vcreporter.com nario. Blunstone gets a kick out of this anecdote. “Someone at Rolling Stone (magazine) got Chris White to come into their office and phone the manager of one of these bands and not say who he was,” Blunstone recalled. “Chris then asked him to explain about the Zombies band. So the manager told him this story about how they were all huge fans of the Zombies and since the lead singer was killed in a car crash, they wanted to honor him and the band by keeping the music going, and that’s why they were playing [under our name]. Then Chris White told him he was the Zombies bass player and that the lead singer wasn’t in a car crash. Reading this in print, it was almost like reading my obituary when I was 22 years old.” Despite the band breaking up, the Zombies stayed in touch. Argent and White went on to find success, while Blunstone reaped his own solo acclaim in the UK with a string of hits that never quite cracked the American market. Argent and White even produced Blunstone’s first two solo outings (which have recently both been re-released in deluxe editions), and White took the production helm for Blunstone’s 1974 effort Journey. The latter-day Zombies roster found Blunstone and Argent rounding out the lineup with guitarist Tom Toomey, the late Jim Rodford on bass and Rodford’s son, Steve, on drums. Rodford, who was Argent’s first cousin, was previously the Kinks bassist from 1978 until 1996. He joined the Zombies in 2004 and played with them until his death on Jan. 20,
MUSIC 2018. A memorial service/musical performance was held on the year-anniversary of his death in his hometown of St. Albans. Joining Argent and Blunstone were the surviving members of the Zombies, Chris White and Hugh Grundy (Atkinson died in 2004) and opening the show was ARC, made up of Rodford’s granddaughters, Anya and Cara, and his son, Russ. It was a cherished moment for Blunstone. “I like to think that Jim was smiling down at us and enjoying the evening,” Blunstone said. “It was an emotional evening with tinges of sadness, but it turned out to be a wonderful evening as well with plenty of laughter.” Showing no signs of slowing down, Blunstone is busy touring solo and with the Zombies, with plans to record a new album with the latter. It’s all a bit of a whirlwind that the vocalist intends to embrace at every turn. “So in the last few years, things have gone very well for the Zombies. We’re mature enough now to really appreciate it, because we know how tough this business is,” he said. “That’s why I think we’re very fortunate to enjoy this kind of adventure at this time in our lives. It doesn’t happen to many people that they get these kinds of opportunities at this time in their lives. Believe me, we’re really, really enjoying it and what we’re thinking about is what comes next.” ♦ The Zombies perform on Friday, July 22, at 5 p.m. at Libbey Bowl, 210 S. Signal St., Ojai. For tickets and more information, visit wheremusicmeetsthesoul.com/libbey-bowl-ojai/.
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