The beloved pop-rock band have also postponed their reformation tour until October 2022.
One of Australia’s most loved bands of the late ’60s and early ’70s, Zoot, have just announced their first single in over 50 years.
Written by the band’s longstanding members, Beeb Birtles, Rick Springfield and Russell Morris, and featuring some dialogue from the band’s late frontman Darryl Cotton in the song’s intro, ‘That Was Then’ is a joyous pop-rock number that’s got all the enthusiasm punters have come to know and love from Zoot.
What you need to know
- Zoot have announced their first single in over 50 years, ‘That Was Then’
- The band have also made the difficult decision to postpone their reformation tour until October 2022
- Punters can grab tickets to the rescheduled tour via David Roy Williams
Catch up on the latest music interviews, news and reviews here.
“’That Was Then’ is a song that takes us back to the heydays of Zoot, as well as Russell Morris’ solo career,” Birtles says of the track. “When the idea for writing a new Zoot song was presented to Rick Springfield, Russell Morris and myself, I sent a chord progression that I’d been playing to Rick in Los Angeles. Rick ran with it and came up with a fantastic melody and chorus.
“Then it was sent to Russell in Australia who wrote the bridge for the song. So, it is truly a collaboration between all of us, and it turned out to be a really great new Zoot song.”
To coincide with the new single, Zoot have made the difficult decision to reschedule their forthcoming reformation tour until October 2022. The announcement comes with the COVID situation in mind, and by the reality that Birtles and Springfield are based overseas.
The tour will pay tribute to Cotton and honour Zoot as one of Australian music’s most respected and beloved bands, with their debut album Just Zoot released to acclaim in 1970.
“Who would have thought we’d still be performing Zoot songs 50 years after the release of Just Zoot,” smiles Beeb, who started the band in Adelaide with Cotton. “Nevertheless, here we are with Zoot in 2021, and with some amazing shows coming in 2022!”
As a thankyou to their fans, ‘That Was Then’ will be made available to all concert ticketholders as a free download, with a link to the song made available by the ticketing companies in change of date notification emails.
Check out the updated tour dates below.
Friday October 7, 2022 – The Fortitude, Brisbane
Saturday October 8, 2022 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday October 12, 2022 – Astor Theatre, Perth
Friday October 14, 2022 – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Saturday October 15, 2022 – Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Grab a ticket to Zoot’s reformation tour here.
