The Zombies
In the Zombie Heaven liner notes, Jim Rodford (Argent's cousin) recalls that "one Saturday morning they [the Zombies] went down to the Charing Cross Road in London to buy a Hohner Pianet. I remember them bringing it back and setting it up that lunchtime - I helped because they were still using bits of my gear - in the pavilion at the Ballito's Sports Ground, where they'd rehearse sometimes." According to Greg Russo's Time of the Season: The Zombies Collector's Guide, Ballito's Sports Ground was also the site of Argent's first gig with the Pianet, on 20 July 1963. This was a Saturday, so it's possible that these two things happened the same day: Argent bought the Pianet in the morning and had his first performance with it later that day.
In multiple interviews (like the Zombies' Reddit AMA and the Keyboard Magazine interview*), Argent has mentioned owning the Pianet Mark 1. On the Mark 1, the cheek blocks have a width roughly equal to the span of the keys from C to E:
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| [source] |
None of the pictures I've seen of Argent's Pianets matches these dimensions. Here's a frame I isolated from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's video about their Zombies exhibit:
The cheek blocks on this Pianet are wider, roughly equal to the span of the keys from F to B. These proportions seem to identify this particular model as a Pianet C:
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| [source] |
In Claes Johansen's Hung up on a Dream, Argent mentions the Pianet Mark I but also a Pianet Mark II: "They only made that particular model for a while, and then it became Mark II. The Mark I was the first electronic keyboard and it was just a revelation" (p. 60). As far as I can tell, there was no Pianet Mark II. It's possible that Argent is using "Mark I" and "Mark II" in more general terms: where "Mark I" describes Pianet models C, CH, and N and where "Mark II" describes the Pianet T. As this Sound on Sound article explains, Ernst Zacharias (who invented the Pianet) redesigned it in the 1970s so that the sound of the Pianet T more closely resembled the Fender Rhodes (note, however, that the image that the article labels a Pianet T is clearly a Pianet N). In the .pdf file that accompanies the Nord sample of the Pianet N (which I've posted here), Barry Carson also divides the Pianet into two categories and explains that the main difference is in the pads that make the reeds sound:
Unfortunately, the original Pianet had a fatal flaw. The leather and foam adhesive pads that plucked the reeds had a finite life span, and by the '80's all had disintegrated and become useless, rendering thousands of these instruments unusable. Hohner had come out with a new model Pianet in the late '70's that replaced the foam and leather pads with rubber suction devices and the rough accordion reeds with smooth reeds. This new Pianet T had a very pleasing sound and would last forever, but the magic quality of those rough reeds and foam pads was gone.This seems to be the same division that Argent means when he says Mark I and Mark II, but it's difficult to be sure. If Argent did mean Mark 1 and owned one, I haven't seen any pictures of it (or at least none where it's easily identifiable).
Here's the earliest picture I could find of Argent with the Pianet:
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| 5 April 1964 |
As evidenced by the wood grain of the instrument, Argent used this same Pianet on Ready Steady Go:
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| [source] |
Getty Images dates this as 1964, and based on the Zombie Heaven liner notes, I would say this is 27 November. (Note also Manfred Mann's Pianet in the background on the left.)
Confusingly, an-other Ready Steady Go appearance shows Argent behind a different Pianet (with a different wood grain and legs with metal tops):
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| [source] |
This is an earlier appearance than that in the image above. Getty Images says September 1964, and the Zombie Heaven liner notes provide the specific day: 11 September. Bill Haley and His Comets appeared on the same episode, and Hugh Grundy is sitting behind their drum kit (the bass drum has their name on it), but as seen in this picture on the same set, they didn't have a Hohner Pianet. My only guess is that it belonged to an-other act that appeared on the show and that Argent sat behind it for the show just as Grundy sat behind someone else's drum kit.
Here are a few more pictures of the Zombies from around 1964/1965 where Argent is using the first Pianet from above, with the downward swoop in the wood grain on the left side of the back panel:
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| [source] |
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| On Thank Your Lucky Stars, probably 18 April 1965 |
In February 1965, Argent mentioned the Pianet in a BBC radio session. This is in the track labelled "Interview: Different Instruments" on the Zombies' The BBC Radio Sessions or - alternatively - tacked on to the end of "For You My Love" on disc four of Zombie Heaven (the two albums give different dates, but both agree on February).
