 Welcome to the metal voice today. We got zebras. I guess guitarist singer Randy Jackson How are you guys doing great? Good. We're gonna be safe to say driving force behind zebras. Have you safe to say? I drive occasionally I think You know all three of us It's zebra without one of us. It would just wouldn't be zebra. So I agree with that right I do write most of the songs and So I have a little force behind it. Yeah The good notice sing a song or two. Yeah The good news is zebra 2023 tour dates in celebration of the 40 year anniversary of that album. Look at that Wow 1983 it was released. I can't all original members You're starting out. Your next show is st. Charles, Illinois, then you jersey then you're going back to Illinois, texas, arizona Nevada, california and la Yeah, we just did the uh, the st. Charles Oh, sorry. Yes. Yes. My bad. That was uh, that was this past saturday, but uh, we're going back to I think st Louis is the next near st. Louis. It's right outside of st. Louis. I say the landest theater in new jersey Yeah, no, that's oh, i'm sorry. Yeah, you're correct at me. Okay. So I screwed up on the first part and you screwed up on the second part St. Charles is a lovely city. I love that place Yeah, we had time and a lot of people came from all over to see the show. So it was fun Uh, yeah, landest theater is the next one in new jersey, right? That's this friday I got my little zebra album. They weren't long island at the at the space in west barry So so take us back that that's your old stomping grounds right long island that whole uh area Yeah, I mean we're not from long island, but uh long island became our second home back in like 1977 We moved to new york around that time and uh, and I've I've been living here for I'm in long island now I've been living here for 35 years now So the transplant from new orleans, how was that? Um, it was interesting. Uh, hey bet the early 80s in New York like every other band We had just some crazy stuff happen to us a lot of the way and uh, you know getting here and uh Uh, just just a lot of insanity, you know, but uh, but we made it and we kind of pushed our ways pushed our way up here and uh, then uh We were afford the opportunity to open up for a lot of bands who were doing really well on the circuit here, which helped us Get established pretty quickly here on long island I remember those hiperator back pages with zebra, you know the rush slash What else was it rush and the next zeppelin the next zeppelin? I remember the those that 83 the year 83 when zebra. What's that zebra? What's this all about? You know, it's there's a bizarre name for this bizarre prog rock heavy metal bad Yeah, uh, it was exciting. Yeah, we uh It's a good thing it was zebra because uh, the name of the band before zebra was maelstrom Oh, okay, zebra was bizarre Maelstrom would have gone down a little worse, you know, but uh What were the covers you were playing? Okay, I know you're playing rush But give me some songs that you were doing back in the day. Oh, we played, you know from, you know, really commercial taking care of business ZZ top Lagrange tush, uh, jesus just left chicago We played arrow smith You know, uh, sweet emotion walked that way last child We did Deep purple you fool no one We did some moody blues. We did a story in your eyes we did Beatles I think it was Back in the ussr. We played rolling stones. Can't you hear me knocking monkey man? kind of like just Just off the off the chart songs by the stones, but they were cool. We liked them We did, uh, I mean we I actually counted up the stuff the different bands that we played From from 1975 up until like 1980 and there were 60 different bands Did you play rush zanadu? No, no, no, we just did, uh, what was it? Fairwell to kings We played spirit of the radio And uh passage to Bangkok those were the Nice and we didn't even start playing russian so fans, you know people started asking us to do it, you know Can you do some rush? Can you and I said okay because when we started off? It was pretty much the the bands that we grew up with like bad company. We played bad company You know all the stuff from the early 70s, uh Montrose rock candy was one of the songs I mean I can go on and on and on That the fact that we got, you know that zeppelin was the You know the whole thing is is kind of weird to me, but I I just go along with it I can't fight it anymore. People are just like we all were zeppelin tribute band, right? I said Whatever you say You know it really wasn't like that, you know, we played a lot. We played wishbone ash, you know wishbone ash Yeah, but yeah, we played blow and free and uh God I could keep going on and on I remember some I remember different bands all the time Bridgesized by robin trower day of the eagle I mean we played hindricks cross town traffic It just goes on and on we played a lot of songs that I keep remembering more and more love hurts Oh, yeah for sure. Yeah Yeah And but but zeppelin was the thing that people, you know, they wanted to hear more of it I think what happened was when we came out um We started playing live in 1975 And you know, I was always a big blood zeppelin fan and we were doing some zeppelin. We learned some zeppelin but when Physical graffiti came out We just grabbed the outfit came out right at that time when we were coming out and we just like dug into it You know said let's learn these songs right