My recent experience at a ’60s flashback tour documented HERE got me thinking a lot about how few bands on the oldies circuit have managed to retain any sense of cool, integrity, or credibility. I then happened to catch an interview with Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies on an NPR podcast where they performed a “Tiny Desk Concert.”

I was immediately floored not only by the quality of their voices but also that they’ve continued to stand apart from other ’60s bands since their heyday. It is still a rare feat to have such wide appeal not only from the mass radio audiences but with critics and music snobs as well. Most likely they were able to escape any embarrassment or permanent damage to their history by dissolving the band at the height of their success. Further, it appears Blunstone’s and Argent’s post-Zombies output doesn’t overshadow or impact their previous work negatively. The same cannot be said for their contemporaries, whose quality of albums in the later years suffered and only manage to replicate any successes by showing up in casinos or touring the sheds every summer.

Is there a band from the ’60s still active and touring that rivals the coolness of The Zombies?