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Time has been good to Colin Blunstone.

The Zombies lead singer is 65, but his velvet voice is as smooth as ever. It's easy to imagine him narrating a nature show or talking a baby to sleep. More important, Blunstone still can coo his way through The Zombies' hit singles, "She's Not There," "Tell Her No" and "Time of the Season." On Friday, the band will play the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center on Montgomery College's Rockville campus, one of only three U.S. dates on the British band's current tour.

"It's very unusual for us to come for such a short period of time," Blunstone says. "We got the opportunity to come over for a week, and we like going to America. So off we go."

Since the band's 1967 split, the full lineup has reunited only for special events and anniversaries. The current incarnation includes only two original members: Blunstone and keyboardist/principal songwriter Rod Argent. But that's the core that made The Zombies famous. The duo reignited their musical partnership in the early 1990s.

"I think there's a bit of magic for Rod and I when we work together," Blunstone observes. "It's just always worked very well."

To the casual music fan, the Zombies are a relic of the 1960s. Like Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, their music has been tirelessly matched with footage of young women in Day-Glo miniskirts and hippies dancing in meadows. But during their short lifespan, the quintet pieced together a breathtaking repertoire of lush pop melodies.

Their final and greatest contribution was the album "Odessey and Oracle." Clocking in at just more than half an hour, the 12-song set is a soaring blend of chamber pop and psychedelia. It wielded the top five smash "Time of the Season," but by the time the single peaked in 1969, The Zombies had been disbanded for nearly two years. Argent formed his own band, and Blunstone would later contribute to the Alan Parsons Project. The singer blames much of the breakup on the singles-driven music industry of the time. Bands were expected to churn out a new hit every three months. The Zombies couldn't keep up. "She's Not There" was five years in the rearview mirror.

"There was a lot of pressure on us," Blunstone recalled. "Also, we were very young. We were 18 or 19 years old. Obviously, you should appreciate any success that you get. But if we had a choice, it would have been better for us to come in a little later, so we could have found some genuine musical identity before we had our first single. Just about the time we started out on the road [‘She's Not There'] was released. Of course, it was a huge hit. In one respect, it was very lucky for us because we were received very well. But in another way, you've got this problem of what to do after that single, because this is a band just starting out on its musical journey."

Following a huge 1964, The Zombies rode the wave of Brit bands up the U.S. charts, achieving a higher level of commercial success in America than in Britain. "Time of the Season" didn't receive substantial airplay in their native land.

"In America, I think we were sort of part of the British Invasion, which gave us a bit of an edge to our image that wasn't there in the U.K.," Blunstone says.

In 2008, the band celebrated the 40th anniversary of "Odessey and Oracle" with a live album and series of concerts at Shepherd's Bush Empire Theatre in London. To recreate the album's many layers, a full horn section, a chorus and various other musicians joined the band on stage. Guitarist Paul Atkinson, who passed away in 2004, was the only member not to attend.

"It was a wonderful adventure, really," Blunstone says. "The first thing we had to do was get around a piano and see if we could do it. It was amazing, actually. It all came out and pretty much sounded like the original band. Once we'd done that, we knew it was possible."

Next year will mark the band's 50th anniversary. They staged their first rehearsal in St. Albans, England, on Easter weekend in 1961. Blunstone and Argent are in the middle of recording a new album to mark the occasion, their first since 2004's "As Far As I Can See ..."

Blunstone says the band has no intention of recreating the sound of their early records, and doesn't even acknowledge the existence of a "Zombies sound." However, he admits Argent's Mellotron keyboard is present on the tracks the band has laid down.

Even after 50 years, making music is simple to Blunstone.

"We try and record the best 10 songs that we've got to the best of our abilities."

jedwards@gazette.net

See The Zombies with special guest Bobby Howard's British Walkers Friday at Montgomery College's Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show range from $23 to $25. Call 240-567-5301 or visit www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac