The Zoo - Shakin' The Cage
 

At last - a file upload of my own!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UA5D3MU4 (320 kb files + artwork)

Oh......I had this years ago-I saw them at Toad's Place in New Haven on the tour. Don't know where my disc ended up over the years though-Thanks I now have it again!!!

Did they do only the one TV show? I think it was Arsenio & they sang Shakin' the Cage. Bekka wore a red mini-dress.

Thank you Neb-Maat-Re!

(P.S. Bravo on the upload!)

They were also on the Dennis Miller show (on Fox, same episode that Jenny Boyd was on pushing her "Musicians In Tune" book) too (performed STC & Reach Out) and they were on an Australian TV show called Rage (on which they did a song called Most People I Know) but the Arsenio perf was the best of the lot (though that one was ridiculously over choreographed). :)

John

Small correction. Rage is an overnight clip show which ran a Thorpie special after he died. The special included an appearance by "The Zoo" from 90s comedy-themed sports show Live & Sweaty. The line-up had Bill, Mick and Bekka, but the other musicians appeared to differ from the band on the album.

:] (Crazy smilie courtesy of my 5yo)

Zoo Review, People Magazine, October 24, 1983

HEADLINE: I'M NOT ME;
Mick Fleetwood

HIGHLIGHT:
A checklist of this week's noteworthy TV shows, books, movies, records and other happenings

BODY:
It's hardly as innovative as Fleetwood's first solo album, 1981's The Visitor, which blended modern African sounds with rock, but this is an engaging package of pop songs. Fleetwood recorded it with a group he says will stay together -- its current name is Mick Fleetwood's Zoo -- and exist simultaneously with Fleetwood Mac. The band is built around Fleetwood's drumming, guitarists Steve Ross and Billy Burnette, and bassist George Hawkins. Burnette, Hawkins and Ross take turns at lead vocals, with Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie on backups. (The band was first formed to play behind Buckingham when he appeared on Saturday Night Live.) Fleetwood himself doesn't sing; on one track, he doesn't even set stick to drum. As a drummer, he's much more a team player, anyway. He seems content to keep things moving without stopping the world for thundering solos. Some material on this LP seems unfinished, opening with catchy riffs that don't lead anywhere. But there are listenable versions of the Beach Boys tune Angel Come Home, sung by Burnette, Ross' version of his own song I Give, and Annie McLoone's Tonight, sung by Hawkins. Burnette also takes the lead on a carefree, rock 'n' roll track, Tear It Up, written in 1956 by his father and uncle, Dorsey and Johnny Burnette, and Paul Burlison. It's all undemanding fun, perfect music to drive down the freeway by.

Hello Michelej1-- Thans for posting the "People" review of the "Zoo" CD. Do you agree with it? Should this be a disc that I should consider ordering? Certainly appreciate your opinion. Best always, Madelow.:wavey:

I really think so. And I very much like Lindsey's input on it, so that definitely tipped the scales for me. Like a dog without a home.

Michele

Australia Advertiser, March 28, 1991

HEADLINE: Mick the zoo keeper

BYLINE: DAVID SLY

BODY:
There's an Aussie living in Mick Fleetwood's Zoo. DAVID SLY reports as the band arrives Down Under.

FLEETWOOD Mac is a cumbersome beast of a band which drummer Mick Fleetwood has spent 25 years marshalling with a calm, diplomatic hand. When he tires of the organisational rigors, Fleetwood turns to the Zoo for solace.

Mick Fleetwood's Zoo is one of America's most eclectic collections of exotic musicians assembled in the name of pure performance hedonism. The no-frills hobby rock'n'roll band has featured a host of luminaries to support Fleetwood in sporadic bursts of activity during the past decade, including Roy Orbison, guitar greats Steve Cropper, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Dave Mason, actor/singer Gary Busey and Little Feat bass player Kenny Gradney.

But now, in the wake of an arduous 12-month world tour by Fleetwood Mac, Mick has inducted an unlikely new attraction to the Zoo for an Australian tour - expatriate guitar hero Billy Thorpe.

Thorpe, who moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and has eked a successful living from scoring movie soundtracks and advertising jingles, met Fleetwood after their daughters struck up a friendship at school.

Fleetwood had no idea of Thorpe's reputation as a wild rocker until Fleetwood Mac's Australian manager, Dennis

Dunstan, began sprouting tales of Thorpe's legendary performances with his band The Aztecs at Sunbury pop festivals and the success of his blistering 1972 anthem, Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy.

When Fleetwood received a call from an Australian concert promoter to book the Zoo, he asked Thorpe to join him on the trip. Thorpe, who has not played in Australia since 1977, agreed without hesitation.

"I was delighted that Bill got on board because his excitement about treading the boards again has injected a new life to the Zoo," Fleetwood said.

"It will be a good tour because I get to keep playing music without any of the stupid associated pressures of steering a big ship. I need this respite."

Fleetwood's exasperation reflects the turmoil of a difficult world tour by Fleetwood Mac to support its Behind the Mask album and introduce new members Billy Burnette and Rick Vito to the public. The concerts were well attended but the album failed to make a significant dent on international Top 40 charts.

To complete a tense situation, singer Stevie Nicks and pianist Christine McVie announced they would not perform again live with the band once the tour ended.

Mick Fleetwood took the blow on the chin and said he understood the women's desire to pursue other interests. He insists Nicks' departure was not a reaction to his book, My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac, which revealed saucy details of the couple's secret love affair that bloomed during an Australian concert tour in the late 70s.

