I POLLed It On The ILX! - ILM Artist Poll #110 - ZZ Top - Results Thread

https://imgur.com/hOfZv8H

Let's Enjoy & Get It On, Shall We?

Damnit, that was supposed to be a version of this:

https://emuseum.mfah.org/internal/media/dispatcher/297384/preview

nice! lets enjoy and get it on

I'll start out by being a little self-indulgent. I didn't really hype the side/early projects ballot like I should have, so--surprise!--I was the only one who did one. So here's that ballot, a quick run through the Moving Sidewalks singles.

https://dangerousminds.net/content/uploads/images/made/content/uploads/images/the-moving-sidewalks-i-want-to-hold-your-hand-tantara-November-1968-2_465_467_int.jpg

5. "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
Single, 1968
1 Point (1 Vote)

The Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_nm-zUHFE

https://img.discogs.com/BururCkB_zDyzW5Hzf8z9ei4pHs=/600x479/smart/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/A-684681-1416922564-6310.jpeg.jpg

4. "What Are You Going To Do?"
Single, 1967
2 Points (1 Vote)

The Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVG2S1mVY3Q

https://dangerousminds.net/content/uploads/images/made/content/uploads/images/Jimi_Hendrix_with_The_Moving_Sidewalks_Fort_Worth_Texas_February_17_1968_copy_465_367_int.jpg

3. "Need Me"
Single, 1967
3 Points (1 Vote)

The Track

i am wearing a Big Hat™️ especially for the rollout!! YAAAAY

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wDkOwxqKmsM/TKtQfPoxFGI/AAAAAAAAEO4/molS12OH98s/s640/Moving+Sidewalks+-+Jones+studio+1967.bmp.jpg

2. "Every Night A New Surprise"
Single, 1967
4 Points (1 Vote)

Orginal Single Recording
Wand Records Rerecording

https://wittliffcollections.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/mspromo6.jpg?w=640

1. "99th Floor"
Single, 1967
5 Points (1 Vote, 1 #1)

The Track

Moving On, next up is the Music Video side poll, of which there were 4 takers voting for nine videos, all of which will be shared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaIZWjItReI

8 (Tie). "I Gotsta Get Paid"
2012
1 Point (1 Vote)

https://vimeo.com/128438119

8 (Tie). "Pincushion"
1994
1 Point (1 Vote)

wooooo

never heard any Moving Sidewalks at all, will check out later

same

oh wow never seen the pincushion video but its great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJP8wVoTufg

7. "Burger Man"
1991
4 Points (1 Vote)

^^Everybody needs to take 4 minutes and just wallow in the bugfuck majesty of "Burger Man"

incredible. they clearly had a good time making their videos

from the "Burger Man" comments

amber pelish
2 years ago
my dad, Jimmy Pelish, was the burgerman... he went blind for a week from falling in that water with the hair gel gooped on, and he was still as happy as could be. being in that video was a lot of fun for him. thanks ZZ TOP for giving him some fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw

5 (Tie). "Sharp Dressed Man"
1983
5 Points (2 Votes)

now that one I remember

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKJymx2KDWo

5 (Tie). "Sleeping Bag"
1985
5 Points (2 Votes)

^^Featuring Tracy Walter (Miller from Repo Man & Bob The Goon from the Burton Batman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDcTLaWJuo

4. "Legs"
1984
10 Points (4 Votes, 1 #1)

I voted for the "Pincushion" video never having seen it; just a behind-the-scenes "making-of" news item at the time, probably on MuchMusic. I knew it contained Billy and Dusty on wires, and pins coming through the wall, which to me deserved a vote sight unseen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae829mFAGGE

3. "Gimme All Your Lovin'"
1983
10 Points (3 Votes, 1 #1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6mI708yWc

2. "TV Dinners"
1983
11 Points (3 Votes, 1 #1)

^Kind of want an Eliminator-themed racing game arcade console

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4ULKpkLNc

1. "Rough Boy"
1986
13 Points (3 Votes, 1 #1)

I'll be back tomorrow w/the albums rollout...and perhaps a few tracks?

