{"id":192016,"date":"2025-10-05T21:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T21:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/192016\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T21:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T21:55:14","slug":"the-surviving-zombies-members-reflect-on-bands-classic-1968-album-odessey-and-oracle-in-honor-of-its-new-mono-reissue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/192016\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surviving Zombies Members Reflect on Band\u2019s Classic 1968 Album \u2018Odessey and Oracle\u2019 in Honor of Its New Mono Reissue"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, September 26, The Zombies<\/a> released a newly remastered mono version of their acclaimed 1968 album Odessey and Oracle<\/a>. The reissue is available now on CD, as a vinyl LP, and via digital formats. A limited-edition blue-vinyl LP, signed by The Zombies\u2019 four surviving original members\u2014lead singer Colin Blunstone<\/a>, keyboardist Rod Argent<\/a>, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy\u2014can be purchased at the band\u2019s official online store.<\/p>\n

Coinciding with the release, CBS Sunday Morning aired a feature about The Zombies, featuring new interviews with Blunstone, Argent, White, and Grundy. The segment looked at The Zombies\u2019 brief initial heyday, and how the group and Odessey & Oracle enjoyed a resurgence of popularity long after the original band broke up in 1968.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: The Zombies\u2019 Acclaimed 1968 Album Odessey and Oracle to Be Reissued with Newly Remastered Mono Mix]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Zombies recorded much of Odessey and Oracle at Abbey Road Studios in London, and produced the album themselves. In the CBS Sunday Morning segment, Blunstone and Argent visit the famous studio, and reminisce about working there.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do get this really emotional feeling walking into Abbey Road,\u201d Blunstone maintained. \u201c\u2019Cause, I mean, there\u2019s so much history in these walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, by the time Odessey and Oracle was released in the U.K. in April 1968, the band had decided to call it quits since most of the members were in poor financial shape and little commercial attention was being paid to the album.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no real interest in it,\u201d Argent commented. Added Blunstone, \u201cI thought we had a chance, but it became fairly clear, fairly quickly, that the industry pretty much ignored it, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band members proceeded to move on to other careers, and\/or musical endeavors. In 1969, though, one of the album\u2019s tracks unexpectedly became a huge hit.<\/p>\n

About \u201cTime of the Season\u201d and The Zombies\u2019 Resurgence<\/p>\n

In the CBS Sunday Morning piece, Blunstone explained what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamously, there was one DJ in Boise, Idaho, who kept playing \u2018Time of the Season,\u2019\u201d Colin noted. \u201cIt spread to other radio stations. It took months for it to be a hit, but \u2026 it went to No. 1 in Cashbox. The single also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune has gone on to become one of the most iconic and enduring tunes of the late 1960s.<\/p>\n

In addition, Odessey and Oracle is now considered to be one of the great all-time albums of the rock era. The Zombies eventually reunited with a lineup led by Blunstone and Argent that toured regularly for decades, and also released several new albums.<\/p>\n

White and Grundy also took part in a few tours. The Zombies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Unfortunately, Argent suffered a serious stroke in 2024, and the band subsequently retired from touring.<\/p>\n

During the CBS Sunday Morning interview, the band members discussed their longstanding friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were friends really right from the very start,\u201d Argent said.
\u201cIt just clicked. It really did,\u201d noted Grundy. White then added, \u201cAnd we\u2019re still friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on Odessey and Oracle\u2019s unlikely and enduring musical impact, Blunstone said, \u201cIt gets namechecked as a major influence in so many people\u2019s careers. \u2026 It\u2019s a very strange story.\u201d<\/p>\n

More About the Odessey and Oracle Reissue<\/p>\n

Odessey and Oracle originally was released in mono. When the album was remixed for release in stereo, some musical elements of the original version were lost.<\/p>\n

The new mono mix includes a version of the group\u2019s enduring pop ballad \u201cThis Will Be Our Year\u201d featuring a horn part that wasn\u2019t heard in the stereo mix.<\/p>\n

This Wednesday, October 1, Blunstone and White will be on hand for a special Odessey and Oracle listening party. The event will be held at The Pioneer Club in The Zombies\u2019 hometown of St Albans, U.K. Blunstone and White will take part in a Q&A session at the listening party.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Scott Dudelson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Friday, September 26, The Zombies released a newly remastered mono version of their acclaimed 1968 album Odessey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,7021,75,341,64076],"class_list":{"0":"post-192016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-classic-rock","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-the-zombies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}