago. “Obviously, some of the staples are there. We can’t not do them, you know?”
“Some things from Odessey and Oracle, “Time of the Season,” “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No,” we have to do those. Also Argent’s song “Hold Your Head Up.” Plus a couple other early Zombies songs “She’s Coming Home” and “I Want You Back Again.” We love doing that one on stage now. Several songs from the Breathe Out album as well.”
I reminded him that when Frank brought me back to meet them that they had offered me a glass of wine, which I politely declined since I was my own designated driver, and in hindsight, I wished I’d taken them up on. I got a speeding ticket on the way home that night as I was blissfully singing “She’s Not There” at the top of my lungs. If I’d stopped, had the wine, that cop would probably have been long gone and I would have had wine with The Zombies.
His response: “Thing is, you should have had that drink then you could have apologized to him saying I don’t normally drive like this, but I’m a bit drunk.”
We both cracked up laughing and agreed not to let THAT happen again.
Special guest opener is Southern rocker and multi-instrumentalist, Pat Sansone, member of Wilco and The Autumn Defense.
Enjoy the interview!
DPM: Hi Rod, good to talk with you again. We’re looking forward to your return to Cat’s Cradle.
RA: You too, Deborah. We’re looking forward to playing there again.
DPM: I thought it might be fun to circle back and see what the last year and a half has been like. You were just beginning a tour in support of Breathe Out/Breath In.
RA: I’m not even sure where to start. The shows have been going great and a lot of cool things have been happening. We’re working on a new album. Eminem used “Time of the Season” in the background of his song “Rhyme or Reason” which is a sound-alike phonetically, but inserted totally the sentiment of the song and I thought that was great actually, to hear that, and throughout the song a lot of our original vocals were coming through and then he recorded a chorus himself with the new words and obviously rapping all over it.
That was very cool. Also there’s something that’s just come on, I don’t know if you’ve heard it or not yet, a big Chanel advert commercial on television with Kiera Knightly … very James Bondy … using “She’s Not There” which is very nice too. Lots of things going on and we’re having a ball playing as always.
DPM: One of my upcoming questions is what have been some of the biggest surprises this last year and a half supporting Breathe Out/Breathe In. Would Eminem resampling “Time of the Season” be a good answer to that question?
RA: Well, that was a pretty big surprise. I’ve got co-writing credits on his tracks, but I had to hear the version and okay it before it went out. He’s very secretive and protective of his tracks, and I can understand that. First of all, we were asked permission, and our publisher said “well, we’ve got to hear it first.” And he said “well, you can’t do that.” We said “How can we give permission if we haven’t heard it?” So he finally sent a link which only remained active for about a day or something where I could hear it. I can quite understand how he wanted to be protective of it. But I heard it and I loved it, absolutely no problem. I loved the fact that it was an inventive creative take on the original piece of material.
DPM: You said you are working on a new album. Can you and Colin actually find time and space to write while you are touring?
RA: Well, I can’t personally write while I’m on the road. I’ve tried and I can’t, but while we were back home, I’ve written a couple of things and there are couple of songs that are in the pipeline as well. So we started the recording of the new album. One track I like very much indeed that we’ve got down, actually both tracks we’ve got down I like very much, so that’s a start [laughing].
DPM: And you are recording in England?
RA: Yes, and that’s going to be hard this year because I’m moving house after 38 years and my studio’s in my house so I don’t know [laughing] how that’s going to work. When I get back I’ve got 38 years of furniture and everything else. It’s a big house, unfortunately, and it’s going to take a hell of a move, so that’s going to be taking up some of my time when I get home. It’s a question of actually finding the time to do the creative work and concentrate on that too.
DPM: What on earth prompted a move after all those years?
RA: Well, basically we wanted to move to a different area. It’s a very big house and it’s just my wife and myself in it now, and I guess we felt that if we were going to move then if we didn’t do it now, we’d never do it?
DPM: Downsize while you can still enjoy it?
RA: Well, it’s downsizing in terms of the property and the house. It’s like a sideways move really. We’re moving to an area we’d like to go to and it’s just a matter of doing that while it’s still possible [laughing]. The house we’ve got at the moment was built in 1815, it’s a very beautiful Georgian house, but strangely enough we wanted a bit more land now even though I want the building to be a bit smaller.
DPM: 2014 started off pretty great for you guys headlining on the Ultimate R&B tour in the UK with The Yardbirds, The Animals and Spencer Davis. Was it just members from those groups or actually the groups? That sounds like an incredible and amazing tour!
RA: Actually just members of those groups, which seems inevitable these days, but everyone’s been really enjoying it for real. Spencer Davis didn’t do it because he hasn’t been well, but instead we had Maggie Bell, who was great and is still singing beautifully. And a guy named Dave Berry, who had some big hits in the UK, though maybe not over here. He had a hit called “The Crying Game” which was beautiful.
DPM: Yeah, yeah, yeah … from the movie.
RA: Remember that? Yeah, yeah. Oh, good, you saw it. He was on the show and it was a lovely show. Great guys, really nice people. The Yardbirds actually had their original guitarist “Top” Topham from right at the beginning of the band with Jim McCarty and they were really great. All the bands were. It was a sold out tour, we were playing some beautiful halls. It was great.
DPM: I personally would love it if you would do one of those tours in the states, for crying out loud!
RA: Yeah, that would be good too. [laughing]
DPM: I’d buy a ticket to that. I was a big fan of all the British groups from the 60’s, but I think I told you that when we talked before.
RA: I think you did, and thank you for that.
DPM: And so now, you’re just off the boat! [laughing}
RA: {laughing] Just off the boat and THAT was great! Obviously we saw the Moody’s because we did the cruise last year as well and the Moody’s were obviously on the bill because it’s their cruise, but this time we had Roger Daltry. I saw his set which was brilliant, doing all the old Who stuff … really, really terrific to see that. I didn’t get to see all the bands because there’s always so much to do all the time and we had shows to do ourselves. But I saw, for the first time, a guy called Randy Hanson, who plays all the Jimi Hendrix catalog and Jim, our bass player, knew him from when he backed up the Kinks years ago. But Randy’s been authorized by the Jimi Hendrix estate to play Jimi’s material. He’s so bloody good. And it was great to see him. Being out there on a beautiful summers day listening to the wonderful Jimi Hendrix stuff was amazing. He’s toured with Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding of the original Experience.
DPM: I saw them in 1966 when they opened for the Monkees.
RA: You did? Well, there you go! Then you know exactly what I’m talking about. I loved Hanson’s take on Jimi Hendrix, so that was pretty great.
DPM: I know you’re busy and it’s your day off, so anything we’ve missed that’s important?
RA: It’s a pleasure to talk to you again, Deborah. We’re really looking forward to this show. I’ll say the same as I probably said last time, but we have a band that’s the reason that Colin and I are out here. It’s such a kicking band and there’s so much energy on stage. Probably the best band I’ve ever played with, I think. If anyone’s thinking of coming and haven’t seen us, do come along and check us out, because it’s really a great show and a great band.
DPM: I can attest to that. Rod, thank you so much for your time and I look forward seeing you guys soon!
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BI Shuffle (British Invasion Shuffle)
Well Respected Man – The Kinks
Heart Full of Soul – The Yardbirds
House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
Gimme Some Lovin’ – Spencer Davis Group
This Will Be Our Year – The Zombies
simmer2sizzle 