1 00:00:00,230 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: the show, fellow ridiculous historians. Thank you, as always, so 3 00:00:31,060 --> 00:00:34,100 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Let's hear it for our super producer, 4 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:36,030 Speaker 1: Max the Madman Williams. 5 00:00:37,590 --> 00:00:38,930 Speaker 2: What, what, what? 6 00:00:40,130 --> 00:00:42,770 Speaker 3: It's going to be great to have you back with 7 00:00:42,830 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 3: me again. You know, kiss and make up and it'll 8 00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 3: be just fine. 9 00:00:47,610 --> 00:00:47,990 Speaker 4: Yeah. 10 00:00:48,150 --> 00:00:51,229 Speaker 2: Sorry, I have a zombie's head, man. I'm a zombie's head. 11 00:00:51,250 --> 00:00:54,330 Speaker 2: I don't mean the Halloween kind. I'm not going to lie, Ben. 12 00:00:54,650 --> 00:00:59,010 Speaker 3: When I saw the headline of this particular ridiculous history 13 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:01,330 Speaker 3: research brief, you're Ben, by the way, and I'm Noel, 14 00:01:02,150 --> 00:01:06,790 Speaker 3: about the zombies' weird afterlife, I, of course, assumed that 15 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:09,550 Speaker 3: we were going to be talking about, you know, spooky zombies. 16 00:01:10,910 --> 00:01:14,429 Speaker 4: I am Ben Bullen. You are Noel Brown. This does not. 17 00:01:15,580 --> 00:01:21,170 Speaker 1: Result in a podcast made by three living, non-undead entities. 18 00:01:21,370 --> 00:01:25,530 Speaker 1: And I think I had the same quick cognitive double 19 00:01:25,590 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: take that you experienced there, Noel. But I've got to 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: tell you, we did a great episode on several episodes 21 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:37,289 Speaker 1: on the idea of the undead or zombies. 22 00:01:37,450 --> 00:01:38,270 Speaker 4: A while back. 23 00:01:38,590 --> 00:01:40,649 Speaker 3: Oh, and we, you know, Ben, and that was a 24 00:01:40,770 --> 00:01:45,270 Speaker 3: Ren Fair special, the zombie episode about zombie zombies and 25 00:01:45,290 --> 00:01:48,090 Speaker 3: the whole voodoo of it all and the film industry 26 00:01:48,150 --> 00:01:50,290 Speaker 3: and the, you know, what we, what came to lead 27 00:01:50,410 --> 00:01:54,290 Speaker 3: to the George Romero Walking Dead style zombies that we 28 00:01:54,330 --> 00:01:56,670 Speaker 3: know and love today. But this one comes to us 29 00:01:56,750 --> 00:01:59,670 Speaker 3: from one of our brand new researchers. And while it 30 00:01:59,690 --> 00:02:02,500 Speaker 3: has to do with the zombies, these zombies are British. 31 00:02:03,170 --> 00:02:03,690 Speaker 4: That's right. 32 00:02:03,910 --> 00:02:07,930 Speaker 1: Painfully so, folks. And with great thanks to our research associate, 33 00:02:08,010 --> 00:02:12,190 Speaker 1: Natalia Winkleman, we are going to learn about the weird 34 00:02:12,470 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: afterlife of the band, The Zombies. I don't know about 35 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,060 Speaker 1: you guys, but growing up around our fair metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia, 36 00:02:28,750 --> 00:02:33,100 Speaker 1: I was lucky enough to catch an amazing oldies radio 37 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,540 Speaker 1: station called Fox 97. 38 00:02:35,540 --> 00:02:36,750 Speaker 4: Did you guys have that growing up? 39 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,620 Speaker 3: I didn't, Ben, but one thing I did realize in 40 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,590 Speaker 3: doing a little traveling as I've gotten older is a 41 00:02:43,650 --> 00:02:47,270 Speaker 3: lot of those oldies stations repackage the same jingles. 42 00:02:47,770 --> 00:02:51,850 Speaker 2: Like mine growing up was oldies, 93, nine. 43 00:02:52,110 --> 00:02:54,780 Speaker 3: And then it would say Augusta and I don't know 44 00:02:54,790 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 3: how it works or how the system of Jingledom works, 45 00:02:57,700 --> 00:03:01,139 Speaker 3: but I've heard that exact same jingle repackaged with different 46 00:03:01,180 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 3: call letters, and it may well have been used by 47 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:07,070 Speaker 3: your hometown oldie station. 48 00:03:07,090 --> 00:03:08,510 Speaker 2: What was it, Ben? The Fox? 49 00:03:08,889 --> 00:03:14,590 Speaker 1: Fox 97. What I loved about Fox 97 was this, 50 00:03:15,470 --> 00:03:18,510 Speaker 1: you know, like so many radio stations, the DJs had 51 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,540 Speaker 1: their favorites and their go-tos, but for someone who was 52 00:03:22,740 --> 00:03:28,380 Speaker 1: not rocking around back in the 50s and 60s, this 53 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: was like a time machine. You were able to hear 54 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:37,030 Speaker 1: these hits from yesteryear. So I didn't know growing up 55 00:03:37,220 --> 00:03:39,590 Speaker 1: that a lot of the bands I was listening to 56 00:03:39,950 --> 00:03:44,430 Speaker 1: had long since disbanded or the people who were singing 57 00:03:44,490 --> 00:03:48,110 Speaker 1: had long since passed away. I thought the zombies were 58 00:03:48,150 --> 00:03:50,870 Speaker 1: a current band. And my parents just let me believe 59 00:03:50,910 --> 00:03:51,950 Speaker 1: that for a long time. 60 00:03:52,420 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 2: Well, Ben, I did a little bit of math. 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,870 Speaker 3: It's probably not very good math, as I am, you know, 62 00:03:56,940 --> 00:04:03,090 Speaker 3: want to perform good math. But 1969, you know, in 63 00:04:03,130 --> 00:04:05,170 Speaker 3: terms of what we would consider, you and I have 64 00:04:05,210 --> 00:04:09,530 Speaker 3: considered oldies growing up. Now that equivalent would be like, 65 00:04:09,570 --> 00:04:12,890 Speaker 3: you know, 1999. 66 00:04:13,090 --> 00:04:16,420 Speaker 1: Shout out to Prince, or the artist formerly known as. 67 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: There's something crazy Natalia hipped us to, folks. which is 68 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: that the zombies had a song hit number three on 69 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:31,170 Speaker 1: the big old billboard charts in 1969. However, this occurred 70 00:04:31,950 --> 00:04:37,950 Speaker 1: two years after the band broke up in 1967. It's crazy, man. 71 00:04:38,070 --> 00:04:40,850 Speaker 3: And it's a really neat story for multiple reasons, because 72 00:04:40,870 --> 00:04:45,190 Speaker 3: you love to see an underdog story and also this 73 00:04:45,250 --> 00:04:47,530 Speaker 3: whole idea of fake zombies. 74 00:04:47,670 --> 00:04:48,669 Speaker 2: What does that even mean? 75 00:04:48,730 --> 00:04:50,050 Speaker 3: Well, we're going to get to it as we dive 76 00:04:50,070 --> 00:04:53,830 Speaker 3: into this particularly ridiculous chapter of music history, and a 77 00:04:53,850 --> 00:04:56,860 Speaker 3: little more broadly, the once common practice of treating bands 78 00:04:57,020 --> 00:05:00,700 Speaker 3: like a concept that I think we both love, the 79 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,900 Speaker 3: ship of thesis. At what point, when you replace enough 80 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,700 Speaker 3: original members of a band, is that band still that band? 81 00:05:07,779 --> 00:05:09,260 Speaker 2: Like, let's talk about the Beach Boys. 82 00:05:09,300 --> 00:05:12,029 Speaker 3: I just saw a video today of Mike Love propped 83 00:05:12,110 --> 00:05:16,690 Speaker 3: up Weekend at Bernie style in a chair. Basically, I 84 00:05:16,710 --> 00:05:18,670 Speaker 3: don't know if he's even singing, but he's just surrounded 85 00:05:18,690 --> 00:05:20,500 Speaker 3: by a bunch of young dudes. So is that still 86 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 3: the Beach Boys, especially after we've lost Brian Wilson? 87 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:23,860 Speaker 2: I'm going to say no. 88 00:05:24,420 --> 00:05:28,830 Speaker 1: Yeah, and some of, Mike Love's interviews have not aged 89 00:05:28,890 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: that well either. But before we beach the boys, let's 90 00:05:34,450 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: wake up the zombies here. Their origin story, put quickly, 91 00:05:38,380 --> 00:05:41,420 Speaker 1: is the following. The group we call the zombies forms 92 00:05:41,500 --> 00:05:45,860 Speaker 1: in Hertfordshire, England in 1961. They're in a little city 93 00:05:45,900 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: called St. 94 00:05:46,980 --> 00:05:47,380 Speaker 4: Albans. 95 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:52,020 Speaker 1: It's about 20 miles north of London proper, and the 96 00:05:52,060 --> 00:05:56,110 Speaker 1: band members, when they first get together, they're around 16 97 00:05:56,110 --> 00:05:59,450 Speaker 1: years old. This makes sense. It's a tale as old 98 00:05:59,529 --> 00:06:03,950 Speaker 1: as time. You're a teenager, you've got an instrument, a dream, 99 00:06:04,300 --> 00:06:06,779 Speaker 1: and at least one parent who will let you wreck 100 00:06:06,820 --> 00:06:07,420 Speaker 1: their garage. 