New York by The Zombies

Album: Still Got That Hunger (2015)

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Songfacts®:

The Zombies enjoyed a resurgence in the '10s when lead singer Colin Blunstone and keyboard player Rod Argent - both original members - led a new formation of the group on tours and in the studio; their album Breathe Out, Breathe In was issued in 2011, and Still Got That Hunger followed in 2015.

The latter includes "New York," a song about the group's 1964 visit to New York City on the heels of their hit "She's Not There." It was a special time for the band, who got to meet many of their idols when they took part in the Murray the K Christmas concert in Brooklyn - Ben E. King, the Shangri-Las, and Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles were also on the bill.

In our interview with Blunstone, he explained: "We got to know Patti LaBelle & the Bluebells quite well. We were very young. We were just 19, and they sort of took us under their wing and introduced us to the music of Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. There were lots of wonderful people that we met over that Christmas period and it was a very exciting time."
They formed in Hertfordshire, England, but The Zombies fared far better in America than they did in their native UK. The group had broken up by the time their second album, Odessey and Oracle, was released, but once it got distributed in the States, it took off and the song "Time Of The Season" became an American hit. Decades later when The Zombies re-formed, America was where they retained their strongest support.

This song was written by Rod Argent, who expresses his gratitude to America's biggest city on the track.

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