On the Zombies’ biggest hit, they sang that it was the time of the season for loving. It was a call to hearts in the Summer of Love of the late ’60s, but by the time the song was released, the Brit band had already called it quits. Although absent as a group, they left behind a curiously titled classic album called “Odessey and Oracle,” which many cite as a highly influential artifact from the psychedelic era.
Since reforming in 1990, the band has enjoyed a few bursts of activity and produced three new albums, including this year’s “Breathe Out, Breathe In.” But singer Colin Blunstone says he often wonders what the world would be like if the band had never split.
“We were 18 and 19 years old, and we hadn’t really established a musical identity — and we had to do that in the glare of the spotlight over the next three years,” he says of when the group had their first hit in 1965. “People might’ve thought we were the finished article because we had recorded ‘She’s Not There,’ and in fact we were still looking for a way ahead, musically. … I think we just about found it with ‘Odessey and Oracle.’ It would’ve been interesting to see what we would’ve done next, so there’s a little bit of sadness for me because it was the end of the band, but also a lot of curiosity because I’d like to know what might’ve happened.”
