It has been half a century since British Invasion rock group The Zombies released their second album Odessey and Oracle, which Rolling Stone named one of the top 100 albums of all time. The band split before the album was officially released and never toured again. 35 years later, original members Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone reunited to play the material that never had a chance to be heard live, and the music is coming to Pittsburgh this fall.
Argent explains that much of the feelings and vibes of Odessey and Oracle came from the general essence of the 1960s.
“We were never naïve about the whole love and peace thing,” Argent said who added that many of the songs on the album had to do with seeing the reality of war for the first time thanks to the number of TV cameras following the troops in Vietnam.
Though the meaning behind the album is now clear, the question that plagued The Zombies’ fans for years had to do with why “odyssey” was misspelled on the album cover.
Argent told Essential Pittsburgh’s Paul Guggenheimer that for years he lied, saying the misspelling was merely a play on words, designed to combine the “ode” with “odyssey.” The truth is now being told.
A friend of Argent designed the cover art for the album, and accidentally misspelled the word “odyssey.” The record company approved the design without noticing the misspelling, and by the time Argent reviewed the cover, it was too late to change it.
In 2000, Argent was playing a charity concert that Blunstone happened to be attending. To Argent’s surprise, Blunstone joined him onstage to play some of the band’s hits like, “Time of the Season” and “She’s Not There.”
That’s when the idea of reuniting was born.
“I never thought we would. I thought that was a done deal,” Argent said.
However, reuniting and sharing their music once again with fans came very naturally.
“It felt as if we had been playing two weeks before,” said Argent of the first time they rehearsed.
The two aging-rockers played a few venues, and then decided to continue onward. Fifteen years later, Argent and Blunstone are still touring.
The Odessey and Oracle tour comes to Pittsburgh Wednesday, October 14th at the Carnegie Musical Hall of Homestead. Tickets can be purchased at librarymusichall.com.
More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be heard here.