The British rock band The Zombies had already split up when their song \u2018Time of the Season\u2019 unexpectedly became a huge hit in the US. Whilst the song was taking American radio stations by storm, two impostor bands were touring the country, passing themselves off as the real The Zombies. One of them even spread a rumour that the lead singer had died in a car crash.<\/p>\n
History Time of the Season<\/strong> It began in 1967, when the British musicians were working on their second studio album, *Odessey and Oracle*.<\/p>\n Composer Rod Argent<\/strong> He wrote it as the final track for the album. At the time, he was living in the same flat as the bassist Chris White<\/strong>. The musicians would regularly play new tunes to one another, and on one occasion Argent told a friend that he thought he\u2019d just come up with a potential hit.<\/p>\n The album was recorded at the famous EMI studio in London, which was later renamed Abbey Road<\/strong>. Not long before that, The Beatles had been working there on *Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band*. The sound engineer Jeff Emerick<\/strong>, who had worked with the Liverpool quartet, helped The Zombies create the track\u2019s distinctive sound.<\/p>\n However, the recording was not without its controversies. The lead singer Colin Blastone<\/strong> He recalls that Argent demanded that every phrase be performed with extreme precision. Due to the limited studio time, tensions between the musicians grew, and they even argued whilst working.<\/p>\n In the end, the song was completed, although Blastone himself did not consider it the most promising track on the album.<\/p>\n By the time *Odessey and Oracle* was released, the band had already split up. The album did not achieve the commercial success that had been expected, and the musicians went on to pursue other projects.<\/p>\n An American producer turned the situation around El Cooper<\/strong>, who bought dozens of British records whilst on a trip to London. It was *The Zombies* album that made the biggest impression on him.<\/p>\n On his return to the US, Cooper persuaded the management at CBS Records to give the recording a chance, even though the company had previously considered it commercially unviable.<\/p>\n Initial attempts to promote the song failed to yield results. The breakthrough came thanks to a radio presenter from Boise, Idaho, who began playing \u2018Time of the Season\u2019 regularly on air.<\/p>\n Gradually, other American radio stations picked up the track. The song became a massive hit, even though its writers hadn\u2019t performed together for over a year by that point.<\/p>\n This unexpected success gave rise to one of the strangest stories in the musicians\u2019 careers.<\/p>\n According to Rod Argent, two bands emerged in the US at the same time, both touring under the name The Zombies, though they had no connection to the original line-up. One of them featured two musicians who later went on to join ZZ Top.<\/p>\n The manager of the other band claimed that it was the real The Zombies performing in front of the audience, but with a new lead singer. He explained Colin Blunstone\u2019s absence by claiming he had died in a car crash.<\/p>\n The confusion had reached such a point that, according to Argento, *Rolling Stone* magazine had already mistakenly reported his own death.<\/p>\n The band\u2019s actual members were involved in other musical projects at the time and did not take part in this tour.<\/p>\nThe song became popular after the band had already split up<\/h2>\n
The imposters toured under the name The Zombies<\/h2>\n