"I didn't let anyone read the book until it was published last year. Stevie got upset about that and started talking about lawyers intervening but when the book came out she was disappointed that I didn't say more about what went on," Fleetwood said.

"I acknowledged our romance - after all, I did want the book to be truthful - but it certainly wasn't a kiss-and-tell episode. I consider activity in two areas to be absolutely taboo; in the WC and the bedroom. In that order."

Despite understanding the departure of Nicks and McVie, Fleetwood finds it hard to accept the fact that both of them are still prepared to record with Fleetwood Mac.

"Personally, I don't think it makes much sense for them to say they'll record with us but not go on tour," he said.

The casual business manner and open-ended commitment of Fleetwood Mac has been a puzzle which fans and critics have failed to understand for 15 years.

When the band retreated from the spotlight which accompanied the successful Rumors album in 1976, it stayed apart for four years. Rumors abounded that Mac had split. Since then the band has returned twice. The latest revival, after a six-year break, is with new members Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, and minus Lindsay Buckingham. Now, with the departure of Nicks and McVie, a new question mark has appeared over the future of Fleetwood Mac.

"The band will continue," Fleetwood said.

"The band has never been threatened. Every time someone leaves, there is always a strong person already in the band to take over the front line position. Chris and Stevie go and Rick and Billy move to the forefront. It's easy. If it wasn't easy, and I had to construct a whole new band, then Fleetwood Mac would collapse. But it has never reached that level. Continuity is not a concern."

Fleetwood's calmness stems from his desire to keep Fleetwood Mac alive. He and bass player John McVie are the only constants in the Fleetwood Mac equation. They are a rhythm section looking for a band to play with.

"Fleetwood Mac is something I've committed my life to, so I'm not about to walk away from it," Mick said.

"Lindsay Buckingham found it very hard to understand that when he left the group. He said 'I'm going on to do other things, so why don't you come with me?' He didn't understand that I'm satisfied with Fleetwood Mac, that it's a part of me."

Fleetwood said the Zoo was an easy band to control because it had a set agenda: it played rock'n'roll in a simple fashion. Fleetwood Mac, on the other hand, was exciting because it had no musical agenda: the steady influx of new members ensured the musical output was never static. "I think the periodic upheavals in the group are almost necessary to keep the flow of fresh ideas streaming through Fleetwood Mac," he said.

"Our record company always thought we would be a problem because we couldn't be pinned down to a specific style but it's our greatest asset. The alchemy of different performers and writers has allowed us to bend and twist in any direction we choose. It's wonderful to be such an exotic chameleon."

Fleetwood Mac will record a new album in August. The feeling of creativity is reportedly strong between the new core members

- Burnette, Vito, McVie and Fleetwood.

"The motivation in the band is really good at the moment, so you won't see us spending three years thinking about what we're doing," Fleetwood said.

"But I'm not allowing myself to think about that too much at the moment because I'm playing Zookeeper at the moment. It's fun time."

Mick Fleetwood's Zoo performs at the Big Gig at the Old Lion Hotel on Friday, April 12, the Bridgeway Hotel on April 13 and the Colonnades Tavern on April 14. Tickets are available from CC Records and the venues.

Washington Post, November 9, 1983

HEADLINE: Mick Fleetwood And His Blues Zoo

BYLINE: Howard Wuelfing

BODY:
A few years ago Mick Fleetwood was playing to sold-out stadiums as drummer of the band named after him, Fleetwood Mac. Last night, however, Mr. Fleetwood's Zoo barely drew enough fans to fill one of the Bayou's two levels.

After what seemed an interminable wait, during which the audience was subjected to an unrelenting string of new wave dross and the testing and retesting of the group's equipment, the band took the stage to understandably ambiguous responses. Within moments, though, the crowd was won over completely by this four-piece outfit's catchy synthesis of blues and folk-rock influences.

The other three members provided tight, tuneful vocal harmonies and impressive, no-nonsense guitar and bass. Fleetwood was content doing what he's done best for so long--supplying supple, sympathetic percussion. When called for, his drumming was punchy and to the point, pure primal stomping Charlie Watts would envy. Whenever possible, though, he added sprays of tubular bells, herky-jerky counterpoint rhythms and Third World beats that made the ordinary tunes sound special and the extraordinary ones seem even more so.

Most of the selections taken from the new album, succeeded exceptionally well, mixing a strong sense of rock tradition with the sort of colorful, crowd-pleasing flair you'd expect from an artist of Fleetwood's status and caliber.

That's interesting. I had no idea that Mick felt that way at the time.

That, too, is interesting. To what is Mick referring? He's implying that Lindsey had this idea after leaving the band in 1987? I've always thought that working with Mick by that point had become a real problem for Lindsey: Mick was a very heavy drinker & drug user in 1987, & his behavior & attitude often confounded Lindsey's desire to get an album recorded seriously up at The Slope. And then of course a few years later, Mick's book was published, which hurt & annoyed Lindsey to no end. I can't imagine when or why Lindsey would have tried to get Mick to do more recording elsewhere at that time, especially since Lindsey himself talked about the SCREWS sessions in 1995 as being a working reunion with Mick.

And the statement makes it sound like Lindsey not only wanted to work with Mick, but wanted to take Mick away from Fleetwood Mac. We know that Mick was never opposed to side ventures, so if Lindsey was just asking him to collaborate on solo work, I don't think Mick would have made that statement. It seems to me that Mick is suggesting that Lindsey wanted Mick to leave FM. "Dump those other 3 stones. I'll show you a better life!"

Michele