How Time of the Season Became a Hit After the Zombies Broke Up — SkimNews
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- Rod Argent wrote Time of the Season as the final track for Odessey and Oracle, recording it at Abbey Road Studios with engineer Geoff Emerick, who shaped the song’s distinctive bass and tom-tom sound.
- Colin Blunstone struggled with vocal phrasing during recording, clashing with Argent over timing while racing against strict studio schedules, though he later acknowledged the band’s unique chemistry.
- Al Kooper championed Odessey and Oracle at CBS after buying the album in London, convincing label president Clive Davis to release it in the US despite initial skepticism about its commercial appeal.
- A DJ in Boise, Idaho repeatedly played Time of the Season, sparking grassroots radio momentum that propelled the song into the US Top 10 more than a year after the Zombies had disbanded.
- False reports of Colin Blunstone’s death circulated in the US, with one touring impostor band claiming he had died in a car crash—an error even reflected in a Rolling Stone article.
Why it matters: The delayed success of Time of the Season upended the band’s trajectory, turning a defunct group into a retroactive phenomenon. The song’s rise—driven by a single DJ and amplified by misinformation—shows how post-breakup narratives and media errors can reshape legacy, giving the Zombies enduring cultural resonance they lacked during their active years.
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