Who do you want to emulate?

ZZ Top - what creates the cool persona that the band emits so well? Wouldn't a life on the road, playing songs with your friends of 40 years be the good life? Maybe if you had practiced the bass harder in high school. Or if your Pearly Gates had been in the form of a six string vs. a fine young thing.

For years Bill Ham worked on creating and maintaining the bands mystique, the mysterious long bearded 20 or 30 yr old somethings. How did a group that looked like that write songs like "Sleeping Bag", "Pearl Necklace" and "Legs" (that's a topic for another day). Mr. Ham's strategy worked brilliantly, for a time, and the band reached high places. But as the inevitable fall took place, the mystique technique began to create more harm than good. No one stays on top forever, ZZ was no exception. It would appear Billy realized a few years ago that the band, while still strong, couldn't go on forever. And he wanted to branch out and work with other people. So the band ended the relationship w/ Mr. Ham, who at 10 years Billy's senior, may not have been on top of his game like he used to.

The band has received some high exposure moments the past few years: American Idol, NASCAR, WWE, a live release, and the 25th anniversary of Eliminator. A resurgence in the "coolness" of the band has taken place. Let's face it, everything about Billy and the Boyzz looks and appears "cool". The clothes, the music, the road, the pretty wives, it's awesome to see and hear. And I would be hard pressed to find a man that would not want to have similar circumstances. Don't take me for a fool, we all have demons and trials, and "most people think that everything is just what they assume" (Van Morrison). No doubt there have been hard times, but in our mind's eye the journey is a good one, and the road stretches out forever. The music separates one from their troubles, and let's worry escape and excitement and fantasy come in. And like the persona, that's "cool".