On This Day 10/04/1965 The Zombies

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On this day, 10 April 1965, rock band The Zombies played Sophia Gardens.

Also featured on the bill were, Dusty Springfield, The Searchers, Bobby Vee, Tony Jackson & The Vibrations, Heinz & The Wild Boys, Echoes & (compere) George Meaton).

Formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with “She’s Not There” 

In the US, two further singles—"Tell Her No” in 1965 and "Time Of Season” in 1968—were also successful.

The day before the Cardiff concert, The Zombies released their debut album, Being Here.

The album was an interesting mixture of original songs and rhythm and blues cover versions.

Of the eight original tracks, Rod Argent supplied the album's biggest hit, "She's Not There", and the songs "Woman", "I Remember When I Loved Her", plus "The Way I Feel Inside" which was the shortest track on the album at 1:28.
It might have been shorter, had not their recording manager and producer Ken Jones added the sounds of footsteps and a coin dropping, which contributed to the feeling of alienation that the song projected. 

Bassist Chris White provided "I Can't Make Up My Mind", the quirky "I Don't Want to Know", plus the beaty "What More Can I Do" which, at 1:38, is the second-shortest cut on the album and contains a simple but distinctive drum riff. The final original was an instrumental written by Ken Jones, "Work 'n' Play".

The Zombies continued recording original songs through 1965 and 1966, trying to achieve chart success. There were enough tracks to have filled a follow-up album, but due to the band's lack of chart success, most of these tracks remained unissued at the time.

On this day 27/10/1975 Argent

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On this dayArgent, 27 October 1975, rock band Argent played Cardiff University.

The band had just released Counterpoints, their seventh and final album on RCA Victor (United Artists Records in U.S. in 10 April 1976).

This was the second studio album recorded without founding member Russ Ballard. John Verity stepped in to fill Ballard's shoes with the previous album Circus (at the recommendation of Ballard) after Verity's band supported Argent on tour 1974 tour.

Phil Collins played drums and percussion on Counterpoints while Bob Henrit was ill.

Founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of the Zombies. They had three UK top 40 singles: "Hold Your Head Up", which reached number five and spent 12 weeks on the chart, "Tragedy" (number 34) and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" (number 18).

Two of their albums charted in the UK; All Together Now, which peaked at number 13 in 1972, and In Deep, which spent one week at number 49 in 1973.

Original members of the band were Rod Argent on keyboards, bassist Jim Rodford (Argent's cousin and formerly with the Mike Cotton Sound), drummer Bob Henrit and guitarist Russ Ballard (both formerly with the Roulettes and Unit 4 + 2).

Lead vocal duties were shared between Ballard, Rodford and Argent.

When Ballard left in 1974, he was replaced by guitarist/vocalist John Verity and guitarist John Grimaldi.

This lineup produced two albums and a film that was never released (though a clip is available to view on John Verity's website).

The band's decision to stop touring late in 1976 has never been fully explained, though the decision might have been influenced by the declining health of one of its members.

Rodford, Henrit and Verity briefly continued together under the name Phoenix before going their separate ways, with first Rodford and then Henrit becoming members of the Kinks.

Meanwhile, Rod Argent performed some work with Andrew Lloyd Webber and produced a couple of solo albums. He also opened a keyboard shop in the West End of London.