The Zombies In addition to playing the piano and keyboards in the Zombies, Argent was (with White) one of the group's two main songwriters, penning the
hits "
She's Not There", "
Tell Her No", and "
Time of the Season", amongst others. Argent was initially the group's lead singer, with Blunstone on guitar. When Argent's keyboard talents became apparent, he became the group's full-time keyboard player, conceding the role of lead singer to Blunstone. Despite this, Argent performed sporadic lead vocals for the band on tracks such as "
I Got My Mojo Working" from
Begin Here and "
I Want Her, She Wants Me" from
Odessey and Oracle. The group continued to record through the 1960s, but disbanded in December 1967, reportedly over management disagreements.
Argent After the band broke up, Argent went on to form the band
Argent, which had a hit album in 1972 with
All Together Now, which contained the single "
Hold Your Head Up". His
Hammond B3 solo on that track was cited by
Rick Wakeman as the "greatest organ solo ever". The band also
recorded the original version of the rock anthem "
God Gave Rock and Roll to You", written by lead singer
Russ Ballard, which was later covered by other artists including
Petra and
Kiss. Argent's first album included the song "
Liar" (also composed by Ballard), which became a hit for
Three Dog Night. In 1976, the band broke up.
Solo career In 1978, Argent released his debut solo album
Moving Home with many well-known musicians, including
Gary Moore,
Genesis drummer
Phil Collins, and
Weather Report bass guitarist
Alphonso Johnson. In 1980, he wrote a musical titled
Masquerade which premiered in London in 1982. In 1988, he issued another solo album,
Red House. Argent went on to play keyboards with a number of musicians, including piano on the
title track of
The Who's album
Who Are You, and on
Variations with
Gary Moore,
Julian Lloyd Webber, and
Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the 1980s he began writing for television. In 1986, he composed the theme music for
ITV's coverage of the
1986 FIFA World Cup,
Aztec Gold, which he released as a
single under the name of
Silsoe. Also in 1986, he composed the theme music for ITV's
The Two of Us and for 1987's LWT series Bust. Two years later, the Argent/Van Hooke composition "Goal Crazy" was used by ITV's
The Match from 1988 until 1992; and the duo also composed the now-familiar theme music for ITV's ''
It'll Be Alright On The Night, first used in series 6 in 1990 and then until 2008. Argent also composed the theme music to the ITV (LWT) sitcom The Piglet Files'', which aired from 1990 to 1992. In 2006, Argent joined
Hamish Stuart,
Richard Marx,
Billy Squier,
Edgar Winter and
Sheila E. to tour with
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
The Zombies reunion In 2004, Argent and Colin Blunstone recorded a new album,
As Far as I Can See..., in the style of The Zombies. A subsequent album and DVD
Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent of the Zombies Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre received favourable reviews, as did their 2007 US tour. One critic noted, "The Zombies, still led by original keyboard wizard Rod Argent and featuring the smoked-silk vocals of Colin Blunstone, is the best 60s band still touring which doesn't have
Mick Jagger as a front man". Argent continued to tour with Colin Blunstone as The Zombies, and in March 2008 the original surviving members of the band played three reunion concerts at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, performing the album
Odessey and Oracle. The band were introduced by
Al Kooper, who had discovered the album in a record shop in Carnaby Street in London after the band had broken up. He promoted it on radio stations in the US, leading to "Time of the Season" becoming a Top 3 hit in the singles charts. The sold out concerts (attended by several DJs and musical celebrities) led to a band reunion. In a 2015 interview with
PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III about the Zombies' latest album
Still Got That Hunger, Argent said "
Still Got That Hunger is the first album that has really recaptured some of the resonance of feeling of a group. We're so tight as a group together now. And the whole process has become so organic that we're 100% happy with the Zombies name and rediscovering and playing all the old stuff and at the same time carving a new path forward which is also very, very important to us." In 2012, Argent participated in the unveiling of a
Blue Plaque at The Blacksmith's Arms, a pub in St Albans where the Zombies met for their first rehearsal. ==Personal life==