Recently, after a trip to HMV, I decided to grab ZZ Top's Eliminator and Afterburner for a couple of bucks a piece. Eliminator was one of my favourite albums when I was in high school; I had in on vinyl, back before the days when cassettes took over the musical world. Having it back in my collection was a nice feeling of nostalgia.
I loved the energetic but comedic style of the band. And when I heard Eliminator, I had no idea about the history of the band. I didn't know about "Tush" or "La Grange" or "Just Got Paid". I thought this was a cool new band with a unique feel, and they had one of those logos that you could trace easily onto your school binder, like Van Halen and Metallica. Imagine my shock getting to college in the late 80s and discovering their Southern blues past!
A long running joke I have is, "I wonder what hardcore blues fans think of the 80s albums of ZZ Top?" The band essentially changed their style to gain a huge commercial following during the 80s, then, once the 90s rolled around, they retreated into obscurity and went back to their blues roots. Did they sell out? Does that even matter?
When I hear about bands selling out, I remember Mick Foley's biography. He said, my dream was to wrestle and make a living at it. He became a cult figure for his hardcore matches, but he was beating the hell out of himself for a couple of bucks a day. When he finally got up to WCW, he was doing less work for more pay and didn't have to beat himself up to do it. So, if that's selling out, then he sold out. I could think the same of ZZ Top.
Truth be told, the band was already on the road to their 80s sound by the late 70s. Their first album for Warner, 1980's Deguello, was already using the hybird blues/rock/new wave sound that Eliminator would use, but in an embryonic form. And that album went platinum and produced "Cheap Sunglasses". in 1981, they'd put out El Loco, then, in 1983, their huge breakthrough out of rock radio into the mainstream with Eliminator.
Eliminator produced the sound of what most of the fans of my generation are familiar with from ZZ Top. It had the blues swagger of their classic sound, the slick rock stylings of the 80s, and the electronic flash of commercial new wave. The band's iconic look also came from this time, with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill sporting chest-length beards, slowly moving and and forth in tandem with their guitar and bass. Then there was the videos.
The videos produced for their singles were beyond cool. They almost always had the band playing rock and roll "angels" that would swoop in with the keys to a souped up 1930s Ford Coupe emblazoned with their logo, allowing some down on his luck every-man to have a night of fun with some model-level women, and stick it to their overbearing bosses or friends. The band even had rudimentary dance moves. The story also continued from video to video, with "Gimme All Your Lovin'" set in the desert with a young car mechanic, to "Sharp Dressed Man" taking the car and girls to a posh night club with a nerdy valet gaining the car, to "Legs", bringing the car to a greasy spoon, allowing a shoe store clerk to get dolled up and show the guy who actually treated her with respect some respect back. The last single, "TV Dinners", was only tangentially related to the first three videos, but also entertaining. All of the videos showcased the bands' trademark humour and self-depreciation, along with their tendency for double entendres.
1985's Afterburner took the band further into the rock/new wave feel and a bit further away from their blues roots. It had three big hits, "Sleeping Bag", "Velcro Fly", and "Stages". The videos that came with this continued on the story from Eliminator. "Sleeping Bag" had the car saving a young couple from burglars, only to have the car destroyed and come back as an ultra-cool space shuttle. The shuttle showed up in the bizarre video for "Rough Boy", featuring robotic women giving the shuttle a car wash in an interstellar space station. "Velcro Fly" had the band dancing and playing in front of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Yes, they danced. They actually hired Paula Abdul to choreography some simple dance moves that they could easily do. "Stages" was a by the book live video with some space footage. By this time though, their sound had begun to lose its lustre.
1990's Recycler was a commercial bust, and finished off the 80s sound of the band for good. "Doubleback" (a lesser known Back to the Future tie-in song), "Give it Up" and "Concrete and Steel" were the main songs to get radio play from this album. The album toned down the synth rock 80s sound and saw ZZ Top moving to a more bluesy sound, which they've stayed til this day.
Did they sell out? Doesn't matter to me much. Eliminator is a solid album and still one of my favourite albums from the 80s.
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