now. So we don't have to you know, be asked for them later And we learned a lot of stuff off of physical graffiti And uh, and so we had these songs in our back pocket. We just keep throwing them in and I think Maybe maybe that had something to do with it. It's the only record. I remember really coming out at the time That we you know, we jumped on top of you know, was the uh And I think it's the falsetto head voice that you do, you know that It's reminiscent of robber plant right as soon as people hear that they go wait a second Is that robber plant? Yeah type style, right? Yeah, that's it's it's the style it's plant's voice is amazing. I mean he does he It's no falsetto with him, especially his early days, you know, he was just that was just his natural voice He just walked in there and just blasted When we started out, you know, each of us sang lead I sang Felix sang a bunch of stuff guy sang guy had a big big voice He used to sing the lead in you fool no one the deep purple song, you know Um, but um, we all did a zeppelin song or a couple of zeppelin songs You know, we all took terms doing zeppelin and I just ended up doing the stuff that was higher because You know because I went to my falsetto And used it they they wouldn't feel it's a guy sang it They did it all in their natural voices and it they it only went up. They could only go up so high, you know And my natural voice wasn't any higher than theirs, but I just developed my falsetto to be stronger Over time and and then ended up doing all the zeppelin. So that's kind of how that happened. They kind of you know developed the style of singing that You know, I'd be doing with the original songs too I mean if we go back to 83 like jimmy said anybody that had a certain voice or a certain sound everybody was being Touted as the next lead zeppelin. I guess there was a gap because I mean obviously zeppelin had broken up by then and I guess they were looking for that band to take You know, what was possibly the greatest band of the 70s take their place So they kept putting these I mean diamond head in In in England was the dub the next lead zeppelin So it's like they were constantly searching for that next next band to take over. So yeah I mean and they've been searching ever since. Yeah, probably it hasn't stopped, you know um But it was only like three years after you know John bonham had passed away that uh that our record came out. So I mean there was yeah, there was a That that was a lot to handle. I mean it was like You know zeppelin was off off the chart, you know, then, you know And you kept thinking maybe they'll get back together with another drummer They they just didn't do it and because they're right. It wouldn't have been less zeppelin without it You know, that's right. It's such a big part of their sound and And such an influential drummer so um But um, yeah, I mean fast way was another band. Yeah Yeah, and I remember them talking about they had a kind of he had a great voice and it was high and You know, yeah, well, I got my I got my you spoke your circus magazine. I got it one way here You guys exactly you're left in with fast fast way Show the picture y and t and zebra filling the zepp gap. There you go You're right there in 83 with all those bands. You're right. Show it. I'll show it. Show the cover. I want to see it Curious, but it's a little bit of a dog. You're caught. There's uh, kevin dubrow choir right, of course was leading the charge in 83 so What's that? So what the tri-state area? I mean reading dee snider's book it sounded like you guys and twister sister are the ones of the two biggest bands in that whole area And you could you can make a good living doing that that that the circuit Yeah, I mean by 1979 1980 we were pretty You know settled on the fact that we weren't getting a record deal We had moved to new york originally to get a record deal, but We've come up here. We had made some demos and And we had shopped the demos and all the record companies had turned us down So but we were making great great money. I mean, I just kind of said well, we could just do this I'm not worried about it. You know, so I bought a house Me and my wife bought a house down in Louisiana And we moved in there and the plan was just to you know, keep playing new orleans in new york and Areas like close to there, you know, we're not going to be going out on the road I didn't think it planted on that anyway. And at least for that time just, you know, okay, they don't want us No big deal. I mean atlantic records is that had actually told us, you know, if you guys had come to us like 10 years ago We would assign you, you know, but your Is really dated And uh, but yeah, we when we first got up here one of the first bands we opened up for was twisted sister. So Hey, what was that? That like I mean, you know, you're seeing them out there. Wow. This is before any of their records came out. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, none of us had records. Was d snider actually in the band back then. Oh, yeah Yeah, d was in the band the only person. Well, there were two people that weren't in the band At that point that you Of the band you're you're familiar with when the records came out and one of them was uh There was a guy named aj Yep Harold wasn't in the band originally Um, and mark mendoza Was not in the band. Uh, they had a different bass player and a different drummer and but d and eddie and um, and jj were in the band and What I remember when we we had heard about them, you know, so They're our sound check and then they came in to do their sound check and you know, they were just dressed like us, you know, it was no You know, it was no nothing Crazy and so, you know, I was like, all right. Well, that's not as crazy as we thought, you know Um, because usually with bands that had that kind of reputation they kind of wear it You know or have some something going on even outside of the performance thing, you know They'd be like they're like always on stage, but it would like that would twist it. But then, you know, we played a Our set and then I was it was downstairs where there was the dressing rooms in this place It was called hammerheads leviton and uh, and the door opens up to their dressing room and d comes out In a pink negligee I mean and I and I swore for all these years I said it was a pink negligee even though his his clothing changed I never saw it again. That was the only time I saw that thing, but I swore to people I swear it was a pink negligee You know, my memories isn't the greatest but that one struck me and sure enough When they were putting together the long island music hall of fame here in here In long island and they were they d had sent them about the bunch of the clothing Uh, he sent that piece of clothing and and the and the guy that was putting together the whole exhibit Kevin he he knows d really well and he said yet d told me that he only wore this once That was the only show he wore it at but it was like, you know, his wife had made it suzette and uh, and it was a special So they put it up in the in the museum and uh So that was an eye-opener for you. Well, it was it was a relief. You know, I hadn't been you know, I said I knew it was a negligee It was did you guys feel underdressed Let's put it that way. Did you guys feel like out of place underdressed? Oh, no, it was just a little more feminine that then they became, you know I mean they became like they kept the the wild clothing, but they The aggressiveness of the band. I think they that with that You know during the clubs before their record deal I mean they they changed their their look and uh because they were they were just monsters on stage I mean, you you know, you didn't want to be playing pinball when twisted sister was playing Because you were going to get the spotlight on you and you were getting called out. It was uh, it was it was quite a show Great story. Great story. So okay, so you're the triceater. You're building up that fan base Uh-huh. Atlantic record signs you right. What was it? Was it a demo? Was it a showcase? How did that sort of happen? Well, it was actually a radio station um, you know when when when we were shopping the demos originally the radio station here in long island wba b Uh had a show on called homegrown which would showcase You know local bands original material and the program director came to us and said can I You know can we play one of your demos on the show? And said sure so I gave him all this all the demos just the whole demo package and uh He started he played a song on the radio and it got a lot of you know response and started getting uh What song was it and he he put it into regular rotation on the station And um and it kept getting more requests and then he added another song, you know And that one started getting requested. Well, we're just really really popular I mean like like d said, you know, we were the two most popular bands on long island at that point, you know uh local bands and um And so there was no record people had to like call the radio station unless they recorded it, you know while it was playing but Uh, and anyway, that was going on. It was nice to hear it on the radio and everything but still result that there's not going to be a record deal but uh a guy from Atlantic Records went to wba b to talk to The program director bob buckman About some business with Atlantic and and during the conversation bob brought up, you know, you guys are missing the boat There's a band here zebra that's got the most requested songs at the station. They got the five most requested songs And uh jason says, uh, oh you being like for a local band He says no I'm talking period And he shows him the list of the top 10 and like number six is uh, you know, uh, I think acdc Back in black, then I mean this is and this is like 1979 1980. Then he's then there's led zeppelin all of my love And uh, a lot of this stuff was on Atlantic. So jason was like, what these are our bands They're not getting he says, yeah, they they're getting more requests than uh than all these bands and So jason was like, wow He he he wasn't really an a and r guy at the time, but that was his goal So but he did have an in with the president the new president of Atlantic Records a guy named doug morris So he brought the tape back to doug morris And said doug these guys are the most requested thing at the station blah blah blah blah And uh, you know doug said, okay jason i'll check it out and Well, we were signed pretty much immediately but like years later I found out that that what had happened was That doug had gone and gotten in his car and he was being driven home and it you know, it's like a limo He's got it's not his car. It's and he gets in the back seat and he puts the tape in uh to listen to the