101 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,620 Speaker 3: Totally, and this is like the earliest days of that 102 00:06:09,660 --> 00:06:11,420 Speaker 3: kind of thing, if you think about it. Like, I mean, 103 00:06:11,460 --> 00:06:16,290 Speaker 3: the availability of the electric guitar was incredibly new. I mean, 104 00:06:16,330 --> 00:06:18,490 Speaker 3: that was only really something that came about in the 105 00:06:18,529 --> 00:06:23,050 Speaker 3: late 50s and early 60s. And they were affordable. And 106 00:06:23,089 --> 00:06:26,060 Speaker 3: you could pick up a real cheap Silvertone one that was, 107 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:29,340 Speaker 3: I think, if I'm not mistaken, made by Kmart or 108 00:06:29,620 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 3: another such big box store. And that was the case 109 00:06:33,580 --> 00:06:36,219 Speaker 3: in what you might call suburbs of England. And it's 110 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,289 Speaker 3: something that led to a lot of these British invasion 111 00:06:39,350 --> 00:06:41,369 Speaker 3: type bands that we know and love today. 112 00:06:41,450 --> 00:06:42,790 Speaker 2: And I just go ahead and say it right now. 113 00:06:43,150 --> 00:06:44,570 Speaker 2: I watched this recently on a plane. 114 00:06:45,110 --> 00:06:47,350 Speaker 3: And I highly recommend if anyone's interested in a little 115 00:06:47,390 --> 00:06:49,810 Speaker 3: more of a visual account of the story we're going 116 00:06:49,870 --> 00:06:52,770 Speaker 3: to tell today, check out the documentary hung up on 117 00:06:52,810 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 3: a dream about the zombies, which is a zombies documentary 118 00:06:57,460 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 3: kind of, and then talks about a lot of the 119 00:06:58,860 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 3: things we're going to hit on today with a lot 120 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:03,700 Speaker 3: of excellent archival footage and interviews with the band members, 121 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:05,789 Speaker 3: most of which are still alive today. 122 00:07:06,970 --> 00:07:10,580 Speaker 1: And, It may surprise you to hear that many of 123 00:07:10,660 --> 00:07:13,970 Speaker 1: these band members are still alive. It reminds me of 124 00:07:14,050 --> 00:07:17,350 Speaker 1: how startled I was to learn that the band Goblin 125 00:07:17,710 --> 00:07:21,890 Speaker 1: was not only still around, but regularly performing. And I'm 126 00:07:21,970 --> 00:07:23,330 Speaker 1: so sad I missed their show. 127 00:07:23,810 --> 00:07:26,430 Speaker 3: Did we talk about this when we were on the road, Ben? 128 00:07:26,510 --> 00:07:29,890 Speaker 3: I talked about it with somebody. Maybe it wasn't us, 129 00:07:29,910 --> 00:07:31,450 Speaker 3: because I think I talked about it with my friend Eric, 130 00:07:31,930 --> 00:07:33,350 Speaker 3: who I stayed with for a bit in New York 131 00:07:33,430 --> 00:07:34,110 Speaker 3: after our cruise. 132 00:07:35,130 --> 00:07:36,369 Speaker 2: They must have just played. 133 00:07:36,780 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 3: Because I definitely saw them years ago doing a similar tour, 134 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 3: and they are quite old. But if anyone isn't familiar 135 00:07:44,020 --> 00:07:47,380 Speaker 3: with Goblin, they are responsible for a lot of Italo 136 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,900 Speaker 3: disco horror soundtracks from the likes of Dario Argento. 137 00:07:53,260 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: And with the zombies, our origin story will immediately begin 138 00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:04,900 Speaker 1: with two guys who again, teenagers, right? One is Rod Argent, 139 00:08:05,020 --> 00:08:08,750 Speaker 1: who will later become the keyboardist of the zombies, and 140 00:08:08,870 --> 00:08:14,410 Speaker 1: his pal, another guy, Colin Blundstone, they meet up outside 141 00:08:14,430 --> 00:08:19,890 Speaker 1: of the local pub. And because of their age, they 142 00:08:19,930 --> 00:08:23,330 Speaker 1: aren't old enough to go inside the pub. There's a 143 00:08:23,370 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: later interview with Blundstone where he says, I was literally 144 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: in a corner singing to myself, doing a Ricky Nelson song, 145 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: and Rod came over and said, hey, that's really good. 146 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,699 Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, if you be the lead singer, 147 00:08:36,940 --> 00:08:38,020 Speaker 1: I'll play keyboards. 148 00:08:38,550 --> 00:08:42,050 Speaker 3: I love that because it's not dissimilar to a lot 149 00:08:42,110 --> 00:08:45,810 Speaker 3: of origin stories of these like British Invasion, well, American 150 00:08:45,850 --> 00:08:49,700 Speaker 3: bands too, but like just, it was a matter of, availability, 151 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 3: like who was around, who could learn how to play 152 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 3: the thing, who had the best voice. It wasn't some 153 00:08:55,059 --> 00:08:59,100 Speaker 3: like mystical meeting of the minds that was overthought and, 154 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:03,089 Speaker 3: you know, overworked in any way. A lot of these stories, 155 00:09:03,110 --> 00:09:06,850 Speaker 3: the Beatles included, involved just people that like went to 156 00:09:07,190 --> 00:09:10,150 Speaker 3: primary school together and just picked up guitars in their 157 00:09:10,190 --> 00:09:12,969 Speaker 3: little small towns and then ended up moving on to 158 00:09:13,030 --> 00:09:16,910 Speaker 3: bigger and better things, especially as the world of this 159 00:09:16,990 --> 00:09:20,130 Speaker 3: kind of, you know, rock music was kind of becoming 160 00:09:20,530 --> 00:09:21,410 Speaker 3: a lot more popular. 161 00:09:22,030 --> 00:09:24,110 Speaker 2: This is called getting in on the ground floor, right? 162 00:09:24,210 --> 00:09:25,070 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. 163 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:27,990 Speaker 1: And, you know, you probably run into this with your 164 00:09:28,050 --> 00:09:32,150 Speaker 1: own friends from childhood or your teenage years. A lot 165 00:09:32,190 --> 00:09:35,410 Speaker 1: of your friendships are actually based on proximity. 166 00:09:35,470 --> 00:09:37,489 Speaker 2: That's exactly what I was going to say. Exactly. Very 167 00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:37,910 Speaker 2: well put. 168 00:09:38,050 --> 00:09:41,470 Speaker 1: Yeah, because you hang with the people that you can 169 00:09:41,530 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: meet without needing a car. So Argent, our keyboardist again, 170 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,380 Speaker 1: he introduces our guy Blundstone to a guitarist named Paul 171 00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:55,310 Speaker 1: Atkinson and a drummer named Hugh Grundy. I don't know 172 00:09:55,350 --> 00:09:58,689 Speaker 1: if he's a relation to Solomon Grundy. They later add 173 00:09:59,370 --> 00:10:02,910 Speaker 1: a guy named Paul Arnold to the mix, and they 174 00:10:02,970 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: have here a delightful mix uh description of their quest 175 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,579 Speaker 1: to get a band name yeah. 176 00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:13,079 Speaker 3: Very important very important first step even before you start 177 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,750 Speaker 3: making a single note playing a single note uh he 178 00:10:15,780 --> 00:10:18,530 Speaker 3: said blunt stone every young band wants an original name 179 00:10:18,610 --> 00:10:20,590 Speaker 3: we were just in our teens so we tried the 180 00:10:20,630 --> 00:10:24,849 Speaker 3: mustangs uh if i'm not mistaken obviously that was probably 181 00:10:24,890 --> 00:10:27,070 Speaker 3: a maybe that was a popular car at this point 182 00:10:27,110 --> 00:10:30,010 Speaker 3: but it was definitely an early fender guitar that was 183 00:10:30,050 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 3: called a fender mustang that was the Well, it was 184 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 3: a combination of a Mustang and a Jaguar that Kurt 185 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,620 Speaker 3: Cobain played, but I digress. The Mustang was a popular model, 186 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 3: and I'm not sure about the history. You might know, Ben, 187 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 3: when did the Mustang become a popular car? Was that 188 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 3: more in the 60s, like the mid-60s? 189 00:10:46,330 --> 00:10:50,370 Speaker 1: It first came out in 1964, so at this point, 190 00:10:50,590 --> 00:10:54,990 Speaker 1: it would have been one of those more popular aspirational cars. 191 00:10:55,270 --> 00:10:55,729 Speaker 2: Makes sense. 192 00:10:55,910 --> 00:10:58,870 Speaker 1: If you were a kid growing up where these kids 193 00:10:58,910 --> 00:11:02,100 Speaker 1: grew up, You almost definitely did not have a Mustang 194 00:11:02,260 --> 00:11:04,500 Speaker 1: of your own, but you would know what it was, 195 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:05,980 Speaker 1: and you probably would have a poster. 