@ the  Quayside Exchange

Sunderland

Thursday 20th April

2006

After the show, Colin Blunstone said, "It's not often you come off stage feeling as good as this. They were a brilliant audience and seemed to be really enjoying the the show. I know we did!" That sentiment was echoed by Rod Argent. An excellent night with everyone including the sound man on top form.

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are brilliant  musicians and have stood the test of time. There have been some good times, some quiet times, but now is the right time. There is a huge surge in popularity for these two, partly due to the quality of their live shows and partly due to their superb new albums. Now is the time to see them.  Read on, then order your tickets, you will enjoy this show!

The recent album "OUT OF THE SHADOWS" produced the single "Sanctuary" and scored lots of airplay from the radio stations especially BBC Radio 2 which has the biggest block of listeners in the UK.

Joining Rod and Colin on stage are a fantastic band comprising of former Argent bass player Jim Rodford with his son Steve on drums plus top session player and local lad Keith Airy on guitar. The show will have songs such as the Zombies "She’s Not There"; "Time Of The Season", Colin’s solo hit’s, "Say You Don’t Mind"; "Caroline Goodbye", the best of Argent such as, "Hold Your Head Up" and "God Gave Rock & Roll To You" amongst a host of other well known and much loved songs drawn from the careers of these two great talents. 

The background story .....

In the early 60's four teenagers from Hertfordshire formed a new group that was destined to achieve top ten hits on both sides of the Atlantic, sell millions of records and carve out a singular niche in the history of pop music.....the ZOMBIES. With 18 year old Colin Blunstone on lead vocals and Rod Argent on keyboards, they first came to prominence when their debut single "She's Not There" reached Number 12 in the U.K. pop charts. The song when released in the USA achieved even greater success, hitting the Number 1 spot in the Cashbox Chart and Number 2 in Billboard. (that's big!)

The individual, breathy voice of Colin Blunstone, coupled with Rod's distinctive keyboard style and his brilliantly penned songs gave the Zombies an unmistakable style and musical identity.

Further hits came with "Tell Her No" and "Time Of The Season" whilst two successful albums "Begin Here" and the oddly spelt, but beautiful "Odessey And Oracle" were released in 1965 and 1968 respectively, proving the extent of the bands exceptional talents, still widely acknowledged today.

When the Zombies split, Colin and Rod moved in different directions, Colin into the World of pop and Rod into the World of progressive rock.

Colin signed to the Epic Label and recorded the albums "One Year" (1971) and "Ennismore" (1972), which respectively spawned the huge hit singles "Say You Don't Mind" and "I Don't Believe In Miracles". These were followed in 1974 by the fabulous "Journey" album before Colin signed to ELTON JOHN'S Rocket label and moved out to California where he recorded "Planes" (1976), "Never Even Thought" (1978) and "Late Night's In Soho" (1979).

In the 70's, Rod Argent formed his self named band ARGENT with whom he scored a massive hit "Hold Your Head Up" which became one of the rock anthems of the decade on both sides of the Atlantic. Argent enjoyed further single success and two of the bands eight albums hit the upper reaches of the LP charts.

The 80's found Colin back in the UK but unable to release solo material due to a long contractual dispute. He was however able to perform on a number of releases by the ALAN PARSON'S PROJECT and featured on DAVE STEWART'S version of Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" which saw Colin back in the charts once again.

Rod Argent meanwhile released a couple of acclaimed solo albums. One, "Ghosts" was recorded in conjunction with saxophonist BARBARA THOMPSON and legendary drummer JON HISEMAN. The remainder of the 80's was spent in production work and scoring television drama's.

Colin began the 90's with a new album entitled "Colin Blunstone Sings His Greatest Hits" (recently re-released). It's an excellent collection of re-recorded tunes from Colin's Zombie days and also from his solo career. The album proved that Colin still possessed one of the most distinctive voices in the business and spurred him on to work once again. This was followed by "Echo Bridge" in 1995 and "The Light Inside" in 1998. Colin by now was back on the road, enjoying sell-out shows at London's Borderline Club and prestigeous appearances at The Cafe Royal.

Rod Argent, who had witnessed one or two of Colin's shows, was enticed back on stage for a Zombies reunion at the Jazz Cafe to help promote the release of the four CD box set "Zombie Heaven". Colin and Rod, who had always kept in touch, discussed the possibilities of recording and playing live together once more which led to a few shows in May 1999. The success of those shows led to a major U.K. tour throughout May and June 2000 with the  highlight being two sell-out shows at the Jazz Café in London.

Some old songs, some new songs, but a guaranteed great night!

She’s Not There

 Time Of The Season

Say You Don’t Mind

Caroline Goodbye

Hold Your Head Up

God Gave Rock & Roll To You

And, many many more