The demo and uh, the first song on the tape is who's behind the door You know, and it's got the long acoustic intro, right? Well, he listens to about 30 seconds of it and there's no vocal and there's no hook There's at this point. So this is out and he just ejects the tape, right? And uh, but it but the radio station That's on, you know, because he plugs, you know back then you had the the cassette Player with the radio built in is tuned into wb ab And uh, they're playing Who's behind the door pretty much? At that point of the song, right? And he of course, he's confused, you know, and he puts the tape back in and jack said again And now he realizes this thing's on the radio So he listens to it on the radio and then, you know at the end the dj says, you know That's the most requested song at the station here. Zebra. Who's behind the door? And uh, so then uh, so then all of a sudden we were it was brilliant Brilliant stuff and uh, and we got signed so Uh, you know, that was that was pretty lucky Wow, that's that doesn't happen today, right? It produced the album produced by jack douglas I think he did quite a bit of work with erosmith if i'm not mistaken Yeah, I mean we you know, they asked us who would you like to work with We hadn't worked with an outside producer at that point and uh, so I just started like I didn't really know that I mean, I knew uh Who was it? I knew that the zeppelin produced their own stuff But and I knew uh, you know, that george martin produced the Beatles but outside of that I was like not really to producer savvy But I said, okay, who produced these records, you know, and I could look on and jack douglas was at the top of our list, you know He had done double fantasy. He had done erosmith and uh You know, he had worked with uh cheap trick too who I loved and I said Let's let's see if we'll he'll do it, you know But we had a we had a long list and jack You know said yes, right or what? He had never done a record for atlantic up until that point and atlantic was happy to have him He had just you know one producer of the year for double fantasy And he was just you know, but he was still you know, he was a good friend to john lenon's and the thing I'm not thinking about is that You know, that's a that really did affect it a lot, you know, and I'm thinking why I was just great to have this guy, you know But uh, it was pretty interesting doing the whole The took first two records with him. It was great. He's got a great great sense of humor Did you have a lot of leverage? So because this is more like a pull strategy. They're coming to you Instead of you going to them, right and begging them, right? I'm assuming when that situation occurs The artist has more leverage and you could say, you know, I don't like this deal You know, I want to you know another zero there Yeah, we you know the record deal was I think a little better than Then most uh, I mean I I know at one point There was a clause about the publishing and I just said that's a deal breaker You know that they wanted something I forget exactly what it was but they said okay, they gave gave back on that they gave us an extra couple of points for jack for jack doubles and You know and and another thing was was that they didn't come to us making suggestions You know because we we had already like we had five songs that were on the radio and they were they were working So they weren't like creatively telling us anything they'd kind of like just let jack and the band Do the first record and so I you know after hearing a lot of horror stories from different labels and other bands that I knew Uh, you know, we had it pretty easy. So you're right You know No, I mean they say so on this tour now you're playing the album in its entirety Yeah in order We've done it in its entirety previously, but uh, but this is the first time we're doing it in in order and Funny enough, we we played it on at the arcada on saturday night We got on stage And I had just woken up from a nap. I was taking a nap I had flown in that morning from new jersey And I get on stage I'm ready to go. I'm rested and everything But I just look at felix and guy say, okay, we're gonna start off with I said before right And neither of them says anything they're just okay And we guy counts it off we go into the song And then the next song I go right into no telling lies Okay, and we play no telling lies and then all of a sudden I go into uh When you get there another song from the first record, right? And about halfway through there felix starts mouthing something to me. You know, I think he realizes This isn't what we're supposed So at the end of the uh at the end of the song, you know, of course, he's like hammering me blaming me for it You know, and it turned into a comedy show pretty much. But uh, but at that point we stopped You know there and we started off, you know, with tell me what you want and and ran through the uh The record when we got eventually got to a set said before I said, listen, you know, we made a promise We're doing this and we play it I said before again uh We didn't do when you get there again if we get that one But only but only because felix and guy were just Not into like repeating two of the songs And uh, I would have done it, you know, I'm going for anything but uh, so so yeah, yeah So the first album's released, right? We're all we're all go ahead And and and we keep seeing