1983 in rock: ZZ Top break through with 'Eliminator'

Veteran Texas blues-boogie trio ZZ Top became overnight sensations in 1983 with their eighth album, 'Eliminator'. The trio hit upon a winning formula of blending the bluesy guitar sound of Billy Gibbons with a synthesiser backing, allied with a strong visual identity (as depicted with the long beards grown out by Gibbons, and also bassist Dusty Hill). Ironically, drummer Frank Beard was the odd one out in not sporting any sort of beard!

'Eliminator', produced by the band's manager Bill Ham, took things a stage further than their 1981 album 'El Loco' which saw the introduction of synthesisers to the group's sound. This time synths and drum machines were very apparent, although the guitar was still up there front and centre. A trilogy of music videos (for the songs 'Gimme All Your Lovin', 'Sharp Dressed Man', and 'Legs') were produced featuring the 'Eliminator' car seen on the album cover, attractive model girls and novelty guitars which spun through 360 degrees. The videos were shown heavily on MTV, putting the band in the front rooms of many US viewers and also making a star of the 'Eliminator' car (A modified 1933 Ford Coupé). These were not the only videos produced for the album; 'TV Dinners', a song with humorous lyrics about microwave ready meals, featured a claymation monster emerging from the dinner.

Off the back of this album, the group (previously with a cult following among rock fans) became mainstream stars. They travelled over to the UK in August 1983 to perform at Monsters of Rock festival, at the invitation of David Coverdale (a long-time admirer), whose band Whitesnake were headliners that year. Two years later ZZ Top would themselves headline the event, as they had since become huge in the UK after the BBC featured the trilogy of videos which made them famous in the US.

ZZ Top are still touring and recording to this day, and still with the same three members.

*2023 Update: Bassist Dusty Hill passed away on July 28th 2021 following a period of ill-health. Elwood Francis, the band's former guitar tech, was nominated by Hill himself to take over the bass position and ZZ Top continued to perform.*

The video for 'TV Dinners' is less well-remembered, as it was not part of the trilogy featuring the girls and the car, so it is presented here: