| February 6, 2018 | |||||
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Lyrics: I’ve been wasting my time
You have taken it all Tell me what you want (x4) I’m wishing to God you’re gonna say you miss me So I can say I ain’t been wasting my time Tell me what you want (x4) I need you so bad Get It: Get your copy of Zebra’s self-titled debut at Amazon: You can grab your copy of No Tellin’ Lies here:
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In the 1950s, a strange and relatively new musical phenomenon called rock and roll exploded onto the planet with the power of a thousand suns. With the pioneering sounds of musicians like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley that infested the ears of many young fans and raised the eyebrows of many young fans’ parents, a movement had begun. Then, in the turbulent 1960s, artists like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane raised the bar when it came to musical creativity and intensity, thus firmly establishing rock and roll as a true art form. In the 1970s, after having grown firm roots, the rock world introduced us to new genres like the raw, hard-edge styles of new wave and punk rock with groups like Blondie, The Clash, and Sex Pistols who, with major anti-establishment attitude, gave the world the proverbial finger with just three chords. Heavy metal—the loudest music known to mankind—with the edgy, heavily distorted power chords and blistering guitar solos of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Judas Priest inspired many young listeners (yours truly included) to pick up an “ax” and plunk away at the fret board with dreams of becoming the next metal god. The dawn of arena rock introduced glamorous performances with magnificent light shows and pyrotechnics that deafened and blinded the audiences of bands like Boston, Styx, and Journey, and it blew the minds of young spectators worldwide. Oh, there was that disco thing, too, but we won’t get into that. Then things got weird. The early 1980s were a period of rock and roll redefinition and experimentation, putting it diplomatically. As if it didn’t know what to do with itself, rock and roll split into numerous genres and sub-genres; a musical mitosis that evolved into pop rock, alternative rock, electropop, soft rock, glam rock, and thrash metal, just to name a few. New bands sprung from the head of Zeus, seemingly by the dozens each day. Some artists, like Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Madonna, and Guns N’ Roses, would become household names (with a little help from MTV) and go on to sell bazillions of records and fill the seats of concert venues all over the globe. Others, sadly, would go supernova and fade into obscurity. For reasons unexplained, a band called Zebra fits in the latter category. Zebra, with Randy Jackson on guitar and lead vocals with a freakish falsetto, Felix Haneman on bass and keyboards, and Guy Gelso on drums, was a 1980s hard rock band from New Orleans. They released their self-titled debut in 1983 and enjoyed moderate success with the singles, Tell Me What You Want and Who’s Behind the Door, with ensuing videos being released for each. Their sophomore release entitled, No Tellin’ Lies, dropped a single and video for the track, Bears. Later releases weren’t as well received, but still produced some great songs, in my opinion. The group took a break in the early 1990s after losing their label, but reunited in 1997 and released their fourth and final studio album, Zebra IV in 2003. Although the band still tours, playing small venues along the East and Gulf Coasts, they remain relatively unknown in the rock and roll community. For the life of me, I don’t know why. Maybe it was because the band couldn’t find their niche in the already saturated hard rock market of the early 1980s. Maybe the name Zebra just wasn’t catchy enough compared to other bands of the era like Metallica, U2, and The Cure. Whatever the reason, I feel it is my duty as a rock music fan to tell the world that, yes, Virginia, there is a Zebra! And here they are! Video: Here is the video for Tell Me What You Want:
And here is the video for Who’s Behind the Door?
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