I put off Dusty’s obit because it happened around my birthday and I wanted to keep the mood light. Now we’re can honor the famous bass player and his role in my Classic Rock education through ZZ Top.
Oddly, I already heard of ZZ Top before moving to Houston through my first FM love, WDBR in Springfield. They loved to play the two singles from El Loco and I always remembered their promotional poster at JR’s Music in the mall. Then KLOL filled me in on their vast back catalog which was way more Blues and Country which you can definitely hear in Dusty’s bass. Eliminator put them on the map with humongous audiences while they became another MTV success through their iconic videos featuring the hot rod driven by a trio of beautiful women; it must’ve been part clown car if four adults fit inside. Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbon’s chest-length beards added to their popularity. When it came to MTV, having something unique helped you stand above the pack. To this day, those music videos continue to fuel jokes via The Onion and The Simpsons.
The greatest TV appearance Dusty ever made with Bill and Frank Beard was on King of the Hill. I suspect Mike Judge had been wanting to have them on for years but just didn’t have the right plot until Reality TV (also known as cheap, crap programming) became all the rage. In the episode, ZZ Top comes to Arlen to shoot some of their reality show, namely to torment Hank who is Dusty’s first cousin. Bobby is initially pissed since Hank never told him; we fans all know how Hank is averse to “Hollywood” and attention. It’s pretty clever despite King being rather long in the tooth by the time it happened yet I love it for its uniqueness. King was set in Texas, ZZ Top is one of the best bands Texas ever produced and the coincidence with the surname prevented the idea from being recycled by other comedies. Sadly, there won’t be a South Park character chanting, “King of the Hill did it!”
I am bummed that I never got to see ZZ Top. The best opportunity I could’ve had was the Fall of 1983 when they played three sold-out shows at Houston’s Summit, now a god barn. If I had a time machine, I would’ve taken it back to witness the El Loco tour before they really blew up.
ZZ Top was definitely a band I took back in quickly when I was having my reconciliation with Classic Rock. There was more to Dusty’s playing which made the pre-El Loco material timeless and when the band modified their sound with synthesizers and power chords, his bass skills transitioned well into the catchy stuff. An odd marriage of the New Wave influences coming from the UK with the frequent subject matters they usually sang about: food, parties and sex. The band’s record label must’ve had a hard time seeing this succeed on paper.
Thanks for everything Dusty! Your bass playing influenced legions and may you be jamming alongside another bass legend, Donald “Duck” Dunn!