196 00:11:06,460 --> 00:11:08,140 Speaker 3: If I'm not mistaken, I think I remember this from 197 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,180 Speaker 3: the documentary, they tried the Mustangs, he said. I'm pretty 198 00:11:11,220 --> 00:11:13,230 Speaker 3: sure the name was right. To your point, Ben, if 199 00:11:13,270 --> 00:11:16,330 Speaker 3: that was an aspirational car, cool guy, sort of piece of, 200 00:11:16,910 --> 00:11:20,830 Speaker 3: you know, kit, probably there were multiple Mustangs, you know, 201 00:11:20,950 --> 00:11:25,150 Speaker 3: throughout the countryside. Arnold then came up with the zombies. 202 00:11:26,090 --> 00:11:29,530 Speaker 3: I love this quote from Blundstone. To be honest, I 203 00:11:29,570 --> 00:11:33,870 Speaker 3: didn't even really know what a zombie was. Right. Right. Yeah. 204 00:11:33,950 --> 00:11:37,219 Speaker 3: I hadn't certainly hadn't taken on the the pop culture 205 00:11:37,290 --> 00:11:38,819 Speaker 3: cachet that it has today. 206 00:11:39,470 --> 00:11:41,750 Speaker 4: No, no, nowhere near at that point. 207 00:11:42,490 --> 00:11:45,890 Speaker 1: We were still sort of codifying our pantheon of monsters 208 00:11:46,090 --> 00:11:51,130 Speaker 1: in Western canon. So it's a great name. It's interesting, right? 209 00:11:51,170 --> 00:11:55,620 Speaker 1: It's going to grab people's attention. And unfortunately, the guy 210 00:11:55,670 --> 00:11:59,900 Speaker 1: who coins the name ends up leaving the band. He's 211 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:03,460 Speaker 1: kind of like Pete Best at this point. Arnold leaves 212 00:12:03,500 --> 00:12:05,810 Speaker 1: the band. After he comes up with the name, he's 213 00:12:05,870 --> 00:12:10,670 Speaker 1: replaced by a guy named Chris White. So 1964, again, 214 00:12:10,690 --> 00:12:15,910 Speaker 1: the same year the Mustang debuts, the zombies debut as well. 215 00:12:16,170 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: They release an absolute banger called She's Not There. Let 216 00:12:20,740 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: me tell you about the way she looked. 217 00:12:22,380 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 2: That's the way she looks. 218 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:25,020 Speaker 3: The way she dances. 219 00:12:25,220 --> 00:12:28,470 Speaker 2: Is the color of her hair. It's like, you know 220 00:12:28,490 --> 00:12:29,170 Speaker 2: what's funny though, Ben? 221 00:12:29,250 --> 00:12:32,500 Speaker 3: It actually has kind of a Monster Mash-y quality to it. 222 00:12:32,790 --> 00:12:35,429 Speaker 2: Like the zombies, it's such an evocative name. 223 00:12:35,670 --> 00:12:37,290 Speaker 3: Because of course it is easy to think about like 224 00:12:37,309 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 3: a song like the Monster Mash or the spooky thing. 225 00:12:39,300 --> 00:12:41,340 Speaker 3: But that one does have this spooky organ. It's like 226 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 3: this like Farfisa organ kind of thing. And folks who 227 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,650 Speaker 3: have seen the Kill Bill episode, may remember this song 228 00:12:50,250 --> 00:12:55,670 Speaker 3: was pretty interestingly remixed for the very important pivotal sequence 229 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 3: in the end of part two, when the bride and 230 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,660 Speaker 3: Bill meet. There's a really cool sequence where this song 231 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:01,900 Speaker 3: is used to great effect. 232 00:13:02,380 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, and She's Not There leans heavily on complex harmonies. 233 00:13:07,540 --> 00:13:10,449 Speaker 1: It's bluesy, it's melodic. It also has a lot of 234 00:13:10,490 --> 00:13:15,110 Speaker 1: keyboard or organ in it because it's written by our keyboardist, Argent. 235 00:13:15,910 --> 00:13:19,650 Speaker 1: It's a hit, and their first album, Begin Here, is 236 00:13:19,730 --> 00:13:23,429 Speaker 1: released the next year in 1965. They're off to a 237 00:13:23,690 --> 00:13:30,810 Speaker 1: wonderful start. They're touring the Americas. They're on the second 238 00:13:30,890 --> 00:13:34,030 Speaker 1: wave of the British invasion that was started by the Beatles. 239 00:13:34,650 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: They were as famous as BTS is now. 240 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 2: I guess. 241 00:13:38,540 --> 00:13:41,579 Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe, maybe close, maybe not quite as famous, at 242 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,140 Speaker 3: least over here, but they were, uh, making some waves 243 00:13:44,179 --> 00:13:46,260 Speaker 3: because boy, oh boy. I mean, there were bands like 244 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 3: that now just seem like a footnote. I think the zombies, uh, 245 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,260 Speaker 3: gets a little more, um, love and some of these, 246 00:13:52,300 --> 00:13:55,819 Speaker 3: but like bands like Herman's hermits, you know, and like, uh, 247 00:13:56,470 --> 00:13:57,890 Speaker 3: I don't know. There, there were tons of you and 248 00:13:57,910 --> 00:13:58,870 Speaker 3: the mysterious. 249 00:13:58,990 --> 00:13:59,490 Speaker 2: Exactly. 250 00:13:59,550 --> 00:14:01,950 Speaker 3: Cause tons of these little flash in the pan kind 251 00:14:01,970 --> 00:14:05,410 Speaker 3: of almost borderline novelty, uh, British invasion acts that aren't 252 00:14:05,429 --> 00:14:08,670 Speaker 3: really remember the turtles who I think we love as well. 253 00:14:08,890 --> 00:14:10,150 Speaker 2: Uh, he might've been American. 254 00:14:10,270 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 3: No, there's no way, but they did happy together of course. Um, 255 00:14:13,020 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 3: but there were a lot of, a lot of the 256 00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 3: bands of the thing bands, you know, the Beatles kind. 257 00:14:17,900 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 2: Of kick, kick that off. Yeah. 258 00:14:19,660 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: And also folks, just to, just to stay honest here, um, 259 00:14:24,410 --> 00:14:29,110 Speaker 1: Q and the Mysterians were not British. I'm just thinking 260 00:14:29,150 --> 00:14:32,790 Speaker 1: of the bands from the 1960s. I think they're actually 261 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,140 Speaker 1: from Michigan. So shout out to Max Williams there. So 262 00:14:37,780 --> 00:14:41,060 Speaker 1: these guys are doing a great job. They're living life 263 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,940 Speaker 1: high on the hog. They're also very young to be 264 00:14:44,020 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: rock stars. It's 1967, and lo and behold, it is 265 00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: time for our boys to record their second album. 266 00:14:53,030 --> 00:14:55,850 Speaker 3: Oh, and really quickly, Ben, the Turtles were absolutely from 267 00:14:56,350 --> 00:14:59,130 Speaker 3: the United States. They were from Los Angeles, which absolutely 268 00:14:59,170 --> 00:15:01,730 Speaker 3: adopted a lot of the British Invasion kind of sound 269 00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:03,740 Speaker 3: and sort of became its own thing. A lot of 270 00:15:03,790 --> 00:15:05,980 Speaker 3: that echoes in the canyon. I can't remember the name 271 00:15:06,020 --> 00:15:08,860 Speaker 3: of the canyon. But like some of the also ran, 272 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 3: I literally just Googled also ran British Invasion bands. You 273 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,180 Speaker 3: got the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Jerry and the Pacemakers. 274 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,540 Speaker 3: That goes well with the naming convention of that band 275 00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:20,310 Speaker 3: that you mentioned, Ben, which would have been perfectly at 276 00:15:20,330 --> 00:15:22,990 Speaker 3: home in this list. the Spencer Davis group, the Yardbirds, 277 00:15:23,050 --> 00:15:25,470 Speaker 3: the Hollies. Some of these were kind of one-hit wonders. 278 00:15:25,530 --> 00:15:29,290 Speaker 3: The Trogs, who had the smash hit Wild Thing, but 279 00:15:29,340 --> 00:15:30,300 Speaker 3: then not much else. 280 00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the zombies are existing in this same milieu. 281 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: If we go back to Blundstone and we hear the 282 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: story of how their second album came together, it's kind 283 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: of funny. It reminds me of sneaking around and doing 284 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,910 Speaker 1: kind of off-the-book stuff at our old office job. Blundstone says, 285 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,970 Speaker 1: They somehow managed to get into Abbey Road, the infamous 286 00:15:53,070 --> 00:15:57,650 Speaker 1: Abbey Road Studios. Normally, this was reserved for EMI artists. 287 00:15:57,950 --> 00:16:00,070 Speaker 1: It was very expensive. They had to get in and 288 00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:06,370 Speaker 1: out quickly. They actually borrowed John Lennon's Mellotron and got 289 00:16:06,430 --> 00:16:11,230 Speaker 1: through this recording gig by avoiding the studio's employees. And 290 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:14,390 Speaker 1: they were trying to cram all the time in in 291 00:16:14,410 --> 00:16:15,770 Speaker 1: the most efficient way as possible. 