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Sleeping Bag

The Afterburner single that gave ZZ Top their first Mainstream Rock number one.
ZZ Top, from Afterburner (1985)

Written by
Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard
Released
1985
Album
Afterburner

Sleeping Bag was released as a single in 1985 and reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, equalling Legs. Unlike Legs, it also reached number one on the Mainstream Rock chart, a first for the band. The 7-inch single, 4:02 long, was backed with Party on the Patio, and the 12-inch carried a 6:12 extended mix. Cash Box called it a high tech workout that makes good use of drum machines and Fairlight effects.

Steve Barron directed the video, a story in which two thieves break into a house to recover a sack of money and a young woman runs off with it. Heather Langenkamp and John Dye played the leads, and Kymberly Herrin, who was in the Legs video, returned as one of the ZZ girls. It marks the end of the Eliminator car in the band's videos and introduces the Afterburner space shuttle. The song was used in the 2017 film I, Tonya during an ice skating routine.

More songs by ZZ Top

La Grange, Tush, Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, Legs

Sources

  1. Sleeping Bag (song), Wikipedia
  2. Afterburner (ZZ Top album), Wikipedia