Aided By Ingenuity, ZZ Top Helped Define the '80s

I've never been a huge ZZ Top fan, especially when it comes to the rather silly, bawdy double entendre-laced songs the band was often known for during the '70s and early '80s, from "Tush" to "Pearl Necklace." I had even convinced myself over the years to turn my nose up at the group's brilliantly contemporary '80s output, on which a blues-rock band made a graceful transition to pop. But going back this week to revisit ZZ Top's mid-'80s gems has simply proven to me more than ever that guitarist and usual lead singer Billy Gibbons is one of rock's most sublime, distinct geniuses. Consider, as you reexamine the tunes on my Top 7 ZZ Top Songs of the '80s, what an achievement it is for Gibbons to shine more brightly than ever as a soulful, technical guitar wizard even as he and the band rolled with the changes of the new decade to become one of the biggest pop hitmakers of the day.

• ZZ Top Profile
• Top 7 ZZ Top Songs of the '80s
• ZZ Top Official Website