With the 1983 release of their platinum album Eliminator, ZZ Top went from being just “a little ol' band from Texas” to a status larger than life. Originating in such late-'60s Houston psychedelic garage bands as the Moving Sidewalks, ZZ Top became the Lone Star State's favorite blues-rock bar band in the '70s and gathered a small nationwide following through relentless tours. They garnered FM airplay with Texas-oriented songs like “Heard It on the X,” a thankful nod to the Mexican radio stations that aired music unplayable in the United States. They were best known by decade's end for “La Grange,” an amped-up rewrite of John Lee Hooker's “Boogie Chillun” set in a Texas whorehouse, and the self-explanatory “Tush.” By the time of Eliminator, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill grew chest-length beards, went to a costume shop and invested in synthesizers, polished production and MTV. ZZ Top became one of the 1980s' sleekest rock showboats with an entertaining stage act supported by such memorable tunes as “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” For the remainder of their long-running career, tension has been felt between the band's roots in the Rio Grande mud and their aspirations of entertaining glitz. Although they reached their commercial pinnacle in the '80s, ZZ Top remains a top act on the live circuit. (Dave Luhrssen)
ZZ Top
Tonight @ Wisconsin State Fair, 7:30 p.m.