For some reason this song popped into my head this morning.  I love the throbbing beat of it, the vocals, and the groovy keyboard work.  That said, I have no context for this hit, which compelled me to look further.  Here you go, this is what I found.  In case you don’t know the song by name, you may know it by sound:

Here is the version that got all of the airplay, aka the lip-synched, canned version.

this is the canned, lip-synched version

Now here is a longer, uncanned version.  The sound quality is inferior but boy are they jamming on it. 

uncanned, longer version uncanned, longer version

You can hear the beauty of the lead singer’s (Colin Blunstone’s) voice.  Great keyboard solo by Rod Argent.  Time capsule and you can see the audience getting into the music.

This version came next in the youtube queue, where Rod and Colin have reformed with The Zombies.

the zombies, reformed

So weird to see a young Blunstone in one video then an older one a few minutes later.  Blunstone’s voice holds up and the Argent’s skills have also.

But who is this group Argent, besides a one-hit wonder?  I went out to see.  I learned that Argent and Blunstone were originally in The Zombies and made their marks there before creating Argent.  For you young whippersnappers, the following is one of several hits by The Zombies:

zombies hit

And another:

zombies hit

From allmusic.com, Richie Unterberger says this:

Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-’60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies. Dominated by Colin Blunstone’s breathy vocals, choral backup harmonies, and Rod Argent’s shining jazz- and classical-influenced organ and piano, the band sounded utterly unique for its era. Indeed, the Zombies’ material — penned by either Argent or guitarist Chris White, with unexpected shifts from major to minor keys — was perhaps too adventurous for the singles market. To this day, they’re known primarily for their three big hit singles, “She’s Not There” (1964), “Tell Her No” (1965), and “Time of the Season” (1969). Most listeners remain unaware that the group maintained a remarkably high quality of work for several years.

To read more, go here:

allmusic.com biography

Wikipedia says The Zombies formed in 1961 and Argent formed in 1969. 

There you have it, a few bits of context for this kickass song.  If you would like to enrich my knowledge, please feel free to add more.