Rough Boy is pure art. I was the #1 vote

I forgot about their matching blue tracksuits & white caps in the tv dinners video. Peak 80s camp.

otm

tv dinners was my last cut from my tracks ballot so the least i could do was vote that weird ass video number one

There were 13 Albums ballots, with 12 releases receiving votes, and 6 of those titles getting widespread love.

https://img.discogs.com/q2E615bo26x0_AJJn0Qw7BPi0GQ=/fit-in/593x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1070986-1259638440.jpeg.jpg

6. Rio Grande Mud
1972
8 Points (5 Votes

https://img.discogs.com/VR4sQGK0ST0Hp85sIXy2OpNQvnU=/fit-in/600x593/filters:strip_icc():format(webp):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5208734-1439909776-1800.jpeg.jpg

5. Fandango!
1975
15 Points (6 Votes)

the studio cuts on fandango are fantastic

https://img.discogs.com/T2e5vv1oHXcleMmeWlL5D3y2lQg=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1291640-1367093438-1325.jpeg.jpg

4. Eliminator
1983
28 Points (11 Votes, 2 #1's)

xp yes, shame about the other side

the live cuts aren't bad by any means, but you'd hope that a band as creatively red hot as the top were at the time could deliver more than 5 new studio songs with an lp

I think they were just touring too much to write/record at that specific time, but yeah it's a mixed bag. The expanded edition has more live cuts, but are there any studio outtakes at all from this period, like on that (non-re-recorded) box set I still need to hear?

The live side is more like "here's another facet of the ZZ Top experience" rather than a stretch of music you'd want to relisten to.

I don't think there are any. The only box set rarities have been remixes, radio-exclusive singles, and non-LP singles.

The live side of Fandango! smokes btw, wtf?

the live version of "heard it" from the expanded version with full dusty vocals is incredible

^^ yes

One of my favorite things about the live part of Fandango! is there isn't much (if any) doctoring, so there's mic shrieks and amp buzz; there's even a five or so second channel drop out on the rampaging "Backdoor Medley".

BTW, I believe the live bonuses on the Fandango! & Trees Hombres remasters are all Deguello-era or thereabouts.

yeah i'm pretty sure that live "heard it" is this one from german television (1980)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTHV4yYg3r8

either way, it smokes

https://lgsenses.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/zztop_tejas.jpg

3. Tejas
1976
36 Points (9 Votes, 4 #1's)

too low

https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/2962/2962031_sa.jpg

4. “Just Got Paid”
Rio Grande Mud, 1972
332 Points (11 Votes, 2 #1’s)

The Track
Six Pack Version
Live In Germany 1980
Mastodon Cover

I like rio grande mud but this just towers over the rest of the album imo

the perfect zz top song. all three members bring it.

I remember hearing R*peman’s cover version and having a minor head-explodey “Steve Albini likes ZZ Top?” moment.

They have kind of a moment in the "underground" scene around then, right? Albini's band, Meat Puppets with "Huevos," Sonic Youth's "Eliminator Jr." I feel like there's one or two more I can't think of

Black Flag used to play Eliminator over the PA between sets.

Pet Shop Boys shouted them out too...iirc there's an Eliminator (the car) reference in the PSB movie.

now i'm imagining neil tennant deadpanning "when the hound dog barkin' in the black of the night/stick my hand in my pocket, everything's all right"

@ 0:52 in the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26kf2nZgFGI

'Way Cool Jr.' by Ratt is a pretty obvious Billy Gibbons riff stylization. They even throw in a bit of haw haw at the beginning.

self-xp and @ 24:12 in the film itself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke89lFyj630

two of the remaining 3 are obvious... but i'll admit i did not anticipate even a top 10 for "hot, blue and righteous"

also i love the artist and the song but wow, Joan Jett does not sound like she has any serious interest in being taken downtown to look for tush.

loving the covers tho. mastodon kills it.

pretty sure you're joking rogermexico, but i'm fairly certain the third song isn't "hot blue"

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e8/23/19/e823192a043c54dc6c85a597fb2ed2b8--s-sunglasses-vintage-sunglasses.jpg

3. “Cheap Sunglasses”
Degüello, 1979
373 Points (13 Votes)

The Track
Live On The Test 1980
Live In Germany 1980

great song but the live version is what really sold me on it

no matter how many times i hear it, i always laugh at how billy belts out the "oh yeah!" after the "but what really knocked me out..." line

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I8_cZ6NL3nY/VMlUkd399UI/AAAAAAAAGWs/nVl6saylUSs/s1600/la-grange-chicken-ranch-ron-scott-500x314.png

2. “La Grange”
Tres Hombres, 1973
392 Points (13 Votes, 3 #1’s)

The Track
Six Pack Version
Live In 1982
Live At Gruene Hall
Live On Howard Stern

“got me under pressure” is such a jam. vocals in the second verse are fucking incredible.

