RIDGEFIELD — “You’ve got a guitar, haven’t you? Do you want to be in a band?”

Those two offhand questions from one school boy to another back in the early 1960s launched a chain of events that gave birth to one of the earliest (and most resilient) British Invasion acts to hit American radio airwaves and record charts: The Zombies.

According to the band’s co-founder, lead singer, and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Colin Blunstone, The Zombies would have never happened if his school-age chum — a neighbor of Zombies co-founder Rod Argent — failed to make that musical connection and introduce the pair.

Blunstone chatted up that first meeting in a lively exclusive interview with The Newtown Bee ahead of the band’s latest tour and just a few days after finishing their latest album packed with brand new songs. That much-anticipated release will likely make The Zombies as relevant on the world’s musical stage in 2022 as they were after winning a 1964 contest sponsored by The London Evening Times, and receiving a recording contract that produced their very first international hit, “She’s Not There.”

The band, with Argent and Blunstone right up front, is heading into the area in a couple of weeks with a headline show scheduled for Saturday, April 30, at The Ridgefield Playhouse. The band will also be doing a set at the Tarrytown Music Hall (April 22), and at The Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton, Mass. (April 26) on their "Life Is A Merry-Go-Round Tour" that kicked off this week at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The singer and songwriter is still amazed by the success and longevity of The Zombies. He was particularly touched, he said, by the enthusiasm expressed by thousands of fans and so many peers who stood by them as they were inducted into the “Rock Hall” a few days after Blunstone’s interview with The Bee back in 2019.

He mentioned that one of the most deeply affecting moments of their Rock Hall induction performance was playing their hit “This Will Be Our Year,” as a chorus of voices sang along, filling the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“You know, John, it’s a wonderful song and it seemed to be very appropriate for us,” he said. “After all this time, getting that wonderful recognition was magical. It was a really magical night for all of us. I guess that song really sums up [what] we were feeling that night. I’ll never forget it — 17,000 people and all the wonderful acts that were performing, all singing along."

Unexpected Recognition

"To get that recognition was fantastic and somewhat unexpected, really," he said, "which made it even more beautiful when it actually happened."

When asked what he might have thought if one of his school pals in 1961 suggested Blunstone would be singing freshly minted new songs to sold-out audiences in 2022, he didn’t hesitate with his reply.

“I would have thought they were crackers, quite frankly,” he joked. “But I do remember thinking when the band made our first record, the general feeling was that bands had a two or three year lifespan, and then you probably went out to find a real job and got on with the rest of your life.”

In fact, that was the plan with the original bandmates.

After casually playing together between 1961 and ‘64 for fun, they all picked “real” career paths. Singer Blunstone was going to be an insurance broker, drummer Hugh Grundy a banker, pianist Rod Argent and guitarist Paul Atkinson were going to university, and bassist Chris White was enrolled in teacher’s college.

But then, just before going their separate ways, the band hastily adopted the name The Zombies, and entered that fateful and fruitful band contest. What followed for Blunstone was a merry-go-round of a career that saw him front several configurations of The Zombies, performing with The Alan Parsons Project, and producing his own solo work in between.

"There were many times over those years that I thought my career wasn't going to go on for much longer," he confided. "There's a lot of peaks and troughs in the music business.

"I wish in some ways that I'd known there was a choice of a lifetime career in music, because I think I would have enjoyed it in a different way," Blunstone continued, "I perhaps would have had a different attitude about it. To me it was a wonderful adventure traveling around the world with my mates, playing the music that I love, always thinking it was a short-run adventure. But what I didn't realize then was it could be a lifetime adventure. I wish I'd realized that at the beginning."

One of the latest chapters in that adventure came a couple of years ago, when he got a taste of what it might be like to be a Beach Boy after Brian Wilson asked Blunstone to sing “God Only Knows,” during their co-headlining 2019 tour.

Talking New Music

Flashing forward to March 2022, Blunstone said he was equally thrilled to be singing and recording brand new songs, mostly penned by partner Argent, on their tour pulling into the Playhouse April 30.

Reflecting on putting those new songs together, Blunstone said he very much enjoys working with Argent as the numbers are being constructed.

"I will meet with him two or three times just around the piano before the band gets involved because we dissect the songs, especially in regard to phrasing — we try and get that absolutely right just the two of us," he said. "It's really an interesting experience working on the songs like that."

Blunstone said three of the songs he recalls working on "quite vividly."

"One of the songs is called 'Merry-Go-Round,' a song called 'Different Game,' and one called 'Runaway' that come to mind," he said.

“What we will be playing, will be four new songs from the new album, which is just being finished,” Blunstone said. “So there will be those previously unheard songs along with a few deep cuts from our catalog some people will know and some may never have heard of, something from The Alan Parsons Project, a few selections from our Odessey And Oracle album, and of course the hits.

“It’s a varied repertoire for a rock concert,” Blunstone noted, “But we’ve got a really good band, so it really works!”

The iconic British psychedelic pop legend returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, April 30 at 8pm. For more information or to purchase touchless print at home tickets ($85-$95) go to ridgefieldplayhouse.org or call the box office 203-438-5795.

Go to newtownbee.com for additional interview segments and a couple of videos featuring Blunstone and The Zombies.

Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.

The Zombies perform "This Will Be Our Year" at the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony:

The Zombies perform "She's Not There" during a Boston show on March 3, 2018: