Hear the perfect harmony in the isolated vocals of The Zombies’ song ‘She’s Not There’
The Zombies formed in 1961 at the dawn of the British invasion of the American charts. Founding members Rod Argent, Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy set the wheels in motion with home-based jam sessions in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. By 1962, the band took on its first robust formation with the recruitment of school friends Colin Blunstone and Paul Arnold.
The five-piece built their confidence with early cover gigs under the initial name of The Mustangs. This hip equine handle lost its appeal when the boys realised it was already in use by a scattering of budding rock acts. In a bid for exclusivity, they settled on The Zombies.
In a 2015 interview with PopMatters, founding keyboardist and band leader Argent said: “Well, we chose that name in 1961 and, I mean, I knew vaguely that they were: sort of, you know, the Walking Dead from Haiti and Colin didn’t even really know what they were. It was [original bass guitarist] Paul [Arnold] that came up with the name. I don’t know where he got it from. He very soon left the band after that.”
“I thought this was a name that no one else is going to have,” he added. “And I just liked the whole idea of it. Colin was wary, I’m sure, at the beginning, I know, but I always, always really, really liked it.”
Before setting foot in a studio, Arnold left the band to follow his aspirations in medicine. Welcoming local bassist Chris White as a replacement, it wasn’t long before The Zombies won a beat-group competition sponsored by London’s Evening News. Riding on this wave of publicity, they signed a record deal with Decca and recorded their first hit single, ‘She’s Not There’.
The single was released in the summer of 1964, and grappling with the chart-swarming might of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, The Zombies managed to hit number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. Across the Atlantic, however, they showed themselves to be quite the invasive force reaching an impressive number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
‘She’s Not There’ debuted The Zombies’ signature harmonising vocals, and alongside the characteristic keyboard breaks, courtesy of Argent, they offered something a little different from their peers.
The band released their debut album, Begin Here, in 1965, which fell short of attracting the zeal of The Kinks’ Face to Face and The Beatles’ Rubber Soul of the same year due to a lack of original material. The Zombies finally struck gold in 1968 with the release of the psych-pop follow-up, Odessey and Oracle, which housed ‘Time of the Season’ and ‘Care of Cell 44’.
Listen to The Zombies’ debut hit single ‘She’s Not There’ through its isolated vocal tracks below.
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