"la grange" is a perfect song.

what else is there to say besides "a how how how how"

what else is there to say besides "a how how how how"

otm

It was basically a coin flip for me between "La Grange" and the winner. I opted for the one I've heard on the radio a million times, yet still gets me excited, no mean feat. "La Grange" it was.

have mercy!

pretty sure you're joking rogermexico, but i'm fairly certain the third song isn't "hot blue"

― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Wednesday, October 6, 2021

reckon you might be right on both counts :)

"Leila" for the win!

https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/867246a0-b662-00f0-833a-3c1879b5c914/full/843,/0/default.jpg

1. “Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago”
Tres Hombres, 1973
421 Points (14 Votes, 2 #1’s)

The Tracks
Live In Germany 1980
Live At Crossroads 2010

The only unanimous pick?

I... didn't vote for it.

lol

Nice Poll y'all! I didn't vote because I only knew Tres Hombres and the radio hits but I enjoyed the hell out of the rollout and playlist.

lol God and Bill Ham intended for “Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago” to be voted on as one track, but they did NOT require that Grisso vote for it.

pretty great top ten really. cant front. was really fun to do a full dive into zz top and put a list together for this.

strikethrough didnt place

tracks

Brown Sugar
La Grange
Rough Boy
Just Got Paid
Waitin' for the Bus
Mexican Blackbird
Cheap Sunglasses
Heard it on the X
Precious and Grace
Balinese
Sharp Dressed Man
Hi-Fi Mama
She Loves My Automobile
Pearl Necklace
Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings
Gimme All Your Lovin’
Blue Jeans Blues
Tush
I Thank You
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

albums

Tejas
Fandango!
Tres Hombres
Deguello
Rio Grande Mud

videos

Rough Boy
Sleeping Bag
TV Dinners
Gimme All Your Lovin
Legs

thanks for doing it grisso

great poll, grisso. love this band!

my ballot

Tracks
Heard It On The X
Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago
10 Dollar Man
La Grange
I Got The Six
Just Got Paid
Tush
El Diablo
It's Only Love
Sharp Dressed Man
Cheap Sunglasses
I Gotsta Get Paid
Fool For Your Stockings
Precious & Grace
Balinese
Brown Sugar
Gimme All Your Lovin
Low Down In The Street
Have You Heard?
Asleep In The Desert

Albums
Tejas
Tres Hombres
Eliminator
Fandango
Deguello

Music Videos
TV Dinners
Rough Boy
Gimme All Your Lovin
Sharp Dressed Man
I Gotsta Get Paid

My ballot:

SONGS
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
Just Got Paid
Sharp Dressed Man
La Grange
Waitin’ for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago
Cheap Sunglasses
Master of Sparks
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
I Got the Six
She Loves My Automobile
El Diablo
Arrested for Driving While Blind
Tush
It’s Only Love
Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings
Tube Snake Boogie
Bar-B-Q
Brown Sugar
Squank
Belt Buckle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHZUVPpfCn8

ALBUMS
Tres Hombres
Degüello
Tejas
Eliminator
La Futura

Circling back to the PSB thing:

The use of real sounds under the music gives it a filmic quality and Mendelsohn even went as far as to include a recording of the ‘ambience’ from inside a 19th-century church in Knightsbridge. “We went to the Brompton Oratory to record some live effects on a little two-track Nagra tape recorder, and that’s actually on the record somewhere,” he says, and you can hear it in the “Father forgive me” section. “I know Neil and Chris wanted it to be completely over the top. At the time I was making that track, I was listening to a lot of ZZ Top. So I sort of sent it in that direction a little bit – the insistent heaviness of it.”

From: https://www.classicpopmag.com/2018/01/pet-shop-boys-made-album-actually/

Also this Re: "Can't Take My Eyes Off You/Where The Streets Have No Name"

Neil: "The extended mix really sounds like ZZ Top, I think. When I went to America to work for the American version of Smash Hits I heard ZZ Top for the first time, and there were two of their songs I particularly liked, 'Sharp Dressed Man' and 'Legs.' I loved the combination of electric guitars and drum machines.… And I think this sounds a little bit like that."

