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Sharp Dressed Man

The Eliminator single with the guitar solo and the parking valet video.
ZZ Top, from Eliminator (1983)

Written by
Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard
Released
1983
Album
Eliminator

Sharp Dressed Man came from Eliminator and was produced by Bill Ham, with Terry Manning recording and mixing. Linden Hudson was heavily involved in its early production, and the song runs at 125 beats per minute. It reached number eight on the Mainstream Rock chart in July 1983. Guitar World placed its solo at 43 in its 2009 list of the 50 greatest guitar solos.

The video continues the story of Gimme All Your Lovin'. A male parking valet is remade as a star by three women arriving in the Eliminator car, and the band gives him the keys. Tim Newman directed it, and it won Best Direction at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. Warner Bros. did not want a second video, but Jeff Ayeroff convinced the label to pay more for it. Newman has said a beer company likely paid secretly for product placement, and MTV would not air it until those shots were removed.

Nickelback covered the song at the 2007 VH1 Rock Honors, and ZZ Top played it at the 2008 Orange Bowl halftime. It re-entered the Billboard charts in 2020 after the documentary That Little Ol' Band from Texas.

Covers and versions

More songs by ZZ Top

La Grange, Tush, Gimme All Your Lovin', Legs, Sleeping Bag

Sources

  1. Sharp Dressed Man, Wikipedia
  2. Eliminator (album), Wikipedia