Dead Love: Zombie Serenade

Posted by on May 18, 2010 in Between the Lines | 6 comments

Clément sent me this. I guess he exhumed it from the dead file. He claims it’s how he feels about me and, I have to admit, it has a haunting ring.

What’s great is the boy band that sang it was The Zombies, a group that formed in St. Albans, a city near London, back in 1959. Love the name, of course, and that they were part of the “British Invasion,” the wave of rock groups that took teens by storm in the sixties. I like to think they were an early experiment in the  “Zombie Invasion,” which is what we are experiencing now.

The song was written by Rod Argent (piano) and sung by breathy Colin Blunstone. It was released in 1964, made the UK Top 40, then came to the U.S., where it became a hit. Naturally, The Zombies followed their new hit single, coming to the U.S. to meet the screaming crowds of girls who were waiting—somewhat impatiently—for The Zombies grand tour. “She’s Not There” was one of the songs on The Zombies’ album Odessey and Oracle (Odyssey was misspelled on the cover). Check out their cool zombie moves.

They’re old guys now, and I’ve heard some of them are still touring as The Zombies, which just proves: You can’t keep a good zombie down.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/The Daily Slice

  • Oh, I'd forgotten the group if I ever knew much about them, but that song! Teeny bopper memories…

  • Kevin

    This band was a brilliant deconstruction of Burt Bacharach. They were better than the Beatles.

  • deadlovebook

    Yes, Kevin, my new old fave. Isn't that clip super? Ready to rave about The Zombies.

  • deadlovebook

    Was it junglepants in hot pants?

  • Anita J

    Hey Erin,
    You gotta admit…that was pretty dang cool of Clément—diggin' up the Brits for you. Who knows, you may be responsible for a sudden spike in Zombie sales on iTunes! Love that line about keeping a good Zombie down…

  • Sometimes he surprises me. Does this make him lovable. No.