the same statement the fastest selling album, you know in atlantic history at the time Right or fast selling clear that up. What does that mean? fastest selling debut album okay debut album or atlantic meant that The band couldn't have put out an album before And nobody in the band could have been on a record before So I you know, I don't know how many leds up when sold when their first record came out But jimmy page had been with the yard bird. So he had been on record So, you know, I don't think they they didn't count them Anybody who would who had who had had a career in the recording was not counted But this was a debut album everybody in the record was it was their debut and uh, and yeah It was the fastest selling which you know meant that We obviously promoted ourselves Into being one of the biggest bar bands in the world and people wanted the record, you know, so Yeah, uh, and I still I don't know that that I think the record may still stand, you know for a for a new debut artist because I can't imagine selling that many records that quick, you know It was only like 10 days. We sold almost a hundred thousand records. Oh They must have been fully stocked at all the record story. This was they must I mean, right supply Well, yeah, but they but the reason they were so stocked was because they when they made the announcement that the record was Out of stores in these in new york and new orleans ordered them They knew that they were going to be this was on the radio It was a time to make the you know some some bucks there, right? Yeah, and they they shipped out that many records So they it was available and it wasn't it wasn't for your sort of a base that you created It would have been the opposite story, right? They wouldn't have had enough supply to meet the demand um Because that's what happens a lot of bands like these breakout albums Yeah, suddenly, you know, there's popular for a week or two And the the record stores used to miss the boat because they couldn't produce them fast enough But because we already had the pre-orders or the stores already excited about this band This was a very Rare situation Nobody was due to your base your base that you built a lot of bands They'll come out and then they would get airplay for, you know, a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden Wow, you know, there's a lot of requests and then the labels don't have the supply and they're They're playing catch up, but Considering that labels would put out hundreds of records a year You know, they'd be foolish to You know make multiple copies of of anything until they had a demand for it, you know Yeah So but they knew they knew from the beginning, you know, I mean I used to work in a record store back in the day So I could see, you know, when they when they missed the boat like if nobody knew about you beforehand Those hundred thousand probably wouldn't have been it would have been half. Yeah, you miss a sale. It's not available. You miss the sale Yeah, that's right. That's right. Then they move on, right? But because of your base that was so strong that it's a testament to the the music That's what i'm trying to say Yeah, well, there was, you know, a testament to the fans inquiring about it, you know and record stores were fully aware in the area that the of the popularity of the ban post both in Up here in the northeast and in New Orleans. So don't mind me. I'm just working stuff out of my head as we're talking I'm just working it out of my head And if you're you work in a record store, then you understand how important it was not just to get airplay But just to sell any record in a record store So, you know a couple of months went by and see at least it seems to me before they got More orders for the record because we had pretty much saturated the the uh, the new york and the new yorkland's area with the sales we were going to get from uh From our popularity in those areas and now You know, we were we were getting airplay in different radio stations and there was one in st Louis, uh, kashi who started playing who's behind the door and You know, I think we sold seven seven albums in in st Louis and all of a sudden Now atlantic is going to start pumping money into promotion That's that's what did it. It wasn't the first records and it makes sense, you know Well, they sold all these we didn't have to do any promotion but now Airplay turned into record sales in a different market than they had been in And that was the thing and they flew us right back to new york to make a video for mtv and uh, and You know and got it played on mtv and then the whole thing started rolling and we started selling more records, you know So I do I can I love the song to tell me what you want. Is that was that the first single the first video? You know what I think it was who's behind the door And that was the first who's behind the door is definitely the first video Okay, and I I'm not sure whether it was the first single or not it might have been that I'd have to I have to go back and check according this article the second video Take your fingers from my hair looks like they're or a brand new a brand new video. They said an 83 No, take your fingers from my hair. It was not a video Oh, okay They messed up allen. Oh it says right here Send a message to the editor, please 1983 Time for a correction time for a retraction right No, I remember on mtv. Well, you