"Legs" is a song by the band
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...
from their 1983 album ''
Eliminator''. The song was released as the fourth single in May 1984 more than a year after the album came out. It reached number 8 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States (their highest charting single on the pop charts), and the dance mix version of the song peaked at number 13 on the dance charts.
A video was made for "Legs", depicting a timid young female store clerk who is given confidence by a trio of sexy women, with the band mysteriously appearing and disappearing. "Legs" was the third installment of a trilogy of similarly themed videos shot by Tim Newman for ''Eliminator'', and it won the
MTV Video Music Award for Best Group. The video was placed into heavy rotation on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, which helped to lift the single high on the charts.
Like other songs on ''Eliminator'', the musical style of "Legs" shows the band's new interest in
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
elements, driven by singer-guitarist
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...
who was pushing to incorporate
new wave and
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
styles. Pre-production engineer Linden Hudson established the song's pulsing
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
line during rehearsals. "Legs" contains
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
and vocals from Gibbons, but the
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
of
Dusty Hill
Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards.
Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...
and
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
of
Frank Beard were replaced in the final mix by engineer
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...
who played
keyboard bass
Keyboard bass (shortened to keybass and sometimes referred as a synth-bass) is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the deep notes of a bass guitar or double bass ...
and
drum machine to achieve the style sought by Gibbons.
Recording
The band
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...
developed the song "Legs" at the home of drummer
Frank Beard on the outskirts of
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, in the band's rehearsal studio. The studio held recording equipment installed and operated by live-in engineer Linden Hudson. To give the song a sense of propulsion, Hudson created an unusual
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
sound by routing the synth's audio signal through a
noise gate
A noise gate or gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. Comparable to a compressor, which attenuates signals ''above'' a threshold, such as loud attacks from the start of musical notes, no ...
that was triggered externally by continual
sixteenth-note
Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest.
Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together.
In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note ( American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the dur ...
hi-hat
A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...
samples from a
drum machine. As a result, the synthesizer
chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
pulsed to a sixteenth-note beat at a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 125 beats per minute.
Gibbons played a
Dean ML
The Dean ML is an electric guitar made by Dean Guitars in 1977 along with its counterparts, the Dean V, Dean Cadillac and Dean Z. It has an unusual design, with a V-shaped headstock and V-shaped tailpiece. It was popularized by the guitarist Di ...
guitar for both rhythm and lead parts, and sang the lead vocal part.
Beard played drums, and
Dusty Hill
Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards.
Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...
played
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
. Gibbons, Beard and Hill were credited on the album as songwriters.
The band recorded the ''Eliminator'' album professionally at
Ardent Studios in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, under the guidance of band manager
Bill Ham
Billy Mack Ham (February 4, 1937 – June 20, 2016) was an American music impresario, best known as the manager, producer, and image-maker for the blues-rock band ZZ Top. Ham also gained prominence in the country music world by discovering and man ...
and longtime band recording engineer
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...
. Manning phoned Hudson to ask how he had generated the pulsing synth effect. The whole band recorded their parts at Ardent, then Beard and Hill returned home to Texas.
Music video
The "Legs" music video follows a mousy young female shoe store clerk who is harassed by nearly everyone around her. The trio of women featured in previous music videos for ''Eliminator'' singles, drives up in the vintage Eliminator car to give her confidence and take revenge on the bullies. The band shimmers in and out of visibility, spinning their sheepskin-covered guitars, finally giving the clerk the keys to the car.
Production
The "Legs" video was directed by Tim Newman, who had directed the successful videos for the ''Eliminator'' singles for "
Gimme All Your Lovin'
"Gimme All Your Lovin'" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album '' Eliminator''. It was released as the album's first single in 1983.
Initially unsuccessful in the UK upon its August 1983 release, in the wake of the band's American success (t ...
" and "
Sharp Dressed Man
"Sharp Dressed Man" is a song performed by ZZ Top from their 1983 album '' Eliminator''. The song was produced by band manager Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. Pre-production recording engineer Linden Hudson was very involved ...
". He declined to return to shoot the video for "TV Dinners".
For "Legs", record executive
Jeff Ayeroff
Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff (born January 20, 1947) is an American record executive who has worked for A&M, Warner Records, Virgin U.S., Work Group, Apple, and Shangri-La Music. He founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign ag ...
pleaded with him to return. Newman bargained hard and asked for "points"—a percentage of the profit—but Warner feared this would set an expensive precedent. Instead, they offered Newman a fixed payment every time the album was certified for another 250,000 units sold in the US, earning Newman more money than he expected.
The "Legs" video concept started with Newman suggesting that the main character should be a young woman this time.
He cast actress Wendy Frazier who had recently played the love interest in the little-seen Baxter Robertson video for the Robertson song "Silver Strand", also directed by Newman. As the crew set up to shoot the "Legs" video in February 1984, Frazier turned 21.
