Live Review: Hung Up on a Dream documentary with Colin Blunstone and Robert Schwartzman • Thalia Hall • Chicago

Brassneck | July 17, 2025

Hung Up on a Dream documentary with Colin Blunstone and Robert Schwartzman

Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Review and photos by Jeff Elbel

Rooney frontman Robert Schwartzman welcomed a crowd of Zombies fans to Thalia Hall on Tuesday evening, declaring his own enduring passion for the band. The British Invasion quintet is the subject of Schwartzman’s engaging and insightful documentary Hung Up on a Dream. The program began with a screening of the 90-minute film, which charts the Zombies’ tumultuous career, including their burst of success, ensuing defeats, and slow build toward lasting acclaim.

“I never worked out whether we were lucky or unlucky,” says singer Colin Blunstone in the film. “Nothing went to plan.” Nonetheless, the singer and his bandmates all express astonished appreciation for the Zombies’ unique version of success.

The teenaged band emerged in the early ‘60s, gathering school friends who pursued music for various reasons. Hugh Grundy claims on film that he was a lazy kid who had joined the school’s drum line to avoid sports. The well-mannered Blunstone notes that attracting girls and the opportunity to drink beer seemed like worthy benefits of being in a rock and roll band.

Keyboardist Rod Argent had initially assembled the group with the intention of being the singer, but revealed his talent on piano to Blunstone during an idle moment. Argent, in turn, noted Blunstone’s voice as he was singing to himself when packing up his guitar after a practice session. The pair ultimately agreed to change roles.

The Zombies raced up the charts with the Argent-penned single “She’s Not There.” High marks on BBC program Juke Box Jury from celebrity panelist George Harrison of the Beatles proved to be a catalyst. The band spent a whirlwind few years of exhausting but enthusiastic activity, joining package tours alongside their heroes, including The Searchers and Patti Labelle. The Zombies traveled to far-flung locations, including the Philippines, where they made command performances before President Ferdinand Marcos. The young group delivered a flurry of hit singles, including “Tell Her No,” and logged thousands of miles while suffering the abuses of the contemporary music industry, earning big money for managers and promoters while scraping by themselves.

Personal circumstances, including guitarist Paul Atkinson’s young family, prompted the Zombies to disband before releasing their self-produced 1967 masterpiece Odessey and Oracle. From there, unanticipated events abroad made “Time of the Season” an international post-mortem smash hit in 1969, prompting the rise of impostor Zombies. One such group included two future members of ZZ Top. Keyboardist Argent and bassist Chris White found new success writing songs, including “Hold Your Head Up,” for the band Argent.

After a stint in the insurance business, singer Colin Blunstone was coaxed back into the music industry, spending a season under the stage name Neil MacArthur and culminating in the creation of solo debut and underground pop classic One Year. The album included imaginative production and songwriting by Argent and White.

Rather than a tale of music industry carnage, the heart of Hung Up on a Dream involves the lifelong friendships among the surviving Zombies. All four celebrate their history with late guitarist and respected A&R man Paul Atkinson. The band members exude goodwill for each other and love for their music and audience. “We’re still friends to this day,” says White. “That’s the real success.”

Blunstone describes contacting Argent in 1999 to play keyboards for a string of solo dates, and the gradual creation of a surprising second act for the Zombies with a string of finely-crafted new albums including 2023’s Different Game, a modern touring lineup of dedicated players, and opportunities to rejoin White and Grundy to perform Odyssey and Oracle for the groundswell of fans that had grown over the decades.

Following the film, Schwartzman took the stage with two bandmates for acoustic performances of Rooney’s catalog gems “Blueside,” “When Did Your Heart Go Missing?” and “If It Were Up to Me” with its call-and-response chorus of “our love is the best love.”

Blunstone then joined the trio for a brief but powerful set of Zombies and solo songs. The set began with the jazz-inflected “Tell Her No” and moody “She’s Not There,” followed by the optimistic bounce of “This Will Be Our Year.”

Blunstone told the story behind the One Year classic “Caroline Goodbye,” describing his heartbreak over the demise of his relationship with Caroline Munro. “I got a song from it, though,” said Blunstone with a smile. Munro went on to become a Bond girl in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, meeting a tragic end when her character’s helicopter is shot from the sky in a ball of fire. “I rather liked that bit,” said the soft-spoken singer with a cheeky grin.

After performing the documentary’s adopted theme song “Hung Up on a Dream,” Schwartzman and Blunstone coached the audience on the participatory elements of “Time of the Season.” Blunstone’s voice reached ecstatic heights with each chorus. The singer’s voice is inexplicably richer at 80 years than heard on the recordings of his youth.

Magnet magazine scribe Mitch Myers sat with Schwartzman and Blunstone to moderate a Q&A that covered the documentary, Zombies history, and audience questions. Schwartzman described how special it was to regather the Zombies at Abbey Road Studios in London in order to coax shared memories surrounding Odyssey and Oracle. Blunstone comically said that he was always amazed by the four band members’ ability to remember their shared history in entirely different ways. He praised Schwartzman’s efforts to dig for the closest version of the truth.

Blunstone also mentioned the unfortunate end of the Zombies’ career due to a stroke suffered by Argent in July 2024. A few gasps were heard from audience members who were unaware. Nonetheless, Blunstone said that Argent’s recovery is proceeding well. “I talked to him just this morning,” said Blunstone with affection for his creative partner and friend of six decades.

The uplifting “Hung Up on a Dream” documentary had a brief theatrical run in Chicago earlier this year. It will become available for streaming on demand beginning July 22.