The Zombies

The Zombies were an English rock band formed in St Albans in 1962. Led by keyboardist/vocalist Rod Argent and lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, the group had their first British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two further singles—"Tell Her No" in 1965 and "Time of the Season" in 1968—were also successful.Their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle was ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and number 243 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list. The Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.Three members of the band, Rod Argent, Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy, first came together to jam in 1961 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Argent wanted to form a band and initially asked his elder cousin Jim Rodford to join as a bassist. At the time, Rodford was in a successful local band, the Bluetones, and so declined, but he offered to help Argent. Rodford would later join Argent in 1969, as well as The Zombies in 2004 when the band reformed. Colin Blunstone and Paul Arnold joined the other three to form the band in early 1962 while all five members were at school.Some sources state that Argent, Atkinson and Grundy were at St Albans School, while Blunstone and Arnold were students at St Albans Boys' Grammar School. Both Blunstone and Grundy came from Hatfield and both sang in the choir there at St Etheldreda's Church. Argent was a boy chorister in St Albans Cathedral Choir. They held their original rehearsals at the Pioneer Club, then situated on Hatfield Road, using equipment lent to them by the Bluetones. They met outside the Blacksmiths Arms pub in St Albans before their first rehearsal and gained their initial reputation playing the Old Verulamians Rugby Club there.Argent said, "We met outside a pub. We were too young to walk in the pub." Blunstone added "I was literally in a corner singing to myself, doing a Ricky Nelson song, and Rod came over and said, 'That's really good. I'll tell you what. If you'll be the lead singer, I'll play keyboards.'"

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.