Althouse: "Do you like The Zombies" — a random text from my younger son at 6:31 today.

March 17, 2023

"Do you like The Zombies" — a random text from my younger son at 6:31 today.

25 comments:

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I've never been to Austin, but I've been to Huston. They seem to have the same ziggurat shaped high-rise.; 3/17/23, 8:01 PM
Iman said...: What’s your name?
Who’s your daddy?

One of the excellent groups of the past. One of my faves, along with the Left Banke.; 3/17/23, 8:26 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I saw David Byrn perform at some park in NYC, not the big lawn, I can't remember the name of the park. All I remember is that it wasn't big and he was performing with a Brazilian band, i believe it was Brazilian, I don't know for sure. I was like 'oh wow'. It was free, and there wasn't that many people. I was hanging out with co-warkers. We also saw 10,000 Maniacs at one of the piers. The 90's was an awesome time to see bands.; 3/17/23, 8:51 PM
Ralph L said...: I remember their 3 big US hits, but wouldn't have known which British invader did them without looking them up, as they were a bit before my time.

Never seen a Big Wheel scooter before. Does it make face-plants less likely?; 3/17/23, 8:59 PM
Dave Begley said...: Free concert and no one is there?; 3/17/23, 9:43 PM
Sprezzatura said...: This is inspiring re what I’ll do tomorrow.

It’ll be a drive with either the long-hood, short-wheelbase Porsche or the Alfa GTV: with either of them “She’s not there” will be playing, and other stuff too.

I like my old cars cause I can really get into the experience of stuff much older than me. Cars and songs.

Similarly, this blog is also fun cause I like seeing what old brains are fussing with in the golden years.

P.S. I’ll also wear a four digit day-date to fit with the cars and music. FTR, that’s the only yellow gold watch I have, but I have a lot of white and platinum and I have a handful of steel. I’m not into the gold look, except for that old day-date. Which I wear ironically.; 3/17/23, 9:44 PM
Iman said...: I used to visit Austin frequently during my years of employment. Used to work with the engineers at what used to be the TRI Lab (SBC now ATT) on Arboretum Blvd (IIRC). Always enjoyed my co-workers, Texans in general and the city. Always able to get great bbq there.

Being from California, never got used to sweating profusely in 70 degree temps though, lol.; 3/17/23, 10:07 PM
Flat Tire said...: As a child of the 60's (Yes I went to Woodstock) this seemed pretty bland and boring. I'm not a big music buff but got to so many greats, Santana to John Prine for free that I don't get the band or the crowd.; 3/17/23, 11:21 PM
re Pete said...: "If you ever go to Austin

Fort Worth or San Antone

Find the bar rooms I got lost in

And send my memories home

Put my tears in a bottle

Screw the top on tight

If you ever go to Houston

You better walk right"; 3/17/23, 11:34 PM
khematite said...: Put the Zombies' "She's Not There" in rotation with Dylan's "I'm Not There" and I could listen to them alternating all day long.; 3/18/23, 12:42 AM
George Leroy Tirebiter said...: Iman wrote:
> One of the excellent groups of the past. One of my faves, along with the Left Banke.

Odyssey And Oracle from 1968 and The Left Banke’s 2 albums from ‘67 & ‘68 are baroque pop masterpieces, and among many of my musician friends are pretty much treated as religious shrines. When Alec Palao put together the Zombie Heaven box set back in 2002 he helped get Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone back to doing live shows as The Zombies. Twas so fortunate to attend one of their first ones at Cafe Du Nord club in San Francisco, such an intimate and great sounding place.; 3/18/23, 2:54 AM
Wince said...: Yep, three dudes.

This year’s [2019] induction of the Zombies into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is at once a celebration and a culmination of one of the oddest and most convoluted careers in the history of popular music.