Brian Matthew: Now I don't know whether I'm imagining things, but it looks to me as though you've got a different set of instruments with you today, right?It's at this point that things get a bit muddled. It seems that around this time, perhaps because of the repairs he hinted at, Argent started using a Pianet N. The Pianet N had vibrato, and this is audible at the end of "Indication" (recorded 4 May 1966 according to the liner notes of The Decca Stereo Anthology). As far as I can tell, the Pianet C didn't have this feature; its only visible switch is the power switch. It's also doubtful that the vibrato on "Indication" was achieved with studio-based effects. As Argent explains in the Zombie Heaven liner notes, the Zombies' producer Ken Jones thought that "too much improvised keyboard stuff wasn't commercial," so he probably wouldn't have bothered with such an effect, and the Zombies themselves had no say in mixing their records at this point.
Rod Argent: Well, um, actually, the organ is the same one, although one or two notes are a bit dicey on it, but, uh, I haven't got an electric piano, which is what I use on "Tell Her No," so I'm afraid I'll have to use the [acoustic] piano, um, which will make it a little bit different. The reason for this is that, uh, the makers were doing something to, um, this particular instrument, and, uh, they didn't get it finished in time.
Argent also seems to have continued using the Pianet C though. In late October 1966 (either 29 or 30 according to the Zombie Heaven liner notes), the Zombies appeared on the French show Dents de lait dents de loups. Here's a frame from the video of "This Old Heart of Mine" where it's possible to make out the distinctive swoop in the wood grain of Argent's Pianet C:
A month later (November 1966), the Zombies performed on the Swedish television show Drop-In, and Argent was using a Pianet N. In this picture, the screw used to attach the scissor-style legs to the side is visible:
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| [source] |
From a different angle, one can see the connections and the Hohner name on the back, which aren't present on the back of the Pianet C:
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| [source] |
These are the last images I could find of Argent's Pianet with the Zombies. Its last audible appearances are from mid-to-late-1967. It's on "Maybe after He's Gone" on Odessey and Oracle (the only track on the album that includes Pianet), which was recorded "July or August 1967" according to the Zombie Heaven liner notes. The Pianet is more noticeable in the mono version, particularly at the end of the bridge. As far as recorded live appearances, the Pianet is last heard on "Loving You Is Sweeter than Ever" on The BBC Radio Sessions, recorded 11 October 1967.
Argent
After the Zombies, Argent continued to use the Pianet (apparently only the N model) with the band Argent. Aside from one picture from 1970 where it's off in the background, the earliest pictures I can find of it during these years are from 1972.
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| [source] |
It's a bit clearer to see in this picture that Argent attached pieces of wood to the sides of the Pianet (using the screws that would normally hold the legs) so that it remained firmly in place on top of his Hammond organ. The Pianet also seems to be set at a bit of an angle for easier playing. Additionally, the key cover/music stand has been removed. This might have been done in order to facilitate maintenance of the inner workings. In the Keyboard Magazine interview*, Argent explains that his Pianet "was played so often it lost its stickiness action and bits of hair would get caught in there and also moisture. I would have to take the top of the piano off and blow it dry with a hair dryer before going on stage."
In some appearances, the top of the Pianet has been completely removed and the whole length of the keys is visible:
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| Miming to "God Gave Rock & Roll to You" on The Old Grey Whistle Test, 6 March 1973 |
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| "Keep on Rolling" live at Popgala, 1973 |
Apparently, Argent had more than one Pianet N; the one he used in Sweden in 1966 isn't the same as the one he used in the Netherlands in 1974:
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| [source] |
The connections on the back are in different configurations:
I can't track down the original source, but years ago, I found this image whose caption explains that Argent toured with "2 electric pianos":
The Pianet from 1966 seems to have this arrangement:
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| [source] |
And the Pianet from 1974 has this arrangement:
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| [source] |
I can't track down the original source, but years ago, I found this image whose caption explains that Argent toured with "2 electric pianos":
This may explain the difference in the configurations of that panel. According to some sources, there were two different versions of the Pianet N, and it seems that Argent had one of each.