292 00:16:16,220 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 3: They did a lot of live takes. It was definitely 293 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,860 Speaker 3: trying to be, like you said, Ben, as efficient as possible. 294 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,090 Speaker 3: Fun story about the employees. They, I guess infamously you 295 00:16:27,110 --> 00:16:31,170 Speaker 3: could say, wore lab coats and they treated the place 296 00:16:31,290 --> 00:16:32,110 Speaker 3: almost like. 297 00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:33,930 Speaker 2: A laboratory facility. 298 00:16:34,380 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 3: It was the cutting edge of recording technology. EMI, the label, 299 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,780 Speaker 3: also actually made a lot of the equipment specifically for 300 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,220 Speaker 3: or the equipment was made for the studio. 301 00:16:44,460 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 2: And so that stuff is really, really sought after. 302 00:16:46,660 --> 00:16:48,860 Speaker 3: And there are like audio plug ins that like copy 303 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 3: a lot of the pieces of hardware equipment that EMI 304 00:16:51,730 --> 00:16:54,770 Speaker 3: made for Abbey Road. But she had like bands like 305 00:16:54,790 --> 00:16:56,830 Speaker 3: Pink Floyd that would record there, like just, you know, 306 00:16:56,870 --> 00:16:59,790 Speaker 3: the biggest of the big British bands worldwide. would record 307 00:16:59,830 --> 00:17:02,430 Speaker 3: in Abbey Road, and John Lennon's Mellotron is probably a 308 00:17:02,510 --> 00:17:05,910 Speaker 3: fixture there. It's probably the one that he used when 309 00:17:05,950 --> 00:17:07,990 Speaker 3: they made, like, Strawberry Fields. 310 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, he probably kept it there, and they were borrowing 311 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,940 Speaker 1: it with hard air quotes. They might not have asked 312 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,700 Speaker 1: Johnny themselves. They did manage to record this LP. They 313 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,050 Speaker 1: released two singles from it. Unfortunately, both of those singles flop, 314 00:17:26,530 --> 00:17:30,350 Speaker 1: and the band has been going through some inner turmoil. 315 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: Blundstone is talking about this too. He says they had 316 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,140 Speaker 1: a very rough period. 317 00:17:34,460 --> 00:17:35,620 Speaker 4: They had been touring the. 318 00:17:35,580 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: Far East where they got very badly ripped off. And 319 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,300 Speaker 1: then he says, quote, there were some quite scary things 320 00:17:43,380 --> 00:17:45,850 Speaker 1: that happened to us there. End quote. 321 00:17:45,869 --> 00:17:48,369 Speaker 4: We don't know exactly what those were, but it sounds unpleasant. 322 00:17:49,150 --> 00:17:51,730 Speaker 2: They tell some stories about that period in the documentary, 323 00:17:52,030 --> 00:17:53,330 Speaker 2: Hung Up on a Dream, that I was talking about. 324 00:17:53,350 --> 00:17:56,820 Speaker 3: And largely it had to do with um, borderline being 325 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 3: held hostage by promoters where they were like, I almost 326 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 3: liked them. I want to say it was something along 327 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,139 Speaker 3: the lines of like the promoters wouldn't give them their 328 00:18:04,180 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 3: passports back. And they kind of were like, you know, 329 00:18:07,180 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 3: siphoning money off of the top. And these guys were 330 00:18:09,220 --> 00:18:12,300 Speaker 3: getting paid pennies on the dollar. And, uh, but that 331 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,340 Speaker 3: was also happening in, in the, in the States and 332 00:18:15,460 --> 00:18:18,419 Speaker 3: even in the UK, like these guys were successful in 333 00:18:18,460 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 3: a lot of these younger bands, uh, were blowing up 334 00:18:21,180 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 3: what they call the hit parade. But much like even 335 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 3: in America, I just heard an interview with Lance Bass 336 00:18:26,900 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 3: from NSYNC. 337 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:29,940 Speaker 4: I was thinking that went viral. 338 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:31,900 Speaker 2: Dude, $ 35 a day. $ 35 a day per DM. 339 00:18:32,619 --> 00:18:35,500 Speaker 3: They made a shitload of money for the labels and 340 00:18:35,580 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 3: for the promoters and that horrible Perlman, Lou Perlman guy. 341 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,310 Speaker 3: But these young guys, similar to the boy band model 342 00:18:43,330 --> 00:18:46,980 Speaker 3: that we're talking about with bands like NSYNC, They were 343 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,890 Speaker 3: living on the road, sleeping rough, you know? Splitting rooms 344 00:18:50,990 --> 00:18:53,310 Speaker 3: at the Holiday Inn, that kind of level. If they 345 00:18:53,350 --> 00:18:57,649 Speaker 3: had rooms at all. They would be living in rented vehicles, exactly. Yeah. 346 00:18:58,030 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: So, Blundstone is having a day-to-day life that is in 347 00:19:03,190 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: sharp contrast to the image that a lot of the 348 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: fans are assuming. He says, the guys came back to England. 349 00:19:09,740 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: They saw a single had been released in their absence. 350 00:19:12,900 --> 00:19:15,210 Speaker 1: It was a cover of of a song called Going 351 00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:18,270 Speaker 1: Out of My Head by Little Anthony and the Imperials, 352 00:19:18,890 --> 00:19:22,429 Speaker 1: and he says everybody in the band hated the song, 353 00:19:22,470 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: the mix was atrocious, so they broke up with their producer, 354 00:19:26,210 --> 00:19:28,859 Speaker 1: and because of all those horrible things that happened when 355 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,419 Speaker 1: they were touring the Far East, they broke up with 356 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,980 Speaker 1: their agent, so suddenly they had no agent, no manager, 357 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,180 Speaker 1: no producer, and they said, what gives? There's not a 358 00:19:39,220 --> 00:19:40,859 Speaker 1: lot of interest in our band. 359 00:19:47,940 --> 00:19:51,500 Speaker 3: Yeah, and I mean, they're kind of approaching that level 360 00:19:51,540 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 3: of diminishing returns where they've put all this like you 361 00:19:54,220 --> 00:19:57,310 Speaker 3: know heart and soul into making these records I mean 362 00:19:57,510 --> 00:20:00,590 Speaker 3: Odyssey and Oracle is one of my favorite albums of 363 00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:04,369 Speaker 3: all time and it is a beautiful baroque piece of 364 00:20:04,750 --> 00:20:08,070 Speaker 3: work and now it's looked at as a masterpiece but 365 00:20:08,290 --> 00:20:11,460 Speaker 3: back when it came out Like you said, Ben, both 366 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:12,380 Speaker 3: singles flopped. 367 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,419 Speaker 2: It was an absolute, you know, more or less commercial disaster. 368 00:20:17,180 --> 00:20:19,660 Speaker 3: And it started from some, you know, like the whole 369 00:20:19,700 --> 00:20:22,679 Speaker 3: story behind it is fascinating because the title of the 370 00:20:22,810 --> 00:20:26,889 Speaker 3: album actually came from a misprint or a misspelling, rather, 371 00:20:27,510 --> 00:20:30,150 Speaker 3: in the art that was created for it. It's spelled, 372 00:20:30,350 --> 00:20:36,530 Speaker 3: Odyssey is spelled incorrectly. I believe it's spelled like O-D-E-S-S-E-Y 373 00:20:36,570 --> 00:20:38,350 Speaker 3: as opposed to O-D-Y-E-Y. 374 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:40,540 Speaker 2: S-S-E-Y, isn't that right? 375 00:20:40,859 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. 376 00:20:41,790 --> 00:20:49,570 Speaker 1: So imagine insult upon injury here. You have the album title, 377 00:20:49,750 --> 00:20:52,669 Speaker 1: you like the cover, but you don't have your agent, 378 00:20:52,850 --> 00:20:55,490 Speaker 1: you no longer have your producer, and even your graphic 379 00:20:55,540 --> 00:21:00,939 Speaker 1: designer is not up to snuff. Your graphic designer has 380 00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:05,580 Speaker 1: misspelled Odyssey with an E where that first Y should be. 381 00:21:06,100 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: But I like it because it's a cool play on words. 