Vinyl Relics: Zior By Zior
Vinyl Relics: Zior By Zior
Black magic. Voodoo. Witchcraft. The Occult…
I had the pleasure of interviewing band leader Keith Bonsor to discuss the band, and we did a track-by-track dive into their 1971 self-titled album. But of course, you can’t discuss Zior without touching upon the fact that they were cast as purveyors of black magic, thanks to their inventive stage show – something that audiences in the late ’60s were unprepared for. Was there trance-inducing, tribal-style music? Yes! Were there re-enactments of human sacrifices? Yes! The press ate it up, splashing occult-ridden articles across the tabloids. The BBC even got in on it. When the band played their tune “Oh Mariya” on the program their performance was interspersed with overlays of Hades, people jumping into the fire, and general witchcraft.
“It had nothing to do with that”, Keith told me. “I let them have their fun in the press but to be totally honest, it wasn’t anything to do with witchcraft.”
Here are some other interesting fun facts about the group: Before this band, Keith was a member of The Cardboard Orchestra. He hired someone to create orchestral scores for £20 per song. That someone was an uncredited Andrew Lloyd Webber…
Additionally, Zior’s bassist Barry Skeels was also in a band you may have heard of: Iron Maiden. Only it wasn’t the “Run to the Hills” Iron Maiden–this was a bluesy rock band that preceded the metal band by a decade or so.
And, if you take a gander at Zior’s album cover, it may have a familiar look to it. That’s because it was designed by Keith McMillan, who also designed Black Sabbath’s first album jacket.
After the release of their self-titled debut, the band’s tale took a rather bizarre twist. They were asked to record a new album…in one night. Not just record the album, but write, arrange, AND record it. All for the sum of £300. “I was not flush with cash back in those days”, Keith said laughingly. I won’t explain all the details here, give the show a listen to hear the full story but the short version is they conceived and recorded their second album in one night under a different name: Monument. “I was worried about copyright circumstances”, Keith said. The band even changed their names on the sleeve to hide their identity further. You may be familiar with Monument’s album if you’ve ever read any of those “best album covers” types of books, as it’s appeared in quite a few. Considering this album was literally created on the spot, it’s quite interesting. “Give Me Life” is a standout track.
“As the years went on, someone said to me, ‘They’re playing this in the New York underground clubs’, which is quite flattering”, Keith admitted.
The band didn’t split up so much as “dissolved” (Keith’s words). They were as surprised as anyone to find a new Zior album titled Every Inch A Man, released a couple years later in Germany. Keith said, “I had to buy a copy of my own album”. Every Inch A Man contains songs originally demoed to flesh them out into a full-fledged album, but they never got the opportunity. Somehow the tapes ended up at a German record company a couple years later and were released without the band’s consent or knowledge. Despite them being considered demos, they are fully fleshed out and there are some pretty cool tracks on it. (“Time is the Reason” and “Strange Kind of Magic” are my personal favorites).
“They started pressing it up in Japan and it became incredibly massive. They were doing merchandising and everything”, said Keith. Both Zior albums—the debut and the one released without the band’s knowledge—along with the Monument album, have been widely bootlegged. The album pressings and merchandising have resulted in the grand sum of zero pennies going to the band themselves.
All four band members are still alive, though they can’t find the drummer “Peter Brewer…we don’t know where the hell he is!”
For each Epysode of my show, I create a Spotify playlist for all the songs used. I encourage you to check Zior out if you like bluesy/psych rock with some proggy elements. Here’s the link:
My show Vinyl Relics is a weekly podcast for groovy people who like cool music. It includes albums like Zior—hidden gems that went overlooked in their time but have since been rediscovered, finally reaching the audience they always deserved.
Check out my full interview with Keith Bonsor discussing his career, the Zior story, and the track-by-track song analysis of this great album.
I’m Farmer John and I hope you dig Zior as much as I do.
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