[.ca] The Singles Collection: A's & B's, 1964-1969

The casual listener should buy "Absolutely the Best" instead:
It's hard to choose between "The Singles Collection" and the one disc "Absolutely the Best." TSC may be more than than a casual listener needs of this group. If you need all the forgettable B-sides here, you're a candidate for the "Zombies Heaven" box that has everything they ever did. On ATB you get three of the very best Zombies songs that are NOT on TSC: The Way I Feel Inside, I Want You Back Again, and Gotta Get a Hold of Myself. (That is, the best songs before their great "Odessey & Oracle" album - get the 30th Anniversary Edition!)

Why Release Under This Title And Leave Off One Hit?:
To say that The Zombies were not among the most prominent of those identified with The British Invasion would be understating the fact. In 1964/65 they had just four North American hit singles for the Parrot label: She's Not There (# 2 in December b/w You Make Me Feel So Good); Tell Her No (# 6 in February 1965 b/w Leave Me Be); She's Coming Home (# 58 in May 1965 b/w I Must Move), and I Want You Back Again (# 95 in July 1965 b/w Remember When I Loved Her). When nothing else worked by 1967 they had decided to disband but, before doing so, spent some considerable time putting together the album Odyssey And Oracle for CBS (# 95 in April 1968) which included the track Time Of The Season. With "I'll Call You Mine" on the flipside it was released as a single at the same time without success. Someone must have had faith in the song, however, because it was re-released in February 1969 by the Date label, this time b/w Friends Of Mine, and it rose to # 3 in March. Because of that unexpected success, and with original members Rod Argent \okeyboardist and the author of all their hits), vocalist Colin Blunstone, guitarist Paul Atkinson, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy scattered to the four corners (Rod had already formed the group Argent), a number of bogus groups began calling themselves The Zombies leading to legal actions. Strangely, they had even less success in their native U.K. where just 2 of their over 20 singles released by Decca made the charts - She's Not There (# 12) and Tell Her No (# 42). Even so their music was appreciated by the likes of Santana who would take She's Not There to # 22 in 1977, and Juice Newton who would have a # 27 with Tell Her No in 1983. This compilation, despite being billed as "the Singles" collection, leaves off I Want You Back Again and its flipside and for that reason I had to deduct one star. Everything else of significance is here, though, and the sound quality is excellent.

The casual listener should buy "Absolutely the Best" instead:
It's hard to choose between "The Singles Collection" and the one disc "Absolutely the Best." TSC may be more than than a casual listener wants of this group. If you need all the forgettable B-sides here, you're a candidate for the "Zombies Heaven" box that has everything they ever did. On ATB you get three of the very best Zombies songs that are NOT on TSC: I Want You Back Again, If It Don't Work Out and Nothing's Changed. (That is, the best songs before their great "Odessey & Oracle" album - get the 30th Anniversary Edition!)

Pop genius:
It all started with the soft voice and engrossing organ of "She's not there" lost on a tape of 60's Best Of. Digging a little in the hope of finding more nuggets I found this Singles Collection. What can I say? Pure gold and probably one of the most underrated 60s act, which is just plain incomprehensible considering the consistant qualities of the singles that the Zombies produced during their brief carrier. I guess they might have seemed a bit too nice at a time when other bands were busy adding Sex and Drugs to Rock 'n Roll (nothing wrong with that either), and competing for public attention with the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, etc. just can't have been easy. Still the Zombies' songs remain, pure pop gems.

A great break from the crap that's out now.:
I'm a 15 year old canadian and I'm discusted with the music of my generation. I am a musician and presently play bass, piano, gutair, and I'm working on my drumming skills. The only thing I bother to play is this great music. The bass in all these songs is great and it contains great gutiar. Of coarse it isn't the most elaberate instramentals but when you add in the great vocals it's a winning C.D. It's a shame they didn't make it big but if your looking for a break from the modern pop crap that's out their this is the C.D. for you.

• She's Not There
• You Make Me Feel Good
• Leave Me Be
• Woman
• Tell Her No
• What More Can I Do
• She's Coming Home
• I Must Move
• Whenever You're Ready
• I Love You
• Is This the Dream
• Don't Go Away
• Remember You
• Just Out of Reach
• Indication
• How We Were Before
• Gotta Get a Hold of Myself
• Way I Feel Inside
• Goin' Out of My Head
• She Does Everything for Me
• Friends of Mine
• Beechwood Park
• Care of Cell 44
• Maybe After He's Gone
• Time of the Season
• I'll Call You Mine
• Imagine the Swan
• Conversation off Floral Street