know on the music, but we're in canada. So I don't think we ever got you guys. Did you guys ever play in canada? You know, we never did really so weird Yeah, I mean, we there's a lot of things we should have Done and canada was one of them Europe was another one We had the opportunity to go tour europe for the second record the notale lives record But we had an offer to open up for sammy hanger here in the united states and we decided to do that instead and And then after that we just we just never went to europe. So we hadn't played in europe We saw records in europe but never did tour Hmm. I'm pretty i'm pretty surprised about montreal and toronto since it's so close to the new york border Yeah, hopefully bands just you know jump over the border just for a few shows and come back go back We had premiere was our agency. They were a big agency, you know and But they never booked us up there, you know, we never we just never made it into canada. We went to alaska All the way up there We never got into canada. Did you go through ucon or did you just fly in there? Yeah Has there been interest and well look if we're talking to you there must have been some sort of Interest and demand that's there in canada that It's never been tapped into I guess Yeah, you know over the years has been a lot And there's been you know people who thought we were from canada. I guess the three piece thing people say Oh all the three people Improgressive fans are from canada, you know dry and brush zebra. It all makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, so they just But yeah, we we just never did I mean I guess if if there was a promoter up there who really had you know Was ready to put up the money to do it it would have happened But uh, mainly it was like a maybe fans that were you know contact us come up to canada Play at this place. We might contact them or You know half heartedly contact them. I don't know You know after like 1988 and Nothing just ever happened, you know, just You know, maybe lazy on our part but you know, atlantic had dropped us in 86 and and uh and then put another record out 1990, but we were You know all doing different things still playing the band played every year for the last 48 years Wow Was that was what was a meeting like like, you know, you they drop you like they just bring you into meeting with guys Where our expectation was this but it's not real. It's kind of static static What was that like? Well, they brought us in they said, you know, we have a contract here that you guys are supposed to do five albums But we want you to lay your heads on this thing This guy with this big machete. He's gonna chop our heads off. He says you could you've got your choice You get what we need and uh, no, I'm just I'm kidding. They didn't even we didn't even have a meeting They just you know, let our management know that uh They weren't good. They didn't want to do a fourth album and the funny thing was I was Really really proud of the third record. I thought it was it's a great great record I it was the only record that I had really written at the time, you know The first two records that were, you know, the first record certainly all the songs had been written between 75 and 1979 and the second record there was maybe Maybe three or four songs that were written during that same time period And and the rest were like pieces of songs that I had written during that time period But the third record Except for hard living without you was all written after the second record while we were on the road And it and it kind of you can tell I think it sounds more like a a collection of songs that were meant to be together than You know than the other two records And so I was like scratching my head, but It was kind of like game over. I remember when the third record came out We were on the road and there was another mistake we might have made we wanted to I wanted to play more of our material instead of just playing for 40 minutes opening up some for somebody so we We went out and uh, and we headlined, you know, maybe theaters small theaters or clubs and um And when we'd go into the towns, you know, atlantic would have interviews set up for us And inevitably one of the first questions would would be And what do you think about this banjovi phenomenon? You know and you know banjovi was just like this was when it was just exploding and And so we got kind of lost in the sauce there and um And we weren't really a quote unquote 80s band hair band, you know, we were we were like a laid-back t-shirt kind of guys from the from the 70s and uh That might have had something to do with it, but you know, I I certainly don't think we would have changed just for that You know, but things were changing at the time I was thinking of that earlier. See the black and white I get it now zebra black and white album cover But you know five years later, you probably have black and white paint all over your face or stripes on your face or something Happened lately Striping panties Or actual uniform zebra costumes or something. It's like a kiss thing happening, right? Well, you had to beat kiss, you know Yeah You know, it's it's also amazing that um How the bad sort of got reignited? Like, you know on kubakai, right? um And I'm that was a fluke, right? That was that was another Right. That was just a testament to the music and to the love from uh Johnny Lawrence