The Zombies, Time of the Season | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 62^nd edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Time of the Season” by The Zombies. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 62^nd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Time of the Season” performed by The Zombies.

“It’s the time of the season / When the love runs high.” Indeed! The Zombies released a song for the ages with “Time of the Season”. “Time of the Season” appears as the closing track of their 1968 album, Odessey and Oracle. “Time of the Season” was a huge success in the U.S., reaching no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Shockingly, the song didn’t chart in their native country, England 🤯! Rod Argent penned this sexy (“Give it to me easy / And let me try with pleasured hands”), important, psychedelic classic. Colin Blunstone sings the lead.   

Part of the charm of “Time of the Season” is the instrumental.  The groove is infectious.  The bass line, which is often compared to the Ben. E. King classic, “Stand By Me”, and those breathy vocal effects are part of the allure and charm. The section to beat in “Time of the Season” is – drum roll, please – the chorus! There are slight lyrical variations, but one lyric remains tried and true: “It’s the time of the season for loving.” Yeah! The harmonized vocals and emphasis on this titular lyric make the song.  Besides the chorus, the second verse, which is repeated following a cooking organ solo by Argent 🤘, stands out. “What’s your name? / Who’s your daddy? / Is he rich like me?” Blunstone sings, continuing, “Has he taken / Any time / To show you what you need to live?” Notably, the lyric alludes to a famous lyric from the George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess classic, “Summertime” (“Oh, your daddy’s rich / And your ma is good lookin’’”).  So much more could be said about this three-and-a-half-minute masterpiece, sigh. Given the unique sound of the instrumental and the timeless chorus, it’s not surprising that “Time of the Season” has been sampled by many musicians. The final pop hit by The Zombies, the band ‘put their foot’ into this one.

The Zombies // Odessey and Oracle // Zombies Partners // 1968

The Zombies, Time of the Season: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 62 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Zombies Partners; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]