For some reason, I’ve had The Zombies playing in my brain for the last couple of days.
It started out with the guitar riff from Time of the Season and this morning I woke up with She’s Not There playing in my head.
It may be a sign of the impending Zombie Apocalypse, you should probably oil your shotgun and sharpen your machete.
In the meantime:
Funny thing, She’s Not There was the debut song by The Zombies, released in ‘62 while they were working on their first album. In 1964, She’s Not There reached #12 on the UK charts and broke the top ten in North America. This video would have been made in ‘64 or ‘65 — and yet you’ll note that all of the electric guitars are apparently wireless.
A band far ahead of their time indeed.
Good song, lousy lip-synching, rather bizarre visual language.
ReplyDeleteNearly 2 million viewon YouTube!
It was the '60's, Steve, lip-syncing was in its infancy. Nobody knew how to do it. Good lord, man, there weren't even Karaoke machines back then!
ReplyDelete;)
Can't see the video here at the office, but I imagine those wireless guitars work similarly to Syd Barrett's lead vocal when Pink Floyd debuted on British TV--in a virtuoso demonstration of his gifts as a ventriloquist, Barrett managed to sing an entire song with his lips pressed firmly together! And he didn't slur or mumble anything while doing it--the vocal sounded exactly like it did on the studio recording, too!
ReplyDeleteAs for The Zombies: in my opinion, probably the most underrated and overlooked band of the '60s in spite of a string of well-known hit singles. Brilliant f'ing band, really were. I still need to pick up a copy of Odyssey And Oracle actually....
P.S.
ReplyDeleteIn those days, lip-syncing was usually called miming and while it was SOP on most of the "live" TV shows (e.g. Top Of The Pops), not everybody was good at it and some acts refused to try very hard (or at all--I already mentioned Barrett's refusal to pretend he was singing; I believe that was on TOTP though I may be misremembering).
This week, my earworm has been The Glee Cast's version of "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.
ReplyDeleteTrade ya.
There was some sort of 1960's nostalgia concert on VH1 a few months back and the Zombies were there and they performed it live. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall they also performed "Time of the Season"
For same reason I have always grouped the Zombies with the Human Beinz ("nobody can do the SKATE, like I do...")
Janiece,
ReplyDeleteI would never take that trade, I would have to put an ice pick through my ear drum in an attempt to rid myself of that tune.
Maybe if you listen to Neil Sedaka "Bad Blood" you can get it to switch. :) Unless of course you are some sort of weirdo that doesn't like Neil Sedaka... :| No, don't tell me, let me live in a world where you sing "Bad Blood" while running your errands, please? :)
A while back, when I posted video of The Box Tops playing The Letter on the Ed Sullivan Show, I pointed out the really good keyboards riff where the performer held his hands a foot above the keys and smiled into the camera.
ReplyDeleteAh...gotta love the 60's.
Puleeeeeeeeze don't tell me that Neil Sedaka thing was serious.
ReplyDeletePlease?
Goddamnit, Paul, you bastard, now I've got Bad Blood in my head.
ReplyDeleteAaaaagh! Somebody is probably going to get maimed, I hope you're happy with yourself.
These are all better than having my kids' cartoon jingles in my head. The current one is about a little mexican girl with an abnormally shaped cranium: Dora
ReplyDeleteExcept the Backyardigans. They're certified awesome.
Certified? Certainly. By ME.
Backyardigans?
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the title of this post "She's Not There" and saw something about zombies in the text, I thought you were going to be writing more about Sarah Palin.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNathan,
ReplyDeleteIt coulda been me but it was you
Who went and bit off a little bit more than he could chew
You said that you had it made, but you been had
The woman no good, no how, thinkin' maybe the blood is bad
DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xqEiN73WGQ
really, you were warned.
WILL NOT CLICK THROUGH. WILL NOT.
ReplyDeleteLalalalala!
Fuck you Paul. (And I mean that in the rudest possible way it can be meant when taking into account that the recipient is probably a Red Sox fan and therefore deserves, at least a teensy-weensy break. OTOH, if you're not a Red Sox fan, or, God-Forbid, a Yankees fan, I hereby meant it in the worst way you can imagine. Plus some unimaginable shit. And a dull jig-saw blade. And rubbing alcohol.)
ReplyDeleteYou know, to me, in person Sedaka always looked like some drunken goof at a Christmas party doing Karaoke to the real Neil Sedaka's music. He's just such a doofy looking bastard.
ReplyDeleteOk Nathan, THAT made me laugh. :)
ReplyDeleteNope, not a Sox fan OR a Yankees fan, so I take that "fuck you" in the manner that it was intended, rudely. (It was well deserved.)
Jim, spot on, and thats what makes him so fun. :) Seriously, I watch that video, and I think "but your GAY, what do you know about women?" :)
NOT that there's ANYTHING wrong with that, I'm just sayin...
That's a good song and all, but the one that stick in my ear is this:
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/k85mRPqvMbE
Good luck with the earworm thing.