who's like william zapka, right? Yeah He uh the story is it was his original original Right, his original uh audition, correct? Yes for the movie Karate kid karate kid back in 80s. Yeah Tell us about that he went to the audition Listening to no telling lies that record to get psyched up for the You know for the audition and he got it So that was kind of I guess his tribute to it, you know It was sort of what people who knew, you know the story and then we started hearing about it To see your t-shirts on kubakai and I said on what? I told I told Alan I go do you watch kubakai? He goes no, I go it's kind of like if everybody doesn't know It's a reboot or a continuation of karate kid 30 40 years later, right? So You know the same characters the same guys, but of course they're 30 40 years whatever it is later and And you know and you could spot him wearing the zebra shirt and the first time I saw to go what? What's going on here? He wears an acdc shirt. He wears a metallica shirt and he's got the zebra shirt This is cool, man. This is cool stuff Yeah, we it was um You know the show is great that made it even better. You know, it's a really good show I started watching it and uh the writing is good and it's it's it's it's an awesome show So that even made it better and it's still he called you as he called you No, but I have friends that know him Um, I think maybe they called me when they were at dinner with him one time some friends from upstate, you know And uh, but I haven't actually talked to him yet But uh, you know, but we've been in communication through other people I think that would be a cool meeting. Yeah, I think that would be a nice photo out there Save it save it for a for a live video, you know Well, okay. What about a new album? Are you working on it's gonna be a zebra five? I've been saying that for 20 years Yeah, I mean it was it's embarrassing at this point. Um I mean I started writing, you know right after the fourth album and I had I've got so much material. It's just ridiculous and I guess it just seems to me like time is Getting you know, the days are shorter As we get older and uh, and they get filled up You know, I can make every excuse in the book. I got a lot of them after 20 years But uh, but I I do have a ton of material We We actually did start working on some Doing arrangements in november To play live and a couple of shows we did last year And we had worked on them but guy and felix were not confident enough to play them on stage and so we didn't and And now we're playing again and we're gonna have to re I think revisit the songs again to to be able to play them, but I hope there's a zebra five and I do hope that We're all still alive when it comes out It's just it's it's stupid. I remember when when zebra four came out guy guy says This is great. Let's do an album every year. We could just throw them out there throw them out I said no, I said let's don't just throw them out there said I don't want it to be like a A shit trail, you know for uh For the rest of the career. Let's let's make sure the stuff is good, but that wasn't even really the The reason it just one year goes after now. You get involved in other stuff. You got family You're making a living playing live mainly, you know, and then With the downloads and everything it wasn't, you know, there's no record company Putting up money to have you stop working. So we were always working. It was just One thing after another but there will be a zebra five hopefully Soon at least we got the album title. We got the album title Zebra five we got the album title 20 years of the making Exactly. Well, you know when zebra four came out it had been 17 years This third album and we thought wow, that'll never happen again. You know, that's ridiculous Well, we were but but randy. I'm gonna say something. There has been sort of this new New curiosity for zebra and and you know, I think the timing is a lot better now My opinion than it was when the zebra four came out Yeah, very possible. I think people are really looking at the band a lot, you know, out of curiosity and wondering I don't know. That's my opinion and plus LPs, right albums are being vinyls being released So maybe the time is right. Yeah. Well, and if it is, you know, it'll be a good record Because you know, we I got 20 freaking years of material To go. Oh, yeah, it's like the first album, right? You're just building you're taking the best from the first Two albums and you put them out. So now you're at the same position exactly with experience. Yeah, I'm motivating I'm motivating around you. That's what I'm doing material. Yeah, I don't I don't need much more weight I'm I'm I'm ready to get, you know, get this thing done Another possible album title the zebra democracy if it's if it's been that long in in the making So some of the chinese democracy I don't know about that No stripes. No stripes. That's another name for that. No stripes. I mean, I think we would have uh, the political Title even if it just says democracy We have a lot of fans that that are You know Both democrat or republican, but we kind of stay away from there But fortunately for the band we all kind of Are on the same page politically and I think that's why We haven't had really big problems with the band staying together at least that that never entered into uh Into the discussion A lot of by names happening same page You know