THE PROG INTERVIEW ROD ARGENT

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s Rod Argent. As founding keyboard player of The Zombies, he was responsible for writing the band’s biggest hit, She’s Not There, and after their split, went on to become the leader of Argent. He’s since collaborated with some of the best-known names in music, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Phil Collins, The Who and his Zombies bandmate Colin Blunstone, which led to the band’s reformation at the turn of this century. With The Zombies’ latest album, Different Game, now out, he’s reanimated and ready for another bite of success. He talks about the band’s early years, their enduring appeal and the previously unreleased Hair-raising Argent track that could finally see light of day.

Rob Hughes

Rod Argent is a pretty satisfied man these days. The Zombies, the band he co-founded as a teenager in 1961, have recently returned from a sell-out tour of the UK, promoting their best album for decades. Different Game finds The Zombies doing what they’ve always done best: deftly orchestrated pop songs with exquisite harmonies, great melodies and heaps of musical invention. Almost exclusively written by Argent, and voiced by Colin Blunstone (the other mainstay of the original line-up), it’s better than anyone has any right to expect from a band whose core duo are now deep into their 70s. It’s hardly been straightforward getting here though. Having started out by gigging locally around St Albans in south-east England, The Zombies won a competition to find the “top beat group in…

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Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 141

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