Much of the video was shot in
Valencia, California
Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California. This area, with major commercial and industrial parks, straddles State Route 126 and the Santa Clara River.
Development projects continue to be built in ...
, the area now called
Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...
.
The three Eliminator actresses—
Jeana Tomasino
Jeana Ellen Keough ( née Myers; formerly Tomasino; born September 18, 1955) is an American television personality, realtor, actress, and model. Keough graduated from Whitnall High School located in Greenfield, Wisconsin in 1972. When she was y ...
,
Kymberly Herrin
__NOTOC__
The following is a list of Playboy Playmates of 1981. ''Playboy'' magazine names their Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year.
January
Karen Elaina Price (born July 17, 1960) is an American model, stunt woman and televi ...
and Danièle Arnaud—were paid more than $2,000 each (approximately $5,000 in 2020 dollars), a higher fee than usual, according to Herrin.
Tomasino had been a
''Playboy'' Playmate in 1980; so was Herrin in 1981. This was Herrin's first ZZ Top video, and established Eliminator models Tomasino and Arnaud tended to push her to the rear. Herrin and singer-guitarist
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...
became friends during the shoot.
Gibbons said that he kept in touch with Herrin for years afterward, calling her a "groovy hippie chick from
Santa Barbara". ZZ Top later brought her back for the video to their 1985 single "Sleeping Bag". Newman dated Frazier for a while, but only after she was cast in the part. He said, "Look, you spend time with these people. What can I tell you?"
The single entered the Mainstream Rock Airplay charts in June 1984.
Spinning guitars
Dean Guitars
Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acous ...
created the pair of matching guitars shown in the music video, based on the
Dean Z
The Dean Z Guitar is an electric guitar made by Dean Guitars starting in 1977 along with its counterparts, the Dean ML, Dean V and Dean Cadillac. It has the recognizable Dean headstock and the V shaped tailpiece. The body shape is similar to t ...
model, but painted white and covered in fluffy white
sheepskin
Sheepskin is the Hide (skin), hide of a Domestic sheep, sheep, sometimes also called lambskin. Unlike common leather, sheepskin is Tanning (leather), tanned with the Wool, fleece intact, as in a Fur, pelt.Delbridge, Arthur, "The Macquarie Dictiona ...
. Dean also painted the band's "''ZZ''" logo extending the length of each fretboard. Gibbons had picked up the sheepskin while touring in Scotland, and sent it to Dean for the custom project. Both the 4-string bass guitar and 6-string standard required the sheepskin to be trimmed away from the strings so that they could
sustain
In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. It may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequencies (with the use of filters) or pitch. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immedi ...
. The glue was still drying on the sheepskin covering the tuning pegs when the guitars were couriered to the video shoot.
The custom style was duplicated in late 1985 by
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
for the band's
Afterburner Tour, based on a pair of
Gibson Explorer
The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, whi ...
models. Fabricated by Matthew Klein, the Gibsons were purposely made lighter in construction than the Deans, weighing about six pounds each (2.7 kg).
Awards
The video won the 1984
MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Group (also known as the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video) is given to recording artists at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). The award was introduced at the inaugural ceremony in 1984 by vocalis ...
.
Frazier and Newman attended the awards ceremony, and Newman accepted the award on behalf of the band. This was the first year the award was given. Sim Sadler and
Bob Sarles
Bob Sarles is an American documentary filmmaker, film editor and radio host based in San Francisco.
Biography
Bob Sarles is an American documentary filmmaker and a Primetime Emmy nominated film and television editor.
In the early 1970s, as a tee ...
edited "Legs," for which both received nominations for Best Editing in the first MTV Video Music Awards, in the Billboard Music Video Awards, and in the American Music Video Awards that year.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Personnel
*
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
*
Dusty Hill
Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards.
Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...
–
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, backing vocals (credit only)
*
Frank Beard –
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
(credit only)
*
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...
– recording and mix engineer, programming,
drum machines,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s, backing vocals
*Linden Hudson – pre-production engineer
Cover versions
*
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...
covered the song on the 2011 ''
ZZ Top: A Tribute from Friends''.
*
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...
covered the song on the 2002 album ''
WWF Forceable Entry
''WWF Forceable Entry'' is a soundtrack album by WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF). Released on March 26, 2002 by Columbia Records, it features entrance music of WWE wrestlers re-recorded by various hard rock and heavy m ...
''.
Parodies
The video was parodied in a 1984 episode of ''
St. Elsewhere'' in which the Eliminator girls appeared, though the band was played by members of the show's cast.
References
{{authority control
1983 songs
1984 singles
ZZ Top songs
Songs written by Billy Gibbons
Songs written by Dusty Hill
Songs written by Frank Beard (musician)
American synth-pop songs
Warner Records singles