zebra page no stripes Democracy wouldn't be wouldn't be one but come up with something else. I'm I'm listening. I um, I want to ask you one last question Uh dream theater cover has that also reignited the band, you know Take your hands from my hair. They're they're cover of your song. Was that a surprise as well? um Yeah, I didn't know it was going to happen and Yeah, my I think mike had sent me an email letting us know that they were putting the the song on On an album and I was flattered, you know, I mean we had played some shows with them Uh early on in their career when they were they called themselves majesty and uh Before they changed the name of dream theater and we knew they were great, you know, they were great back then And so we were flattered that they did it and then I heard it and they stuck pretty much to the original version You know, even the guitar solo was I mean he added some flurry at the end that was that I didn't do but Uh, it was pretty uh true to the original and uh, and it was great great version. So yeah, I think I think you're right You know, it's certainly dream theater had a worldwide audience that uh, A lot of them had never heard a zebra. So there was definitely a Renewed interest in the band from a lot of people You know now you got to cover a dream theater song Yeah, oh, well, I guess we could do take your fingers from my hand And on that note As allen said 2023 tour dates and celebration of the 40 years of the 40 new album 40 years 1983 debut album zebra simply just called zebra The next show is at the landest theater in new jersey on april of 14th and it goes all the way Uh april there's some shows in may there's some shows in june And even uh in november house of blues and new orleans, I guess that would be your last show And we're adding more we've got like I think another 10 You know that that are being confirmed as we speak and just not been announced So we're touring more this time this year than we have in probably 20 years Wow, and the zebra zebra vip you get to ride a zebra Yes Which of us you get to ride You you could do a meet and greet You know a signed commemorative poster zebra t-shirt photo with the zebra guys And all kinds of other cool stuff. So there's also the zebra vip support the bands, you know, yeah Let's do the vip. Oh great experience Yeah, on that note. Thank you so much randy. Thank you. Pleasure. Hope to see you guys. It was a lot of fun All right all the best Jimmy k here metal voice look at us The metal voice shirts are now on sale. Just go to a video description To find out on how you can purchase one Hey, it's kk metal voice man in the street tonight at mcdowell's house and i'm with the members of zebra Randy and felix zebra is one of my favorite bands Since the early 80s. I've been following them since I was a kid out in long island them twisted sister rat race choir They all took over long island and it was great to see them all make it one by one You put out three great albums. I mean honestly, this is my favorite. Really? Okay time My favorite song. Thanks. Do you guys have a favorite out of out of this? What would your favorites be out of these? Well, then you came back and We have this fourth album. Yeah, right the fourth album. I think it was 2003. I think That's good. So that was on frontiers. Yeah, I like that record. Do you have a favorite out of any of these? A particular songs or album Um, I would say the first record out of all of them Yeah, but I mean, you know, I mean each one to me has I like I really like don't walk away on that record. I mean, I know everybody loves all the other songs This one just flows. Yeah. Yeah, and then but uh, there's a song called button or more on this record That's a really cool song. Well, this was just like the part two of it just flowed right into it. Yeah This was a little bit. Yeah, this was a different record But I also thought that that record was a lot more cohesive Yeah, the third record's more about I think all the songs work together better to as a as a Collection So now I want to thank you Randy personally on the side for doing all those shows during the pandemic That was great. I was coming home on the train and I would watch them every now I worked straight through the pandemic. I worked in a building that was open all the time There's a news agency Good for you. And um, that really helped me on the train on the way home every now You did about four o'clock. I think every afternoon. Yep I would look forward to getting on the train and popping that on It was a good time to request even he was he was yeah, yeah And um euro was busy. I've seen you at hindenburg. I've seen you Yep, and I play with another tribute band called cashmere And we got the Beatles right you saw the Beatles Saw the Beatles Yep, the New Orleans. No, you saw I saw him. Yeah, my parents took my brother and I to see the Beatles 1964 and uh, it's city park stadium in New Orleans and It was quite an event. I got to tell you the uh, the girls empty They got out of their seats. They ran on the field. It was just like That's something to be and I told people my first concert was queen, but you taught me It definitely knocked me out It was it was something else All right, so have a great show tonight. Thank you for taking your time. Oh, thanks Thanks for coming out tonight. Hope you enjoy the show and you're watching the metal voice. Thank you guys