382 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: And they said, all right, we're going to keep it. 383 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,380 Speaker 1: We're going to call it A Journey Through Songs. But 384 00:21:14,580 --> 00:21:18,670 Speaker 1: if you look at other sources, aside from the co-founders 385 00:21:18,930 --> 00:21:23,109 Speaker 1: in their interviews, you'll see other people saying that the 386 00:21:23,150 --> 00:21:26,290 Speaker 1: band was so stressed out and having such a bad 387 00:21:26,350 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: time that they actually did not notice the misspelling and 388 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,619 Speaker 1: may have made up that story to rationalize it. 389 00:21:33,330 --> 00:21:36,709 Speaker 3: After the fact i can't remember i think it's addressed 390 00:21:36,770 --> 00:21:40,190 Speaker 3: in the documentary as well um but i don't i 391 00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 3: think i think the idea is that that whole misspelling 392 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 3: they didn't care enough to fix it isn't true i 393 00:21:45,420 --> 00:21:46,939 Speaker 3: think if they had wanted to they probably could have 394 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 3: gotten it redone but they were just sort of like 395 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,500 Speaker 3: that's actually kind of cool um and it is it 396 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,620 Speaker 3: is kind of cool um so as we were saying 397 00:21:52,660 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 3: the album came out in 67 uh really didn't make 398 00:21:56,060 --> 00:21:59,629 Speaker 3: any noise at all uh the band had actually because 399 00:21:59,670 --> 00:22:02,629 Speaker 3: of a lot of these factors, broken up before the 400 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,980 Speaker 3: album even came out because they just felt like there was, 401 00:22:06,180 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 3: like you said, Ben, the interest in the band had 402 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 3: kind of waned. 403 00:22:09,900 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 2: Yeah. 404 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,140 Speaker 1: And, you know, again, they're very young kids. They've traveled 405 00:22:13,180 --> 00:22:16,350 Speaker 1: the world. It's fair enough for them to say, hey, guys, 406 00:22:16,410 --> 00:22:18,750 Speaker 1: good hustle. We had a go at it on to 407 00:22:18,810 --> 00:22:24,290 Speaker 1: adult life. But that's not what happened. Because, as you know, 408 00:22:24,350 --> 00:22:27,230 Speaker 1: if you're a fellow music nerd, folks, at this time, 409 00:22:27,260 --> 00:22:31,139 Speaker 1: an album would not release across the world on the 410 00:22:31,180 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: same day and date. So the album comes out in 411 00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: the UK in 1967. The band has already broken up 412 00:22:37,859 --> 00:22:41,540 Speaker 1: and said their goodbyes. But the album hits the United 413 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: States in 1968 entirely by chance. 414 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, there was a guy from the band Blood, Sweat & 415 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 3: Tears who had become, I want to say, an executive 416 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,380 Speaker 3: at CBS, or a producer. He was an album producer. 417 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,550 Speaker 3: Because a lot of the record producers were not freelance. 418 00:23:00,570 --> 00:23:04,850 Speaker 3: They would be hired guns for these different record labels. 419 00:23:05,330 --> 00:23:07,970 Speaker 3: And he really liked the album, and he was able to, 420 00:23:08,070 --> 00:23:12,930 Speaker 3: I believe, get a distribution deal through CBS. And it 421 00:23:12,970 --> 00:23:15,450 Speaker 3: was a different lead single over here. 422 00:23:16,050 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 2: It was Time of the Season. 423 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 3: Whereas, if I'm not mistaken, the first single from the 424 00:23:22,340 --> 00:23:25,900 Speaker 3: British version was the first song. 425 00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:27,500 Speaker 2: On the album, which is like, Good morning to you, 426 00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:31,379 Speaker 2: I hope you're feeling better, baby. It's called Care of 427 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,380 Speaker 2: Cell 44. 428 00:23:32,380 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 3: And it's kind of an intense song because it's this 429 00:23:34,460 --> 00:23:41,150 Speaker 3: jaunty little Britpop bop that is someone writing to their 430 00:23:41,250 --> 00:23:45,910 Speaker 3: lover or their loved one who is about to get 431 00:23:45,990 --> 00:23:50,850 Speaker 3: out of prison. and very kind of upbeat. And it's 432 00:23:50,869 --> 00:23:53,949 Speaker 3: a wonderful song with incredible harmonies. But y'all, if you 433 00:23:53,990 --> 00:23:56,750 Speaker 3: know The Zombies, it's probably time of the season you know. Like, 434 00:23:56,790 --> 00:23:58,470 Speaker 3: what's your name? Who's your daddy? 435 00:23:58,510 --> 00:23:59,209 Speaker 2: The little, ah! 436 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 3: I mean, it is evocative and absolutely phenomenal. And to 437 00:24:04,140 --> 00:24:07,619 Speaker 3: your point, Ben, it sounds like a modern, it sounds modern. 438 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 3: I love it. In so many ways, it really does, 439 00:24:10,540 --> 00:24:13,010 Speaker 3: especially given what an influence a song like that had 440 00:24:13,070 --> 00:24:14,590 Speaker 3: on a lot of bands that are big now. 441 00:24:14,970 --> 00:24:15,710 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah. 442 00:24:15,750 --> 00:24:20,210 Speaker 1: So it's not the first single. But it's 1969 when 443 00:24:20,290 --> 00:24:24,730 Speaker 1: Time of the Season becomes a hit in the United States. Technically, 444 00:24:24,790 --> 00:24:30,060 Speaker 1: that's two years after it was released originally. And Blundstone 445 00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:35,020 Speaker 1: himself has always found it interesting that people say 1969 446 00:24:35,020 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: was the summer of love and that Odyssey and Oracle 447 00:24:38,420 --> 00:24:43,710 Speaker 1: epitomizes this period because it was recorded two years prior 448 00:24:44,090 --> 00:24:46,850 Speaker 1: to the fact. So the same way that the name 449 00:24:46,910 --> 00:24:50,150 Speaker 1: The Zombies was chosen before there was ever some sort 450 00:24:50,190 --> 00:24:56,020 Speaker 1: of overarching zombie culture, Odyssey and Oracle was recorded before 451 00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:58,780 Speaker 1: the Summer of Love that it came to characterize. 452 00:24:58,900 --> 00:25:00,860 Speaker 3: Well, timing is everything, man, because it's like, you know, 453 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,629 Speaker 3: the most recent Paul Thomas Anderson movie, One Battle After Another, 454 00:25:05,050 --> 00:25:07,649 Speaker 3: he'd been writing and working on and workshopping for, I 455 00:25:07,690 --> 00:25:10,129 Speaker 3: want to say, like 20 years. And it comes out, 456 00:25:10,250 --> 00:25:12,969 Speaker 3: and it just feels like a film of our time 457 00:25:13,130 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 3: and describing directly what's going on with all of the 458 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,980 Speaker 3: controversy around immigration and like internment camps and, you know, 459 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 3: the craziness within the government and a lot of the 460 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:25,900 Speaker 3: just really gnarly rhetoric. 461 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 2: And that's how things work sometimes. 462 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,220 Speaker 3: You'll have like a record that drops that just feels 463 00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 3: like it was made to describe the time, but it 464 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 3: turns out it's kind of a coincidence in the way 465 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 3: events sort of align and people sort of impart their 466 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 3: own meanings. 467 00:25:42,340 --> 00:25:47,899 Speaker 1: And another quick historical pickle for the long-suffering members of 468 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: the Zombies here, they had no idea that the song 469 00:25:51,290 --> 00:25:54,649 Speaker 1: was a massive success in the States. They were broken up. 470 00:25:54,790 --> 00:25:59,490 Speaker 1: Their quartet, as Stephen King would have said, had left 471 00:25:59,530 --> 00:26:04,310 Speaker 1: for separate directions. Two of the musicians were writing music 472 00:26:04,350 --> 00:26:08,780 Speaker 1: for other projects. The other three, including Blundstone, got day jobs. 473 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:11,950 Speaker 1: And he has this anecdote about about how he ended 474 00:26:12,010 --> 00:26:15,580 Speaker 1: up working at an insurance agency for almost a year, 475 00:26:15,990 --> 00:26:18,380 Speaker 1: and he said, I didn't feel like it was my 476 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,459 Speaker 1: great calling or vocation or anything. It's just that I 477 00:26:22,500 --> 00:26:24,820 Speaker 1: had to get a job. I didn't have a choice. 