B – is for Colin Blunstone

Saturday 6th September

Colin was (and still is) the voice of the Zombies, who had a hit with the wonderful “She’s Not There” in the very late sixties.  Strangely enough this was their only real hit, though they released quite a few clever and original singles.  They released their last album Odyssey and Oracle in 1969 and then split up, Rod Argent going on to form Argent and Colin trying his hand at a solo career.  He released a handful of brilliant albums and had a few hits too.  Then, as so often seems to happen he drifted into a more middle of the road sound and the sales dried up.  He carried on, releasing the occasional album and doing a lot of session work, especially for the Alan Parsons Project.  His voice is so distinctive and so utterly English that you can always recognize him.

Lately he has re-united with Rod and members of the original Zombies and they have released a few new records.  Not so good as his first few solo records but I buy them all the same.  Several of his records are unavailable on CD and even the vinyl sells on e-bay for £20 or more, so there must be a few old fans of his still around.

His best two records were One Year and Ennismore but any of the Greatest Hits compilations are well worth a listen.