American hard rock unit
Zebra formed in New Orleans in the mid-1970s. The trio concocted their moniker from a Vogue magazine cover and soon won over the East Coast with expert
Zep-like pomp-metal.
Zebra's confident self-titled debut went gold, thanks to the air play of excellent singles "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind the Door." Vet producer
Jack Douglas (
Aerosmith,
Cheap Trick) also helmed the follow-up, No Tellin' Lies. Not as strong or cohesive as the first effort, Lies still managed to crack the Billboard Top 100. The esoteric 3.V took a pop approach, but received little in the way of promotion. Always a strong presence on-stage,
Zebra released a live recording in 1990 with two great unreleased gems. Vocalist/guitarist Randy Jackson, a redoubtable talent, then formed China Rain, but like
Zebra, the outfit inevitably succumbed to the burgeoning alternative rock/grunge avalanche. After a significant hiatus, the band reconvened in 1997 and began playing shows, eventually releasing their aptly-named fourth LP,
IV, in 2003. ~ Doug Stone