Zoot (band)

Zoot was a four piece pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965. They played many clubs and discos around Adelaide, gradually gathering a strong following. In 1968, they relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and performed in several Australian cities. Two of the more notable members of Zoot were founder Beeb Birtles, who also founded the Little River Band in 1975 and Rick Springfield who, after moving to the United States in 1972, achieved international fame as a solo artist, songwriter and actor.

Influences

Zoot is sometimes credited with kicking off the "second pop wave" in Australian music, much of their musical influence coming from the "Mod" and "Merseybeat" sounds coming out of Britain.

Image and reaction

Although Zoot was one of the most popular bands in Australia during the late 1960s, critics labelled the quartet as a "jugend" or "light bubblegum" band. This is primarily because of a "Think Pink-Think Zoot" publicity campaign their management devised. This plan, in addition to having the band members dressed head to toe in pink satin, also included having the band drive around in a pink car, and having the band photographed with a dog with its fur dyed pink. While the publicity did bring attention to the group as well as attract a number of teenage girl fans, it also caused the band to have problems establishing credibility as serious rock musicians.

In the summer of 1969, Zoot had joined other Australian rock bands in a multi-city tour across the nation named Operation Starlift. It was considered successful in terms of publicity, but was a financial disaster for several of the bands involved. For Zoot, it brought about an increase of the ridicule from media, envy from peers and scorn from detractors, much of the criticism leveled being homophobic in nature, despite the fact that all of the band members were heterosexual in orientation. Several band members had left because of the taunting about being "pretty pink pansies."

In December 1969, in Brisbane, Australia, the group made headlines when they became the victims of an assault by street toughs, resulting in injury to the lead singer, Darryl Cotton. Despite the angriff, Zoot was still voted Top Australian Group in "Go-Set" music magazine's Pop Poll. By 1970, the members of Zoot had grown tired of the garish outfits as well as the harassment and physical abuse they suffered due to the unwanted "think pink" image foisted on them. In an effort to distance themselves from the bubblegum/teen idol image, they burnt the outfits on "Happening 70" a nationally televised music show.

A new image

Zoot also promoted their fifth single "Hey Pinky" in an advertisement in "Go-Set" magazine featuring a rear-nude picture of the group [http://www.birtles.com/site%20images/zootbutts.jpg] . "Hey Pinky" was a hard charging guitar oriented song, but it did not rank significantly on the charts. The lyrics, penned by Springfield, were rebellious in nature, and openly mocked the pink outfits as well as their management and their detractors. Despite Zoot's re-tooled visual image, daring, harder-edged lyrics and heavier, louder music including the 1970 release of a heavy-metal rendition of the Beatles' ballad "Eleanor Rigby", the "think pink" image persisted.

In 1971, Music Corporation of America expressed interest in bringing the band to the USA to record, but they encountered resistance from Australian government bureaucracy. That, along with other disappointments such as a poor showing in the previous year's Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, led to the band breaking up in May 1971.

Albums

ingles

Band Personnel

Founders

*Beeb Birtles 1965-71 (bass guitarist and vocalist)
*Darryl Cotton 1965-71 (lead vocalist and guitarist)

Drummers

*Teddy Higgins 1967-68
*Rick Brewer 1968-71

Guitarists

*John D'Arcy 1965-68 (also vocalist)
*Steve Stone 1968
*Roger Hicks 1968-69
*Rick Springfield 1969-71 (also vocalist)

External links

* [http://www.milesago.com/artists/zoot.htm Zoot webpage at Milesago.com]
* [http://www.birtles.com/zoot.html Founder Beeb Birtles Zoot webpage]