The Pianet N's very narrow left cheek block (about the width of a single key) is clearly visible here. Based on the presence of the Minimoog and the Mellotron M-400, I'd say this picture is from 1973 at the earliest. These keyboards didn't appear together on record until Nexus (released in the U.K. on 22 February 1974, according to Russo's Collector's Guide), but they were part of Argent's live rig from at least mid-1973. Here's a picture dated 27 July of that year:
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| [source] |
The Pianet N's very narrow left cheek block (about the width of a single key) is clearly visible here. Based on the presence of the Minimoog and the Mellotron M-400, I'd say this picture is from 1973 at the earliest. These keyboards didn't appear together on record until Nexus (released in the U.K. on 22 February 1974, according to Russo's Collector's Guide), but they were part of Argent's live rig from at least mid-1973. Here's a picture dated 27 July of that year:
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| [source] |
The Pianet seems to have some sort of covering here. To me, it looks a bit like tin foil.
Occasionally, Argent used the Pianet with what seems to be a phasing effect. On YouTube, there are (or were) a few copies of a live version of "Liar" dated 1972 where Argent is briefly seen using an effect pedal. (Despite all of my efforts, I've been unable to identify the brand.) Here are two frames:
The studio recording of "Liar" (from 1969) doesn't have this, but the same effect seems to be present in the live versions of "Be My Lover, Be My Friend" and "He's a Dynamo" from this 1972 performance and in the live versions of "Music from the Spheres" and "Thunder and Lightning" on Encore. Occasionally, it's also coupled with panning.
I believe Argent used Pianet on about half of the Argent albums (see below for a more detailed breakdown). The exceptions are All Together Now, Nexus, Circus, and Counterpoints. The only electric piano on All Together Now appears in "He's a Dynamo," but it sounds too thin and a bit too bright to be Pianet. It doesn't sound like a Wurlitzer or a Fender Rhodes either, so I'm at a loss to identify it. The CD re-issue of Circus that I have credits Argent with Hohner Pianet, but it seems that the original 1975 vinyl record listed only "electric piano." I can't hear any Pianet on the album (most of it sounds like Fender Rhodes), so I think this might be an error on the part of the re-issue. As far as I can tell, any electric piano on Counterpoints is Fender Rhodes, but since the album hasn't been re-issued on CD, my assessment is based only on my old vinyl copy and could be wrong.
This means that the live album Encore (released in the U.K. on 22 November 1974 according to Russo's Collector's Guide) is the last appearance of the Pianet on an Argent record.
Rod Argent's solo albums (Moving Home, Red House, and Classically Speaking) and his album with Colin Blunstone (Out of the Shadows) are all that I have of his work from the period between the end of Argent and the revival of the Zombies (roughly from 1975 to 2001), but the Pianet doesn't appear on any of them.
I believe Argent used Pianet on about half of the Argent albums (see below for a more detailed breakdown). The exceptions are All Together Now, Nexus, Circus, and Counterpoints. The only electric piano on All Together Now appears in "He's a Dynamo," but it sounds too thin and a bit too bright to be Pianet. It doesn't sound like a Wurlitzer or a Fender Rhodes either, so I'm at a loss to identify it. The CD re-issue of Circus that I have credits Argent with Hohner Pianet, but it seems that the original 1975 vinyl record listed only "electric piano." I can't hear any Pianet on the album (most of it sounds like Fender Rhodes), so I think this might be an error on the part of the re-issue. As far as I can tell, any electric piano on Counterpoints is Fender Rhodes, but since the album hasn't been re-issued on CD, my assessment is based only on my old vinyl copy and could be wrong.
This means that the live album Encore (released in the U.K. on 22 November 1974 according to Russo's Collector's Guide) is the last appearance of the Pianet on an Argent record.
Rod Argent's solo albums (Moving Home, Red House, and Classically Speaking) and his album with Colin Blunstone (Out of the Shadows) are all that I have of his work from the period between the end of Argent and the revival of the Zombies (roughly from 1975 to 2001), but the Pianet doesn't appear on any of them.
