Billy Gibbons: A key part of ZZ Top

Billy Gibbons was one of the key members of the rock band ZZ Top.

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Whether it was the long beards, cool car, the guitars that spun 360 degrees, or their unique sound, ZZ Top brought a distinct presence to the 1980s.

It is band member Billy Gibbons’ birthday today, and it brought back memories of legs, sharp dressed men, sleeping bags, rough boys and so much more.

Eliminator
It was in junior high, the first part of Grade 9, when I first heard about a band called ZZ Top. It was my friend Tony Curtis, I am pretty sure who talked about the band, and especially that cool car called “The Eliminator”.

I hadn’t really got into music yet, but that came in the summer of 1984. That’s when I heard the band, and discovered its members were Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard. Interestingly, Gibbons and Hill had sun glasses and chest length beards. Ironically, the only person without a beard was the band member named Beard.

They had such a unique look and style. In addition to the cool car, and the beards, their music videos had pretty girls and Gibbons and Hill had guitars that spin 360 degrees.

Oh, and ZZ Top had great music.

The first singles I heard were from their 1983 album “Eliminator”.

“Gimme All Your Lovin’” came out in 1983 and went to number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The next single was “Sharp Dressed Man” which also came out in 1983 and peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100.

They were aided by their unique style, especially in music videos just when MTV was coming into its own. Consequently,  ZZ Top broke out in 1984 with their first top 10 single. “Legs”, which is a catchy tune with another solid and slightly suggestive video, went all the way to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

“Eliminator” itself peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 album chart, the band’s third top 10 album and first of the decade.

The wedding
My cousin Vern got married at Heritage Park in Calgary in 1985. My cousin Peter, from the other side of the family, did the music and he was awesome.

One of the songs he played was “Legs”. I remember dancing with my cousin Kareen, and she told me two things – she hoped they’d play “Sharp Dressed Man” because she loved that song and – that I needed to brush up on my dancing.

Afterburner
There was a lot of anticipation when word got out that, after a couple years, ZZ Top was going to release their much-awaited follow-up album to “Eliminator”.

The wait was over in the Fall of 1985 when the band released “Afterburner” on October 28, my Mom’s birthday. The album would go all the way to number four on the Billboard 200 album chart.

I used to listen to LA-107 FM which was an album-oriented rock station. They would do a lot of features, including preview new albums. I remember when they previewed “Afterburner”, and focused on the funny names of some of the songs such as “Velcro Fly”, “Woke Up with Wood”, and “Dipping Low (In the Lap of Luxury)”.

The album cover was cool too. The “Eliminator” had gone into space and took the form of a space ship orbiting the Earth.

The first single was “Sleeping Bag”, which was the same sound and style as its predecessors from “Eliminator”. “Sleeping Bag” repeated the success, also peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It would be the band’s last top 10 hit to date.

The singles kept on coming though. “Stages” was next, released in December of 1985 and going to number 21 on Billboard Hot 100. After that ZZ Top slowed things down with the ballad “Rough Boy” which came out in March of 1986 and went to number 22 on the charts.

The last single I recall is the aforementioned “Velcro Fly”, released in July of 1986. It had a really cool video and went to number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the band’s last single, to date, to reach the top 40.

The years after
ZZ Top kept on recording, putting out “Recycler”, another hit album, in 1990. They made an appearance in one of the “Back to the Future” movies, played at the Super Bowl and the Orange Bowl, and much more.

Parting thoughts
Billy Gibbons holds a special place in my heart. I really got into this police procedural called “Bones”. Gibbons played a fictionalized version of himself who is the father of Angela, one of the members of the forensic team in the show. He also took delight in torturing Angela’s husband Jack Hodgins

Gibbons did an excellent job as Angela’s father. He appeared in seven episodes over nine seasons.

Beyond that, I have always liked their music. Although I only enjoyed it on radio, and at dances and bars, because I have never owned an album or tape by ZZ Top.

I always laughed at the name of the band. I am Canadian and pronounce the last letter of the alphabet “Zed” not “Zee” like Americans do, so I used to jokingly call the band “Zed-Zed Top”.

And Billy Gibbons was a key part of ZZ Top, which ever way you pronounce it.