478 00:26:25,300 --> 00:26:28,090 Speaker 3: Well, it's so easy to take for granted how, to 479 00:26:28,109 --> 00:26:32,270 Speaker 3: your point, Ben, releases happen instantaneously worldwide. When it comes 480 00:26:32,290 --> 00:26:37,210 Speaker 3: to music, everything's streaming immediately. Everyone has access to everything 481 00:26:37,330 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 3: all the time. which can lead to kind of decision 482 00:26:41,420 --> 00:26:43,580 Speaker 3: fatigue in a way, and things just don't feel as 483 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,900 Speaker 3: special anymore. But back then, it's like, if something dropped 484 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:52,149 Speaker 3: in America, it would have a totally different trajectory in 485 00:26:52,290 --> 00:26:55,270 Speaker 3: the UK and vice versa, having to do with what 486 00:26:55,350 --> 00:26:58,190 Speaker 3: DJs decided to pick it up. There was no grand 487 00:26:58,310 --> 00:27:01,830 Speaker 3: scheme of like, you know, the Illuminati of the music 488 00:27:01,869 --> 00:27:03,770 Speaker 3: industry deciding what was going to get big. It was 489 00:27:03,810 --> 00:27:05,950 Speaker 3: a lot more based on happenstance. 490 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:07,659 Speaker 2: Right. Yeah. 491 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,810 Speaker 1: And also, this was far before the era of what 492 00:27:11,869 --> 00:27:14,570 Speaker 1: we would call social media. So even if you say 493 00:27:14,609 --> 00:27:17,929 Speaker 1: you were a fan of the zombies in the United States, 494 00:27:18,590 --> 00:27:21,170 Speaker 1: the odds are high that you haven't ever met them. 495 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:21,820 Speaker 3: Right. 496 00:27:21,890 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: You may not have ever seen a show. You just 497 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,060 Speaker 1: love time of the season because it's been playing on 498 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,220 Speaker 1: the radio constantly and other unethical groups. 499 00:27:31,740 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 4: Took advantage of this. 500 00:27:33,070 --> 00:27:38,850 Speaker 1: There's a management company in 1969 called Delta Promotions. Natalia, 501 00:27:39,590 --> 00:27:42,129 Speaker 1: I want to point out that your drug jokes are awesome. 502 00:27:44,130 --> 00:27:49,670 Speaker 1: Natalia ultimately teaches us that Delta, whose story is very 503 00:27:49,750 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: fuzzy and sketchy, managed not one, but two entirely fake 504 00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:59,220 Speaker 1: versions of the zombies. Other groups, they played instruments They 505 00:27:59,270 --> 00:28:02,930 Speaker 1: toured around the United States, Delta promotions raked in the cash, 506 00:28:03,330 --> 00:28:06,910 Speaker 1: but none of them were the zombies themselves. 507 00:28:06,990 --> 00:28:07,909 Speaker 4: Some of them were. 508 00:28:07,770 --> 00:28:11,490 Speaker 1: Like blues guys, but whatever they were playing was sometimes 509 00:28:11,609 --> 00:28:15,139 Speaker 1: not even close to the actual sound of the zombies. 510 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,940 Speaker 1: But audiences didn't know that, so they just paid their 511 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,260 Speaker 1: money for the ticket and got to say, wow, I 512 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,400 Speaker 1: can't believe I saw the zombies live. They sound way 513 00:28:24,460 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 1: different than they do on their records. 514 00:28:27,890 --> 00:28:28,670 Speaker 3: Yeah. 515 00:28:29,290 --> 00:28:30,010 Speaker 2: No, it's certainly not. 516 00:28:30,210 --> 00:28:33,130 Speaker 3: And I think a lot of folks maybe assumed that 517 00:28:33,270 --> 00:28:36,330 Speaker 3: the band were not a live performing band. That was 518 00:28:36,369 --> 00:28:39,770 Speaker 3: really common back then. The Beatles did do their famous 519 00:28:39,850 --> 00:28:41,850 Speaker 3: tour of the United States and, you know, Ed Sullivan 520 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,980 Speaker 3: show and all that. But then once they really started 521 00:28:44,020 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 3: getting into their super psychedelic period, they didn't play live 522 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:47,180 Speaker 3: like at all. 523 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:48,420 Speaker 2: And that was not uncommon. 524 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're not calling the audience gullible or knuckleheads. 525 00:28:56,060 --> 00:28:58,770 Speaker 1: They just didn't know what the score was. The first 526 00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:04,950 Speaker 1: imposter band was called the Texas Zombies. And even, it's 527 00:29:04,990 --> 00:29:06,990 Speaker 1: so weird, we've got a quote for you here, folks, 528 00:29:07,030 --> 00:29:10,070 Speaker 1: but it's so weird how even the members of these 529 00:29:10,550 --> 00:29:14,100 Speaker 1: so-called imposter bands were getting the rug pulled over their eyes. 530 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:21,290 Speaker 2: Correct. 531 00:29:21,870 --> 00:29:24,570 Speaker 3: And this is one of the members of that iteration 532 00:29:24,610 --> 00:29:27,430 Speaker 3: of the Fake Zombies Recall. As far as the zombies, 533 00:29:27,490 --> 00:29:29,810 Speaker 3: I was told they didn't exist, that they were only 534 00:29:29,850 --> 00:29:32,890 Speaker 3: a studio sound. I was just excited and flattered. I'd 535 00:29:32,930 --> 00:29:34,950 Speaker 3: only been playing for a few years, and the other 536 00:29:34,970 --> 00:29:37,110 Speaker 3: guys were pro-level at that point. I didn't look at 537 00:29:37,130 --> 00:29:39,010 Speaker 3: it as anything more than a chance to have some fun, 538 00:29:39,330 --> 00:29:42,030 Speaker 3: hang out with some cool guys, learn some songs, go 539 00:29:42,070 --> 00:29:45,950 Speaker 3: somewhere outside of this hillbillyville, and earn a little money. 540 00:29:47,630 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: And that is coming to us from an article by 541 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:55,580 Speaker 1: Daniel Ralston for BuzzFeed, The True Story of the Fake Zombies, 542 00:29:55,720 --> 00:30:00,300 Speaker 1: The Strangest Con in Rock History. So, Daniel, Delta Promotions 543 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: asked these Texas zombies to go on a short tour 544 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,420 Speaker 1: as yet another band. They're a less successful band that 545 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,820 Speaker 1: also recently broke up. They're called The Rose Garden. They 546 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: were a folk rock quintet from L.A., and they had 547 00:30:16,180 --> 00:30:21,020 Speaker 1: a 1967 Top 20 hit called Next Plane to London. 548 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,790 Speaker 1: That's the only song the fake band bothered learning. The 549 00:30:25,830 --> 00:30:29,380 Speaker 1: rest of their set was perfect. pretty much generic blues. 550 00:30:30,060 --> 00:30:35,090 Speaker 3: So audiences were so hungry for live music that they 551 00:30:35,130 --> 00:30:38,229 Speaker 3: just didn't really think to question it. They were just like, 552 00:30:38,250 --> 00:30:41,210 Speaker 3: don't look a gift band in the mouth. So the 553 00:30:41,290 --> 00:30:44,410 Speaker 3: fake Rose Garden, despite the fact that the real Rose 554 00:30:44,450 --> 00:30:49,890 Speaker 3: Garden had a female lead singer, Diana DeRose, And this 555 00:30:50,130 --> 00:30:54,870 Speaker 3: Rose Garden duplicate or doppelganger act had a male lead singer. 556 00:30:55,830 --> 00:30:59,540 Speaker 3: DeRose was from West Virginia, but reportedly claimed that she 557 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 3: was from Blackpool, England. And even fact checking stuff like 558 00:31:03,380 --> 00:31:07,700 Speaker 3: that wasn't a particular priority in this era. And one 559 00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:10,330 Speaker 3: of the great drug jokes that Natalia made is the 560 00:31:10,370 --> 00:31:14,420 Speaker 3: fact that when there were women rock journalists writing about 561 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,479 Speaker 3: these types of bands and interviewing people that had gone 562 00:31:16,500 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 3: to the concerts, it was all kind of a drugged 563 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 3: out game of telephone. Very difficult to fact check just 564 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,180 Speaker 3: about anything when everyone was all looted up, zooted and looted. 565 00:31:26,700 --> 00:31:30,570 Speaker 1: Yeah, and nobody was confronting the fake Rose Garden that 566 00:31:30,590 --> 00:31:34,650 Speaker 1: would later become the fake zombies about this. People asked, 567 00:31:34,970 --> 00:31:38,690 Speaker 1: people started asking, hey, where's your female lead singer? And 568 00:31:38,870 --> 00:31:44,810 Speaker 1: they would say, oh, you know, She's somewhere else. And 569 00:31:45,010 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: they got they got their jimmies about them because they 570 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: realized they could get away with this. As you said, 571 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,380 Speaker 1: no audiences were just so thirsty for live music. So 572 00:31:54,780 --> 00:31:58,530 Speaker 1: the fake Rose Garden slash fake zombies decide to tour 573 00:31:58,690 --> 00:32:02,190 Speaker 1: without a keyboard player for their gigs where they pretend 574 00:32:02,210 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: to be the zombies and the zombies die. music is 575 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: pretty keyboard heavy. 