WELCOME TO LPCDREISSUES
· Almost a decade in the making, Big Beat is very proud to finally announce the release of The Zombies’ “Into The Afterlife”. A natural sequel to our acclaimed best-selling box set “Zombie Heaven”, this compilation is essentially “what they did next”. The Zombies split in April 1968 upon the completion of their masterwork “Odessey & Oracle”. Songwriters Rod Argent and Chris White busied themselves forming a production company, whilst the other band members, including lead singer Colin Blunstone, depressed by the lack of recognition for “Odessey”, retreated back to ‘civvy street’.
· Throughout 1968 Chris and Rod demo’ed their new material with an embryonic version of what would become the group Argent. The best of these experimental recordings are included on “Into The Afterlife” and as with the Zombies, the songs and performances are better than most other groups’ regular releases. Meanwhile, Colin Blunstone had been romanced back into the studio by producer Mike Hurst and, under the nom-de-disque of Neil MacArthur, made three excellent singles including a revamp of ‘She’s Not There’ that hit the UK Top 40 in 1969. All nine sides recorded by Colin in this period are featured and include his fabulous interpretations of Nilsson’s ‘Without Her’, Billy Vera’s ‘Don’t Try To Explain’ and the Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Hung Upside Down’, the latter previously unreleased.
· As a special bonus, the disc contains special mixes of Zombies material that showcase the orchestral overdubs that were added for their aborted RIP project, plus a rare vintage live cut. Over half of “Into The Afterlife”‘s contents is unissued, and indeed, ninety percent has never appeared on CD before. Add to that detailed notes that clarifies this murky yet fascinating period in the group’s history and is a worthy addition to the perfectly-formed discography of the Zombies.
Track listing:
1. SHE’S NOT THERE - Neil MacArthur
2. HUNG UPSIDE DOWN - Neil MacArthur
3. UNHAPPY GIRL - Rod Argent & Chris White
4. SHE LOVES THE WAY THEY LOVE HER - Rod Argent & Chris White
5. I KNOW SHE WILL (Orchestral Mix) - The Zombies
6. MR GALILEO (Demo) - Rod Argent & Chris White
7. WITHOUT HER - Neil MacArthur
8. TWELVE TWENTY NINE - Neil MacArthur
9. IT NEVER FAILS TO PLEASE ME - Rod Argent & Chris White
10. I COULD SPEND THE DAY (Demo) - Rod Argent & Chris White
11. WALKING IN THE SUN (Orchestral Mix) - The Zombies
12. NEVER MY LOVE - Neil MacArthur
13. IT’S NOT EASY - Neil MacArthur
14. TO JULIA (FOR WHEN SHE SMILES) - Rod Argent & Chris White
15. WORLD OF GLASS - Neil MacArthur
16. DON’T TRY TO EXPLAIN - Neil MacArthur
17. MR GALILEO - Chris White & Argent
18. IF IT DON’T WORK OUT (Orchestral Mix) - The Zombies
19. MA NON E’GIUSTO (She’s Not There - Italian) - Neil MacArthur
20. GOING TO A GO GO (Live) - The Zombies
