Retro Video of the Week: "Pincushion" by ZZ Top

Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the release of ZZ Top's eleventh studio album, Antenna.  It was the band's first album on RCA Records, after their previous five had been released on Warner Brothers.

In the midst of '90s grunge and alternative rock, the old timers from Texas proved once gain that they were a mainstay, regardless of whatever rock music trends might have been swirling around in the world.  Though the album only reached #14 on the Billboard album chart -- their lowest-charting studio album since 1981's El Loco -- the album still went platinum in the U.S., making it their fifth album in a row that reached platinum status or better (including their 1992 Greatest Hits album).  It was also a big hit internationally, reaching #3 on the UK album chart, #1 in Sweden, and the Top 10 on the album charts in five other countries.

The first single released from the album was "Pincushion," a song that definitely draws on some of the musical styles of the day, but still maintains that ZZ Top feel.  The song hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and it was a Top 40 hit in Canada (#32), Finland (#5), New Zealand (#33), Sweden (#11), Switzerland (#40), and the UK (#15), as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100 (#30).

The video features the band in black suits, some cuts and effects that also mirror some of the video styles of the day, and a story of a jilted bride who exacts revenge on her former presumed fiancé -- who loves hookers and strippers -- in classic voodoo doll manner.