576 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,660 Speaker 3: Yeah, and they had a really funny fake backstory that 577 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,300 Speaker 3: maybe added a little bit to the mystique, the idea 578 00:32:12,340 --> 00:32:15,300 Speaker 3: that their keyboard player got busted in Dallas and was 579 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:20,500 Speaker 3: rotting in a jail cell somewhere. So Delta seemed to 580 00:32:20,540 --> 00:32:24,870 Speaker 3: have a pretty good handle on this fraudulent band business model. 581 00:32:26,050 --> 00:32:29,990 Speaker 3: The concert promoters in most cities knew what they were 582 00:32:30,050 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 3: in on the scam. They knew they were getting fake 583 00:32:32,150 --> 00:32:33,959 Speaker 3: versions of these bands, but obviously they could get them 584 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 3: for a lot cheaper, and people were still paying for tickets. 585 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 3: They operated as independent entities, with each taking a huge 586 00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 3: percentage of the money earned. So a very similarly, I 587 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,380 Speaker 3: don't know, advantage-taking model to what was going on with 588 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 3: the real zombies. Even these fake zombies were also getting 589 00:32:51,780 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 3: taken for a ride. Yeah, because they were really getting extorted. 590 00:32:57,110 --> 00:33:00,590 Speaker 3: Since what could they do, right? Because if they tried 591 00:33:00,630 --> 00:33:03,430 Speaker 3: to get a more fair deal from these different venues, 592 00:33:03,820 --> 00:33:06,700 Speaker 3: all those venues had to do was threaten to expose them. 593 00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:09,719 Speaker 3: And that's where we see one of the fake zombie members, 594 00:33:09,780 --> 00:33:14,100 Speaker 3: people like Mark Ramsey, say, you know, we were getting swindled. 595 00:33:14,180 --> 00:33:18,660 Speaker 3: The audience was getting swindled. The fans would leave disappointed. 596 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,660 Speaker 3: The band would leave town as quickly as possible. They 597 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,230 Speaker 3: were like traveling con artists for a while. But oh, yeah. 598 00:33:25,250 --> 00:33:27,870 Speaker 2: Skip in town. Right. Right. Before people came after them with, 599 00:33:28,270 --> 00:33:29,070 Speaker 2: you know, pitchforks. 600 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:29,890 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. 601 00:33:30,260 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: And this is just the first fake zombies band. The 602 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,660 Speaker 1: second fake zombies band is what we can call the 603 00:33:37,740 --> 00:33:38,700 Speaker 1: Michigan zombies. 604 00:33:39,180 --> 00:33:41,070 Speaker 4: These folks were actually really, really good. 605 00:33:41,590 --> 00:33:43,390 Speaker 3: Right. And to be clear, Ben, I'm pretty sure we're 606 00:33:43,410 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 3: on the same page here. We're just using the shorthand 607 00:33:46,420 --> 00:33:48,710 Speaker 3: for like they were just billed as the zombies. It 608 00:33:48,750 --> 00:33:51,370 Speaker 3: wasn't like it was the Texas zombies, the Michigan zombies 609 00:33:51,750 --> 00:33:53,750 Speaker 3: on the on the billboard or the posters. It was 610 00:33:53,790 --> 00:33:54,530 Speaker 3: just right. 611 00:33:54,770 --> 00:33:56,990 Speaker 1: Yeah, they were called the the first one was called 612 00:33:57,030 --> 00:33:58,430 Speaker 1: the original zombies. 613 00:33:58,450 --> 00:34:00,760 Speaker 2: Exactly. So therein lies the grift. 614 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,620 Speaker 3: And it is funny because this does sort of predict 615 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:08,500 Speaker 3: the future of like really elaborate tribute acts, which is 616 00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:10,370 Speaker 3: not illegal, obviously. 617 00:34:11,020 --> 00:34:13,060 Speaker 2: I do sometimes wonder, and I used to run sound 618 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 2: at a venue. 619 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,820 Speaker 3: That hosted a lot of tribute acts, how that works 620 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,010 Speaker 3: in terms of royalties. 621 00:34:18,930 --> 00:34:19,700 Speaker 2: I've always wondered. 622 00:34:19,739 --> 00:34:21,910 Speaker 3: I imagine a lot of the lesser known ones fly 623 00:34:21,930 --> 00:34:23,810 Speaker 3: under the radar, but I guess if you're like the 624 00:34:23,890 --> 00:34:26,670 Speaker 3: biggest Kiss cover band in the world, like Kiss Army, 625 00:34:27,170 --> 00:34:29,029 Speaker 3: maybe you are having to kick back a little bit 626 00:34:29,070 --> 00:34:31,690 Speaker 3: to Kiss, especially since we know a lot of those 627 00:34:31,710 --> 00:34:33,010 Speaker 3: Kiss guys are pretty litigious. 628 00:34:33,410 --> 00:34:38,210 Speaker 1: Gene Simmons runs a financial empire that happens to also 629 00:34:38,270 --> 00:34:38,890 Speaker 1: play music. 630 00:34:39,010 --> 00:34:39,250 Speaker 3: Correct. 631 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:41,989 Speaker 1: And is, uh, by all accounts, I'll see it a 632 00:34:42,090 --> 00:34:42,950 Speaker 1: real piece of work. 633 00:34:43,110 --> 00:34:44,969 Speaker 2: Uh-huh. No, not, not, not, not a good dude. 634 00:34:45,450 --> 00:34:49,350 Speaker 3: Um, so most of the time Delta would claim to 635 00:34:49,390 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 3: the whole ship of thesis argument or question that their 636 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,759 Speaker 3: touring zombies did have one original member, um, which gave 637 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,740 Speaker 3: them a little air of credibility. Yeah. 638 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:00,220 Speaker 4: Yeah. 639 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,589 Speaker 1: And this is where we go to Chris White, one 640 00:35:02,610 --> 00:35:06,410 Speaker 1: of the Zombies, actual, I'll call them. He remembers the 641 00:35:06,450 --> 00:35:10,210 Speaker 1: time a local radio promoter reached out to him and said, hey, 642 00:35:10,250 --> 00:35:13,620 Speaker 1: the zombies are apparently coming to tour my city. And 643 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,379 Speaker 1: White said, well, they're not the real zombies because we 644 00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:20,420 Speaker 1: are and we're here. The promoter said, well, I don't know. 645 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,419 Speaker 1: You might be the fake zombies. How do I know 646 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:27,259 Speaker 1: you're really Chris White? And this was enough of an impetus, 647 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,330 Speaker 1: enough of a feather on the camel's back of misidentification 648 00:35:31,350 --> 00:35:34,879 Speaker 1: that For the original zombies to say, okay, we have 649 00:35:34,900 --> 00:35:36,980 Speaker 1: to go back, we have to get the band back 650 00:35:37,020 --> 00:35:40,630 Speaker 1: together literally and do a third album if only to 651 00:35:40,690 --> 00:35:43,270 Speaker 1: establish that we are who we are and are in 652 00:35:43,330 --> 00:35:44,310 Speaker 1: fact alive. 653 00:35:44,870 --> 00:35:48,570 Speaker 2: For sure, but it didn't take off right away. 654 00:35:49,489 --> 00:35:52,380 Speaker 3: They made an album that they would consider or what 655 00:35:52,420 --> 00:35:55,340 Speaker 3: you could consider like a proof of life album called R.I.P., 656 00:35:56,950 --> 00:35:59,810 Speaker 3: which is clever considering the zombies of it all. It 657 00:35:59,850 --> 00:36:02,589 Speaker 3: didn't get released in the UK until the 2000s, like 658 00:36:02,739 --> 00:36:06,740 Speaker 3: until 2010. It was also a difficult task to reform 659 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,739 Speaker 3: the band because some of those guys, like you said, 660 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,700 Speaker 3: had kind of gone straight. They were working, you know, 661 00:36:11,900 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 3: square jobs and maybe didn't really have any interest in 662 00:36:15,180 --> 00:36:15,580 Speaker 3: doing this. 663 00:36:15,620 --> 00:36:16,660 Speaker 2: So they had to be convinced. 