Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Zebra: Then and Now



The above video, wherein Dream Theater percussionist extraordinaire Mike Portnoy talks about a great band from the '80s, Zebra, is bittersweet for me. I jumped onto the Zebra bandwagon from the first time I heard "Who's Behind the Door," from the band's debut album, on WDIZ Rock 100 in Orlando.

That first album, which featured "Who's Behind the Door," "Take Your Fingers From My Hair" (which Dream Theater covers), "The La La Song," "Tell Me What You Want" and "As I Said Before," was an incredible effort. I was excited when I had the chance to see the band perform live in Orlando at Tom's Point After. It was a small club, and the band was great.

I eagerly awaited Zebra's sophomore offering, No Tellin' Lies, but it failed to measure up to the debut release. There was not really any memorable songs for me on No Tellin' Lies, but it was Zebra.

The third album, 3.V, was much improved, with several memorable songs, like "He's Makin' You the Fool," "Time," "Better Not Call" and "Your Mind's Open." Despite producing a solid record, the band from Louisiana that made it big in New York did not have the commercial success of its initial release.

Zebra's fourth release was a live album, and it was a good release, a veritable live greatest hits album with a Led Zeplin cover, "The Ocean."

I would continue looking in record shops, and later the Internet, to see if there were any more releases from Zebra. The band sort of faded into obscurity. I did not hear much about Randy Jackson (guitars, vocals), Felix Hanemann (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Guy Gelso (drums, percussion, vocals) after finding "Zebra Live" in the early 1990s.

So, I am excited my favorite band, Dream Theater, decided to cover "Take Your Fingers From My Hair." When I first listened to the cover, I had wished the guys would have done more with it. However, after listening to it a few times, it grew on me (though I still like Zebra's original version better).

What was bittersweet about the video was Portnoy's comments about Zebra being a forgotten band. The band might not have experienced the commercial success of its debut effort, but for true fans, Randy, Felix and Guy were never forgotten. Missed, but not forgotten.

Want to listen to Zebra, enjoy:



Want to listen to Dream Theater's version of "Take Your Fingers From My Hair?"

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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 13, 2010 at 1:10 PM

    Mike right about Zebra their are minor band from The from 80,s i like the Dreamtheater Cover DT does good Rush covers also DT did a great job on fingers thought my hair

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 13, 2010 at 1:43 PM

    Mike right about Zebra being a minor band from the 80,s most people know Rush and Yes but the 80,s Prog rock bands Zebra and Asia just to name two from the 80,s i am glad Dreamtheater cover them it,s a match the original i gave it B+ 4 out 5 stars. ther Rush songs are great also.

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