09. SPRING MADNESS & THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
March and April have been hectic and I have been living out of a suitcase! These are
extraordinary times for The Zombies - and they have now been honoured by the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. They got inducted on the 29th March in New York.
The Zombies flew out to New York on March 24th, I was a lucky guest this time around. A lot
of family members made it over to the USA for this occasion which was an added bonus. In
New York the band members were busy - giving countless interviews on the phone, radio
and film, they did Q&A’s around the city (some live streamed), did rehearsals open to fans with ‘meet and greets’, autograph signing and photo opportunities, had lunch and dinner meetings and oh yes - then they performed!
Their rehearsal for the Rock and Roll Hall of fame induction saw them meeting with Susanna
Hoffs, Brian May and David Byrne amongst others. The evening of the Induction itself was a
massive event. Susanna Hoffs gave The Zombies a truly heartfelt induction speech. They
then played to a crowd of around 14 thousand. The event was televised and was shown in
the USA on HBO in the States on 27th April. We will be able to see it in the UK in early May.
There were a lot of British inductees this year so it was a great evening for us Brits. Apart
from The Zombies I was most excited to see The Cure and Def Leppard performing - both
such brilliant live bands, and both of whom I saw in my youth(!) in the 70s and 80s in the UK.
For 10 days there was a lot of being driven around in taxis, being in tunnels and on bridges
and in traffic jams, unexpectedly passing famous landmarks, a mix of fashions, languages
and styles, noise, crowds, colour, sunshine and shadow, litter, towering architecture,
reflections and glass, eating, drinking, art, music, poverty, graffiti, those fire escapes you see
in movies, police, rain, bustle, neon, sirens - ‘New York-ness’ really!
On 1st April The Zombies appeared on the Jimmy Fallon Show to play ‘Time Of The
Season’. It is hard to overstate how huge this song is in the States! TV studios are mad
places - there was a special photo booth backstage - it had to be done! (see pic). And I
passed Maisie Williams in the corridor - she was also being interviewed that night. She is
Arya Stark to any of you ‘Game of Thrones’ fans out there (yes, I definitely am!).
I did two things for my own personal ‘on foot in New York’ experience: Firstly, I took a walk to Pier 25 on the Hudson River where I could see Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty - very much in the distance but still wonderful! Secondly, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge early one Sunday morning - early enough for it to be a quiet walk. I got the subway to High Street in Brooklyn and walked back over the bridge towards Manhattan. The sun was still low but warm and there were only a few people about. This bridge really is a thing of engineering and aesthetic beauty. Walking above the traffic on a wooden walkway was
magic! Thank you New York.
On return to the UK, Chris and I had a quick turnaround in order to get to Menorca for a surprise party for drummer Hugh Grundy. Excellently planned by his wife Tracy - and seemingly half the population of the island - poor Hugh was dumbfounded! It was brilliant! That was a pretty full-on party for a few days, sprinkled with some wonderful moments like a swim in the crystal clear (cold) Mediterranean, coffee on the mountain top with swifts zinging around and marvelling at a view of the entire island, and even holding a baby tortoise!
Lots of music played and talked about. Lots of laughing.
Returning to the UK again, work continues with The Chris White Experience. Whilst Chris is
busy with interviews, sons Matthew and Jamie remain busy with organising, cataloguing and
listening to songs for future albums. I am busy with art work for the first few albums and a
couple of other upcoming projects which I cannot talk about just yet.
I have also been arranging and singing backing vocals for various projects including artists
introduced via Zombies guitarist, Tom Toomey. And trying to master Logic 10!
I am really hoping to stay in one place for most of May!
Catch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the UK on MTV, May 10th!