Revival
For the last two decades or so, Argent has been using various emulations of the Pianet for live shows, billed at first as "Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent" but eventually changed to "The Zombies." The oldest instance of this that I can track down is on the Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London CD/DVD, which - according to Russo's Collector's Guide - was recorded on 6 June 2003. On Live at the Bloomsbury and on the Odessey and Oracle 40th anniversary concert DVD from 2008, Argent is playing a Kawai MP9000:
Since at least July 2009 and up to the present, he's been playing a Kurzweil PC3x. Here's a nice shot of it from March 2017:
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| [source] |
Here's an example of Kurzweil's Pianet sound (named after the Guess Who's "These Eyes"):
For a more Zombies-specific sound, here's a video of their performance of "She's Not There" at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in March 2019, with Argent using the Pianet sound on the Kurzweil:
In June 2018, the Zombies posted a picture of Argent's home studio, including a Pianet N (complete with suspended amplifier):
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| [source] |
This might be one of the Pianets pictured above, but in 2013, Argent posted that he was looking to buy a Pianet N, so this might be yet an-other instrument that he acquired more recently.
As far as I can tell, none of the more recent albums from the Zombies (As Far As I Can See, Breathe Out, Breathe In, and Still Got That Hunger) has Pianet on it. It seems that Argent uses the Pianet sound only for live performances of the Zombies' Decca-era songs.
Catalogue
Here's a chronological list of Zombie and Argent songs (studio recordings only) that include the Pianet. For the Zombies songs, it's pretty easy to tell if there's Pianet or not, but since the Argent songs have more effects and overdubbing and because Rod Argent started using other electric pianos, it's sometimes a bit difficult to be sure.
The Zombies
- "It's Alright with Me"
- "She's Not There"
- "You Make Me Feel Good"
- "Summertime"
- "Woman" (demo version only)
- "Kind of Girl" (demo version only)
- "Leave Me Be" (demo version only)
- "Walking in the Sun"
- "I Don't Want to Know"
- "Tell Her No"
- "I Want You Back Again" (single and alternate versions)
- "Nothing's Changed"
- "I'll Keep Trying"
- "Whenever You're Ready"
- "I Love You"
- "I Know She Will"
- "Is This the Dream"
- "Indication"
- "She Does Everything for Me"
- "Maybe after He's Gone"
- Argent
- "Like Honey"
- "Liar"
- "Be Free"
- "Schoolgirl"
- "Free Fall"
- Ring of Hands
- "Cast Your Spell Uranus" (seemingly also with the Pianet's vibrato effect)
- "Lothlorien"
- "Pleasure"
- "Where Are We Going Wrong"
- In Deep
- "God Gave Rock & Roll to You"
- "It's Only Money, Pt. 2"?
- "Losing Hold"
There's Pianet in "Closer to Heaven" but only at the very beginning. It's a bonus track on a CD re-issue of All Together Now, and according to Russo's Collector's Guide, it was originally the B-side of the "Hold Your Head Up" single.
"It's Only Money, Pt. 2" seems to have Pianet at ~2:35, but the record sleeve of my vinyl copy of In Deep doesn't list any electric piano in the credits for that song.
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- I tried to do my research and verify things, but I still may have some errors.
- I didn't mention the Zombies' New World album above because aside from the re-recording of "Time of the Season," Rod Argent wasn't involved with it. I'm pretty sure there isn't any Pianet on it anyway.
- Argent also talks about the Pianet in this interview (in response to a question at ~28:50), and Colin Blunstone mentions it in this one (starting at ~12:00). Neither interview has much more than what I've already cited above, but I thought I'd still mention them.
- "Thunder and Lightning" on Nexus and "Mystified" on Out of the Shadows seem to be Argent's only uses of Clavinet, which I mention only because it was also made by Hohner.
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*EDIT [26 May 2020]: The original link to the Keyboard Magazine interview no longer works, but the interview itself is still available via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
[22 February 2024]: Originally, I'd written that there's Pianet in "Love" and "Music from the Spheres" on Nexus. I listened to the album to-day, though (on the fiftieth anniversary of its release), and now I think there's no Pianet on the album at all. I updated the above accordingly.
