Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, ZZ Top ticks off a list of jewelry must-haves in its 1983 classic, “Sharp Dressed Man.”
According to the song, well dressed men are irresistible to women, so original band members Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard cover the essential jewelry items in the second verse.
They sing, “Gold watch, diamond ring / I ain’t missin’ not a single thing / Cufflinks, stick pin / When I step out I’m gonna do you in / They come runnin’ just as fast as they can / ‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man.”
Written by Gibbons, Beard and Joe Michael Hill, “Sharp Dressed Man” appeared as the third track on ZZ Top’s extraordinarily popular 1983 album Eliminator. The album sold more than 10 million copies, earning it a rare Diamond certification. The single topped out at #56 on the U.S. Billboard 100 and remains one of ZZ Tops’ most enduring signature songs. In fact, the group performed it live at the 1997 VH1 Fashion Awards and during the halftime festivities of the 2008 Orange Bowl.
“Sharp dressed depends on who you are,” Hill told Spin magazine in 1985. “If you’re on a motorcycle, really sharp leather is great. If you’re a punk rocker, you can get sharp that way. You can be sharp or not sharp in any mode.”
Founded in Houston in 1969 as a blues-inspired rock band, ZZ Top has featured its three core members since 1970.
Gibbons told Q magazine that their first gig at a Knights of Columbus Hall outside of Houston in 1970 was attended by just one person.
“We shrugged and pressed onwards,” he said. “We took a break halfway through, went out and bought him a Coke.”
Over the course of the following 48 years, the band would go on to sell more than 50 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
Trivia: According to songfacts.com, Gibbons and Hill have been growing their beards since 1979.
Please check out ZZ Top’s live performance of “Sharp Dressed Man.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Sharp Dressed Man”
Written by Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Joe Michael Hill. Performed by ZZ Top.
Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don’t know where I am goin’ to
Silk suit, black tie,
I don’t need a reason why
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man
Gold watch, diamond ring,
I ain’t missin’ not a single thing
Cufflinks, stick pin,
When I step out I’m gonna do you in
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man
Top coat, top hat,
And I don’t worry ’cause my wallet’s fat
Black shades, white gloves,
Lookin’ sharp lookin’ for love
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man
Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.
