Z Z Top-El Loco (1981)


Artist: Z Z Top

Title: El Loco

Label: Warner Bros.

Format: LP

Cat #: BSK 3593

Year of Release: 1981

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1981 Columbia House edition

Listed Condition: VG+/VG cut out on left hand side,original inner sleeve

Sell Date: 3/13/21

Sell Price: $5.99

Discogs Last Sold: 2/20/21 $6.99 VG+/VG+

Low: $3.00

Median: $7.50

Average: $7.73

High: $15.00 NM/VG+

Current low price: $2.65

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 20

Have/Want: 2612/279

Where Sold: Doral, FL

Time it took to sell: 6 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester, MA Al-Bums used $2.99 early-80's

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A-

Sad To See It Go: No

This is a ZZ Top record that I underappreciated, played once and filed away in the early 80's. Even when it sold, it didn't make the cut for a spin when 20 records had to go out the door in a timely manner. Even as a kid when a childhood friend got this with Shooting Star's Hang On For Your Life for his birthday, I somehow never heard either of them enough to commit to memory. By the time I bought El Loco it was a used cut-out and I was completing my Z Z Top collection blindly,  slightly before Eliminator came out. This album needs to be seen for what it is: a transitional marriage of the 70's peak blooze years with the synth laden arena rock commercial explosion that Eliminator wrought.

The track of the album, of course, is "Pearl Necklace." They ain't talkin' about jewelry,  to quote the slyly embedded lyric. That this was a major commercial rock radio hit, that got arena fists pumping,  is a joyous subversion of mass media. The music could be incidental music on a encrusted pornographic VHS tape. The result is an aural explosion. A gift is demanded and received.

The lil' ol' band from Texas has a lot up their sleeve. The drawl shines through on "Ten Foot Pole." Another Texan, Gibby Hayes,took a similar drawl to the top of the charts when John Paul Jones produced their record. Weirdo track "Heaven, Hell or Houston" wouldn't sound out of place on an early Butthole Surfers record. The album closer, "Party on the Patio" married "Get Out Of Denver"-style Bob Seger with a Devo synth-whip.

El Loco is a nice merge of the 50's, 60's, 70's and early 80's before things got a bit bloated. I've listened to this 4 times this week, a rarity for me. It sounds fresh to my ears, especially in headphones which reveal some really cool shit going on even in "Tube Snake Boogie" which was inescapable throughout the 80's.

Crank it up!


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