664 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:21,299 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and their reunion did, by the way, ultimately fail, 665 00:36:21,390 --> 00:36:24,090 Speaker 1: and they abandoned the recording session, which is part of 666 00:36:24,130 --> 00:36:28,290 Speaker 1: the reason RIP doesn't come out until so much later 667 00:36:28,350 --> 00:36:32,970 Speaker 1: in the game. And this teaches us another lesson, because 668 00:36:33,650 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: Delta and companies like them are getting backlash from bands 669 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: whose identities it had stolen, right? And they could only 670 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,520 Speaker 1: do this grift, like a Ponzi scheme, up to a 671 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,430 Speaker 1: certain point. They eventually realized they could no longer keep 672 00:36:48,510 --> 00:36:51,739 Speaker 1: up this grand charade, which I like to pronounce that way. 673 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,580 Speaker 1: The beginning of the end comes when a fake version 674 00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: of the animals, also created by Delta, get confronted by 675 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,630 Speaker 1: the founder of the actual animals, a guy who still 676 00:37:04,710 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: fascinates me named Eric Burden. He's got a bit of 677 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:12,050 Speaker 1: an ego, does Eric, so he doesn't take well to impersonators. 678 00:37:12,230 --> 00:37:13,050 Speaker 2: He sure does. 679 00:37:13,210 --> 00:37:16,660 Speaker 3: And by the way, there's a really great publication called 680 00:37:16,739 --> 00:37:19,670 Speaker 3: Far Out Magazine out of the U.K., And they have 681 00:37:19,690 --> 00:37:23,049 Speaker 3: a really cool article called Delta Promotions, the company responsible 682 00:37:23,130 --> 00:37:25,930 Speaker 3: for a string of fake bands. So Delta was not 683 00:37:26,030 --> 00:37:28,950 Speaker 3: only ripping off the zombies, they were ripping off other 684 00:37:28,969 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 3: bands like The Animals, other bands like The Archies, and 685 00:37:32,700 --> 00:37:36,060 Speaker 3: a handful of others. So they were taking advantage of 686 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 3: that sort of live music scarcity and the fact that 687 00:37:38,540 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 3: a lot of these bands maybe were more studio creations. 688 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 3: And because there wasn't that instantaneous cancel culture kind of 689 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,469 Speaker 3: ability for people to call this stuff out. 690 00:37:47,410 --> 00:37:47,790 Speaker 2: On the internet. 691 00:37:47,810 --> 00:37:49,630 Speaker 3: It's not really the same thing as cancel culture, but 692 00:37:49,650 --> 00:37:51,890 Speaker 3: you see what I'm saying. They were able to pull 693 00:37:51,930 --> 00:37:53,830 Speaker 3: this off for a lot longer than you certainly would 694 00:37:53,850 --> 00:37:54,410 Speaker 3: be able to get. 695 00:37:54,350 --> 00:37:55,070 Speaker 2: Away with today. 696 00:37:55,090 --> 00:37:58,989 Speaker 3: And one version of this that is sort of contemporary 697 00:37:59,110 --> 00:38:00,470 Speaker 3: is a band doing this themselves. 698 00:38:00,489 --> 00:38:01,950 Speaker 2: I don't know if you know the band Death Grips. 699 00:38:03,580 --> 00:38:04,860 Speaker 2: They did a thing for a while. 700 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,940 Speaker 3: They considered, you know, they're all about these like elaborate 701 00:38:07,980 --> 00:38:11,219 Speaker 3: kind of performance art kind of things where they even like, 702 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,180 Speaker 3: I think they, They took all the money that the 703 00:38:14,219 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 3: label fronted them for the promotion of this album that 704 00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:19,820 Speaker 3: they made called No Love Deep Web. And they spent 705 00:38:19,860 --> 00:38:22,469 Speaker 3: it all on a lavish, like, you know, staying at 706 00:38:23,150 --> 00:38:25,930 Speaker 3: the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and making videos from 707 00:38:25,969 --> 00:38:26,390 Speaker 3: inside of it. 708 00:38:26,390 --> 00:38:28,330 Speaker 2: And then they leaked the album themselves. 709 00:38:28,850 --> 00:38:33,219 Speaker 3: But they also would often hire fake musicians to go 710 00:38:33,300 --> 00:38:36,040 Speaker 3: on tour as themselves and play music. 711 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:37,720 Speaker 2: Impersonating Death Grips. 712 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:39,700 Speaker 3: They would also even do stuff where they would have 713 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:42,480 Speaker 3: shows set up where the equipment would just be set 714 00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:45,750 Speaker 3: up on stage and then no one would ever come 715 00:38:45,790 --> 00:38:46,810 Speaker 3: on stage. 716 00:38:46,850 --> 00:38:50,990 Speaker 1: My favorite version of this is the legendary MF Doom 717 00:38:51,070 --> 00:38:54,109 Speaker 1: for any hip hop fans. You're probably already aware, folks, 718 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:56,940 Speaker 1: that MF Doom became notorious over the course of his 719 00:38:57,020 --> 00:39:01,739 Speaker 1: career for booking himself for so many shows that it'd 720 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 1: be impossible for him to go to all of them. 721 00:39:04,020 --> 00:39:08,560 Speaker 1: and then sending his own hand-picked impersonators with an MF 722 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:14,239 Speaker 1: Doom mask to perform. Just absolutely legendary. He never did 723 00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:17,839 Speaker 1: the thing, though, that Eric Burden did when Eric Burden 724 00:39:17,930 --> 00:39:21,590 Speaker 1: confronted the fake animals. He went to that fake animal 725 00:39:21,630 --> 00:39:27,430 Speaker 1: show with a baseball bat, and apparently he got a 726 00:39:27,530 --> 00:39:30,540 Speaker 1: bunch of his biker gang friends to dance chase the 727 00:39:30,620 --> 00:39:35,980 Speaker 1: fake animals around and physically threaten them into no longer performing. 728 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,089 Speaker 1: And so Delta, in a way, is kind of like 729 00:39:39,140 --> 00:39:44,830 Speaker 1: those studios who do those purposeful ripoffs of blockbuster movies. 730 00:39:45,090 --> 00:39:47,910 Speaker 1: So instead of the Terminator, you'd have the Eradicator at 731 00:39:47,950 --> 00:39:49,330 Speaker 1: your local blockbuster or something. 732 00:39:49,750 --> 00:39:51,469 Speaker 2: Mockbusters. Mockbusters. 733 00:39:51,530 --> 00:39:52,950 Speaker 4: Thank you. Perfect. 734 00:39:53,410 --> 00:39:57,529 Speaker 1: Delta Promotions is doing that with music. They dissolve and 735 00:39:57,570 --> 00:40:01,739 Speaker 1: the bands that are in their ill-gotten roster disappear. Our 736 00:40:01,780 --> 00:40:05,299 Speaker 1: Texas Zombies go home to Dallas. A few of them 737 00:40:05,700 --> 00:40:10,239 Speaker 1: get together and later form a little band called ZZ Top. 738 00:40:10,700 --> 00:40:13,720 Speaker 2: That is so cool. You guys know ZZ Top, the beardies, 739 00:40:13,900 --> 00:40:14,600 Speaker 2: the beard guys. 740 00:40:14,620 --> 00:40:16,870 Speaker 4: The beardies and the one guy on the drums. 741 00:40:17,130 --> 00:40:18,650 Speaker 2: The one guy on the drums. Does he not have 742 00:40:18,690 --> 00:40:20,130 Speaker 2: a beard as well? I guess maybe you're right. 743 00:40:20,150 --> 00:40:21,609 Speaker 4: He has, but he doesn't have a wizard beard. 744 00:40:21,670 --> 00:40:23,290 Speaker 2: It's not his wizard. He would get caught in the sticks. 745 00:40:23,510 --> 00:40:23,989 Speaker 4: There you go. 746 00:40:24,030 --> 00:40:27,589 Speaker 1: You got to think about the sticks. Congratulations, however, to 747 00:40:27,630 --> 00:40:31,550 Speaker 1: the real zombies. Despite their trials and travails, they entered 748 00:40:31,570 --> 00:40:34,780 Speaker 1: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, just 749 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:39,590 Speaker 1: two years after the 50th anniversary of of Odyssey and Oracle. 750 00:40:39,890 --> 00:40:43,169 Speaker 1: And that is our episode, folks. Thank you so much 751 00:40:43,230 --> 00:40:45,850 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Big thanks to our super producer, Max 752 00:40:45,870 --> 00:40:46,810 Speaker 1: the Madman Williams. 753 00:40:47,290 --> 00:40:50,170 Speaker 3: Huge thanks once again to our research associate extraordinaire on 754 00:40:50,230 --> 00:40:54,170 Speaker 3: this one, Natalia Winkleman. Really, really excited to talk about 755 00:40:54,250 --> 00:40:56,550 Speaker 3: music history. I think the both of us are music 756 00:40:56,630 --> 00:41:02,310 Speaker 3: nerds in our own rights. Jonathan Strickland, The Quizster, AJ Bahamas, Jacobs, 757 00:41:02,370 --> 00:41:02,709 Speaker 3: The Puzzler. 758 00:41:03,370 --> 00:41:03,650 Speaker 2: Dr. 759 00:41:03,710 --> 00:41:06,810 Speaker 1: Rachel Big Spinach Lance, as well as, of course, the 760 00:41:06,870 --> 00:41:10,430 Speaker 1: Rude Dudes of Ridiculous Crime. If you love us, you'll 761 00:41:10,489 --> 00:41:13,029 Speaker 1: love them. We can't wait for them to come back 762 00:41:13,110 --> 00:41:14,810 Speaker 1: on the show very, very soon. 763 00:41:15,190 --> 00:41:16,290 Speaker 2: We'll see you next time, folks. 764 00:41:23,380 --> 00:41:27,180 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 765 00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:29,300 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.