Revisit:
ZZ Top
Eliminator
1983
Revisit is a series of reviews highlighting past releases that now deserve a second look.
At first mention of the Little Ol’ Band From Texas, you probably think about those three hit music videos from Eliminator. In “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man,” some working stiff is getting seriously hassled by the man, People Who Just Don’t Get It, or, more importantly, by folks who are obviously higher up on the ladder of social status. When the gas station attendant, awkward shop girl, or nerdy valet attendant are made to sweat or get mistreated by these high-fallutin’ bozos, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard of ZZ Top appear like voodoo deities or Ghosts of Rock ‘n’ Roll Present to goofily wave their hands, as though they were casting spells bestowing powers of confidence through the sexually liberating powers of Rock to the trampled working class. Rock ‘n’ roll makes you capable of anything, especially when Gibbons is giving you the keys to the Eliminator, his custom 1933 Ford which appeared in the videos and on the eponymous album’s cover. Being given keys to the Eliminator ensured that you were unstoppable; this was the ’80s, after all, the era of “Knight Rider” and Wall Street. The individual reigned supreme, aided by emerging technologies in his pursuit of “the top,” attainable only if he had the coolest car or the finest-looking women; you got to the top if you could afford it.
Loving every groove on the late ’70s Deugeullo, I’d long avoided Eliminator since it was their record where synths began playing a major role; also because I’m just barely old enough to remember “Legs” being used to sell L’Eggs. Having my tastes formed in the ’90s meant playing records in the shadow of the bloated, behemoth, slick ’80s; it seemed sacrilege for blues-rockin’ Texans to get saucy with some keyboards. Their music should be gritty, sandy, smoky and red hot, right? One listen to Eliminator proves otherwise. ZZ Top were never just another blues-based band; Gibbons has always sounded like Gibbons and the synthesizers are wisely used to augment the band’s sometimes dry sound. This isn’t a trend-aping record like Judas Priest’s disastrous synth-pop detour Turbo or Blue Oyster Cult’s spooky-Loverboy attempt, The Revolution By Night. The synths here come off like rhythm guitar parts, helping Hill and Beard maintain a mechanical groove that purrs like a BMW at 90 mph. Gibbons reportedly came up with something he called the “amp cabin” on this record, where a studio mic would be surrounded by amps on all sides. Think of the sleek, nasty-sounding “Sharp Dressed Man.” You’ve heard the thing a thousand times but what other song has that guitar tone? It’s positively snarling; it’s an American-built hot rod, dark and sleek with the words “BLACK TIE” painted on its side.
If ZZ Top were on a trip in the early ’80s to get to the top via cool cars, sleek sounds and eye-catching videos, a certain amount of class anxiety showed through. Their lyrics were usually rhyming dirty jokes that fit over Gibbons’s fiery guitar but combined with the videos are worth a look. Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man, provided he’s got the moolah to get him there. “If I Could Only Flag Her Down” refers to a girl whose attention can’t be caught, due in part to being “snooty… a fine, famed millionaire.” “I Got the Six,” Hill’s lone and sexually insistent vocal, has him crying out “what a pair, she won’t let me touch her there.” This snooty, rich ice queen is still revered though. “Legs,” with its almost sweet melody, positively lusts after her, even though she’s “jet set…[just] try undo her panties.”
When ZZ Top finally make it with this high class broad, we have “Got Me Under Pressure.” Among the laundry list of things this jet setter likes are French cuisine, art museums, London and certainly not to be overlooked, the rich man’s drug- cocaine. She won’t even let the beer-drinking, hell-raising Gibbons “use [his] passion/ Unless it’s in a limousine.” Gibbons is feeling a tremendous weight on his shoulders to climb in social status to impress this lady, to feel like he’s on top; the relentless backbeat contributed by Beard and Hill makes this the hidden gem on an ignored record. Gibbons will feel sorry for himself, poking fun at his working class diet on “TV Dinners.” Before long though, Gibbons finds out the jet setter of “Legs” and “Flag Her Down” “rubbed it on another guy,” making her a “Dirty Dog.” Gibbons furiously and raucously proclaims that her “problems [were] cured with a dollar bill/ And if it don’t [he knows] a flea collar will.” Gibbons proudly reaffirms his blue collar roots by chasing after a “Bad Girl,” a trashy, brazen flirt in a red mini skirt who’s hurt him before- but it doesn’t matter. She’ll probably give him the nine, since he’s got the six.
Eliminator is the last classic record released by ZZ Top; their remaining releases sunk too far into glossy productions or were workmanlike blues rock recordings. For a brief time in the early ’80s, it seemed like this bizarre, imposing, bearded duo with their tiny drummer could have been as big as Bruce or as omnipresent as Madonna. It just never fit them though, them being the kind of band that felt most at home drunk on the curb waiting for the bus to show. The Eliminator and the high life it symbolizes and promises might make one feel invincible for a time but it should be stressed: though your laying hard on gas with all that youth and mojo, that hot rod is a loaner.
by Chris Middleman