While not the first band to have two smash hits right out of the box, they may be the only group who proceeded to then fail miserably with their next ten singles over a three-year period before finally achieving immortality with an album, Odessey and Oracle (1968) and a single, “Time of the Season,” that were released only after they had broken up.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks1agImDmAk; 3/18/23, 2:56 AM
richlb said...: My son and I walked around Austin today. SXSW baffles me.; 3/18/23, 3:05 AM
richlb said...: I seem to recall a story that 2/3 of ZZ Top met when they were part of a band called The Zombies. I think the story goes that the songs became hits and promoters assembled a fake band to tour under their name.; 3/18/23, 3:07 AM
richlb said...: Ah, here it is:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/danielralston/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies-the-strangest-con-in-rock; 3/18/23, 3:09 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Here's my post from 2017 about seeing The Zombies here in Madison. I think it's one of my all-time best posts. It was fun for me to reread it.; 3/18/23, 5:45 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "My son and I walked around Austin today. SXSW baffles me."

I know. I just read a list of some of the things that were on offer, such as Robert Downey Jr. moderating a panel called “Online Crime: An American Crisis.”; 3/18/23, 5:48 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Downey’s presence on the panel made a lot more sense when he disclosed he’s an investor in Aura, an A.I.-powered cyber security service. Aura featured in a Downey-starring ad that played on the big screens before the session. The firm’s founder and CEO, Hari Ravichadran, also sat on the panel, as did writer Maria Konnikova and security expert Eric O’Neill."

Ugh!; 3/18/23, 5:48 AM
Ann Althouse said...: His presence "made a lot more sense" in the way that makes you far more wary of the entire thing!; 3/18/23, 5:49 AM
Wilbur said...: I feel obliged to mention that Bob Wills is still the King.; 3/18/23, 7:12 AM
mgarbowski said...: A definite article and a couple of Init Caps make all the difference. Disaggregated zombies are all over the culture these days, but "The Zombies" immediately invokes a band from 60 years ago to Althouse, and her son was clued in enough to expect that.
If someone had asked me about The Zombies out of the blue I would recognize the reference but also evince some shock that they still exist and play live. They quite disappeared for a while.; 3/18/23, 7:14 AM
Joe Smith said...: So not a fentanyl thing?; 3/18/23, 10:13 AM
Dude1394 said...: "Blogger Dave Begley said...
Free concert and no one is there?"

50 degress in Austin, that's polar bear weather.; 3/18/23, 12:02 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Pictures make me a bit nostalgic. Worked, I think, off on the right of the photo. It’s now the City Of Austin One Texas Center. Just south of A Colorado River (“A” because we all know where “The” Colorado River is). Nearing a quarter century since I left. Skyline is much more developed now. It was really nice to work there - we had nice offices, covered parking, and didn’t have to cross the river into downtown Austin to get to work. Traffic was already horrid north of the river back then (except, if you were like my 3rd brother who would cut over from the Mopac (TX 1) to I-35 on Caesar Chavez while the lights were on blink - before 6 am). To the west, along the north shore, was the Lady Bird Johnson park,with its great flowers. Then the city bought the building, ultimately evicting us, my company built a huge office facility up north (Roundrock?), where my office moved, without covered parking, and with a horrible commute, and I got a big promotion when I moved to Phoenix with another company, weeks before our office moved there. I tell people I left Austin for Phoenix to be cooler in the summer, and to avoid the fire ants.

One Texas Center was a great place to work. It was built on the site where the Armadillo World Headquarters was located. It was apparently the music incubator in Austin during the 1970s, with notables like Frank Zappa playing there.; 3/18/23, 1:18 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “50 degress in Austin, that's polar bear weather”

I didn’t mind the winters in Austin. It was the summers that I hated. Hot and humid. Everyone said it wasn’t as bad as Houston, which apparently wasn’t as bad as New Orleans. But for someone who decades in and around the Colorado mountains, where jackets were often worn in the mornings in the summer, but people would wear shorts with snow on the ground, it was bad enough.; 3/18/23, 1:25 PM