know he could play the piano. He played“ Nut Rocker” by B. Bumble and the Stingers. It ' s a rock and roll take on a classical piece, and he was obviously an extremely gifted keyboard player at 15 – far in advance of the rest of the band.
I said to him,“ You should play keyboards in this band.” And he said,“ No, no, we want a rock and roll band. It ' s got to be three guitars.” At the
end of the rehearsal, I was putting the guitar away. I used to sing a lot, just out of habit, and Rod heard me singing. He came over to me, and he said,“ I ' ll tell you what, if you ' ll be the lead singer, I ' ll play keyboards.” Essentially, that was The Zombies. It was a keyboard-based band that featured three-part harmony, which was quite unusual in those days. Very few bands had keyboards, and very few bands sang harmonies in 1961 in the UK.
IE: I assume nobody wanted to carry a piano to a club gig! CB: Most places had a piano, and you would have to use whatever they’ d got. The guitars would have to be tuned to the piano because it would invariably be tuned down.
We would put a mic into the terrible, old, beaten-up piano, and Rod would play as hard as he could to be heard. I often used to gauge how well a gig had gone by how much blood was coming out of his thumb. He would play those [ glissandos ] like Jerry Lee Lewis. You ' d look
afterward at his thumb, and it would all be bleeding. When he managed to find a Hohner Pianet, everything changed because we could really hear him [ through an amplifier ]. It was an early electronic keyboard. Unfortunately, it was a funny setup. We weren ' t playing big venues, but we had a big crowd in small clubs where it would get very, very hot. The Pianet would stop
working [ because of the sweat ], so the band would just stop. Rod would get a hairdryer out of his bag, open up the Pianet, and start drying it. This is all in the middle of a gig. Usually, they would be dancing. People would go and have a drink or something, I suppose.
IE: That sounds like a routine by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. But you made it through. CB: We made it through. Rod ' s Pianet is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now. They don ' t have to use a hairdryer on it anymore.
IE: What’ s next for you? CB: I ' m recording a solo album with a young producer called George Moore [ Stormzy, Yebba, etc.]. [ It ] should be finished before Christmas. I hope it will be out in the spring.( colinblunstone. net)
Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, The Fixx, and Peter Asher appear 9 / 17 at Genesee Theatre, Waukegan newreleases September 6
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10 illinoisentertainer. com september 2026