The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, The Zombies, have entered into an agreement with Q Prime to provide label services and distribution for the band’s iconic 1960s studio recordings. #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos has the recap.
Plans are underway for a series of four definitive physical reissues in 2025, remastered from the original tapes, compiling all the band’s studio output. The first will be a remastered Odessey & Oracle due out early next year, which included the classic songs “Time Of The Season,” “Care of Cell 44,” and “This Will Be Our Year” and is a regular entry in “Best Albums of All Time” lists in publications like Rolling Stone and Mojo Magazine.
The album will be released in its original Mono mix, to coincide with the release of The Zombies’ documentary, Hung Up On A Dream, directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, and co-produced by Schwartzman’s Utopia Films, The Ranch Productions, and Tom Hanks’ Playtone.
Q Prime will manage all aspects of marketing, manufacturing, distribution and licensing for The Zombies’ new label imprint Beechwood Park Records, with a catalog that includes the timeless hit singles “She’s Not There”, “Tell Her No”, and “I Want You Back Again.” Of the arrangement, Q Prime co-founder Cliff Burnstein says, “There’s a very narrow window in a Venn diagram where love, admiration and business overlap. That’s what the deal is all about.”
The Zombies’ four surviving founding members, lead singer Colin Blunstone, keyboardist Rod Argent, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy, along with Helen Atkinson, the widow and Estate Trustee of late guitarist Paul Atkinson, acquired the rights to their catalog
last year from Marquis Enterprises Ltd., the independent UK production company they originally signed with as teens in 1964.
Marquis had produced their early recordings, granting limited-term licenses to the labels that released their hits (Decca and CBS Records), and later turned over the production reins to primary songwriters Argent and White, who recorded Odessey & Oracle at Abbey Road Studios in London with a shoestring budget of £1,000 British Pounds.
This made The Zombies an “indie DIY” band before the term even existed, and afforded them the opportunity to reclaim their recordings decades later.
The deals were overseen by Chris Tuthill and Cindy da Silva of The Rocks Management, who together have represented the band for the past 11 years, along with attorney Monika Tashman of Loeb & Loeb. “We went through a painstaking process to find a strategic partner
who would truly understand the unique qualities of these beloved recordings,” explains Tuthill, “and ultimately, we knew we had to stay true to the band’s history. They have always benefited from a non-traditional and independent approach to both music and business, which is one of the reasons their songs are continually rediscovered by new generations of fans.”
That’s when Zombies’ super-fan (and former MTV/VH1 and Sony Publishing exec) Rick Krim introduced them to what Q Prime could bring to the table. da Silva adds, “We were incredibly impressed by the team and infrastructure that Q Prime assembled with their long-term clients Metallica to nurture and grow their own catalog, and their genuine desire to collaborate with us and the band to do the same for The Zombies.
Most importantly, there are a lot of true fans on their team, most notably (Q Prime co-head) Cliff Burnstein, who like Rick (Krim), has been a long-time champion of the band.
To learn more about The Zombies, check out their official website, and follow them on Instagram.
