I was among that first generation of adolescents to discover MTV in the early 1980s. If you were 14 years old in 1982, as I was, MTV was really great stuff.
The ZZ Top videos were among the best. The music itself was catchy. But ZZ Top’s MTV videos often portrayed short stories, often with fantasy elements.
Among the most memorable of these was “Legs” (1983). “Legs” is essentially a miniature fairy tale, set in 1980s America. The video also features cameo appearances by two Playboy Playmates—Jeana Tomasino and Kymberly Herrin. What could be more 80s than that?
But the members of the band, by then men in their early middle age, also provided a distinctive visual trademark to every ZZ Top production.
ZZ Top was a three-man band from Houston, Texas. They had no pretensions of being glam rockers. The guitarist and bassist, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, both sported long beards that made them look like refugees from the Texas Hill Country of some prior decade.
Frank Beard, the drummer, was ironically the only member of the band who did not have a beard. Frank Beard passed away yesterday at the age of 77.
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My research tells me that Beard was preceded in death by Dusty Hill in 2021. (Hill was 72.)
I’m not going to pretend that either death was a personal loss. But these two men, though strangers, contributed significantly to the pop culture tapestry of my formative years. That pop culture was, on the whole, more upbeat and vibrant than the one we are forced to endure today.
I’m glad that the marketplace rewarded both Beard and Hill for their musical prowess while they were still alive. ZZ Top peaked in popularity decades ago. But their music videos have aged well and are still available on YouTube.
Frank Beard, 77. R.I.P.
-ET