From http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/lists/songinfluences.htm

PSB and OMD in ZZ Mutual Appreciation Society Frenzy

great poll, thanks for doing it C Grisso, I'm sorry I missed the original call as I would have tried to submit a ballot

My ballot. I went for "Rhythmeen" and "What It Is Kid" even though I knew they had no chance of placing. Those are the two latter day Top songs that really got me interested in the band after years of indifference. Their RCA years are super cool to me, even though the only song they do live from that era anymore is "I Gotsta Get Paid." It speaks to the strength of their back catalog that they play nothing but big hits for an hour plus and it doesn't leave time for any deep cuts.

Albums:
1. Tres Hombres
2. Deguello
3. Tejas
4. Fandango
5. Eliminator

Songs:
1. La Grange
2. Tush
3. Bus/Jesus
4. Heard it in the X
5. Sharp Dressed Man
6. Cheap Sunglasses
7. Brown Sugar
8. I’m Bad I’m Nationwide
9. Fool For Your Stockings
10. Just Got Paid
11. Blue Jean Blues
12. It’s Only Love
13. Tube Snake Boogie
14. Legs
15. Rhythmeen
16. What It Is Kid
17. My Head’s in Mississippi
18. Asleep in the Desert
19. Rough Boy
20. Gimme All Your Lovin

I didn't vote in this because I've only very recently gotten properly into ZZ-Top, but listening to these records I am consistently astonished at what a great drummer Frank Beard is. Somehow both incredibly tight and loose at the same time. Tejas and Degüello are my favorites currently. Am I correct that these two (Tejas in particular) are their funkiest?

jfc sorry for using so many adverbs there

El Loco has some New Wave Funk.

Should have been #1:

https://rave.dj/44P2VR7JdtM2Ag

Thanks for doing this poll C Grisso, it was awesome. Here's my ballot (strikethroughs didn't make it)

Songs:
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
Cheap Sunglasses
Waitin' for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago
Just Got Paid
Sharp Dressed Man
Heard It on the X
I Thank You
Shiek
Avalon Hideaway
Got Me Under Pressure
Lowdown in the Street
It's Only Love
Legs
Master of Sparks
Enjoy and Get It On
Asleep in the Desert
(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree
I Gotsta Get Paid
I Wanna Drive You Home
La Grange

Albums:
Degüello
Tejas
Tres Hombres
Eliminator
ZZ Top's First Album

Results Roundup:

Side Projects/Early Stuff:

5. Moving Sidewalks: “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
4. Moving Sidewalks: “What Are You Going To Do?”
3. Moving Sidewalks: “Need Me”
2. Moving Sidewalks: “Every Night A New Surprise”
1. Moving Sidewalks: “99th Floor”

Music Videos:

8 (Tie). “I Gotsta Get Paid”
8 (Tie). “Pincushion”
7. “Burger Man”
5 (Tie). “Sharp Dressed Man”
5 (tie). “Sleeping Bag”
4. “Legs”
3. “Gimme All Your Lovin’”
2. “TV Dinners”
1. “Rough Boy”

Albums:

6. Rio Grande Mud
5. Fandango!
4. Eliminator
3. Tejas
2. Degüello
1. Tres Hombres

Tracks Poll:

40 (Tie). “Enjoy And Get It On”
40 (Tie). “Sheik”
39. “Francine”
38. “Stages”
37. “HiFi Mama”
35 (Tie). “Mexican Blackbird”
35 (Tie). “Move Me On Down The Line”
34. “Arrested For Driving While Blind”
33. “Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell”
32. “My Head’s In Mississippi”
31. “Blue Jean Blues”
30. “She Loves My Automobile”
29. “Asleep In The Desert”
28. “Ten Dollar Man”
27. “I Got The Six”
26. “Sleeping Bag”
25. “A Fool For Your Stockings”
24. “Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings”
23. “I Wanna Drive You Home”
22. “Pearl Necklace”
21. “Precious and Grace”
20. “Got Me Under Pressure”
19. “Tube Snake Boogie”
17 (Tie). “I Gotsta Get Paid”
17 (Tie). “It’s Only Love”
16. “Brown Sugar”
15. “Rough Boy”
14. “I Thank You”
13. “El Diablo”
12. “Legs”
11. “Master of Sparks”
10. “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers”
9. “Gimme All Your Lovin’”
8. “Tush”
7. “Sharp Dressed Man”
6. “Heard It On The X”
5. “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”
4. “Just Got Paid”
3. “Cheap Sunglasses”
2. “La Grange”
1. “Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago”

No "Pan Am American Highway Blues" or "She's a Heartbreaker"? That 2nd side of Tejas is subtly great.

agreed, one year later--those two would both be top 20 for me--I also think this whole record just SOUNDS unbelievably good