PICTURES: St Albans Zombies and Kinks musician looks back on colourful career

Bluetones (Image: Archant)

Jim Rodford, who lives in St Albans with his wife, is known best as member of The Zombies, but has also performed with the Kinks and three other local bands - The Bluetones, Argent, and the Rodford Files.

Starting out in the late 50s, Rod performed with the popular band The Bluetones and their local success was documented in the Herts Advertiser.

His younger cousin, Rod Argent, would go on to form the Zombies but relied on Jim for his expertise when starting up.

Jim said: “He used to come an watch us and when he was 15 in 1957 he said he wanted to form his own band and would I be in it?

Bluetones on the Roman Wall (Image: Archant)

“Well we were the biggest band in the area and they were still at school so I said I won’t be in it but I’ll help you get started so I took them along to the Pioneer Youth Club where we kept our equipment and that was The Zombies first rehearsal.”

Jim said that three years later the Zombies ‘blew up’ and he had left the Bluetones to perform soul and R&B through the 60s. The Zombies later disbanded and Jim and Rod would form Argent.

Jim said: “We finally formed the band we’d talked about as kids, we went through the 70s with Argent. Argent then split up and I joined the Kinks for 20 years.”

Jim saw the Kinks through what he described were their most successful years but in 1999 re-formed The Zombies as ‘Colin Blunstone [lead singer] Rod Argent Band’. They later returned to their original name The Zombies.

Bluetones in St Albans (Image: Archant)

Jim, who still performs with The Zombies, is currently writing a memoir on his career. Reflecting on what he has done, he said: “I’ve done a lot of stuff. My band in the early 60s we did three weeks with the Beatles at Hammersmith Apollo opening the show.

“They are the biggest thing that’s ever been and I witnessed it and was a part of it. It’s all gone down in the memoirs.”