Sleeping Bag (song)

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"Sleeping Bag"
Single by ZZ Top
from the album Afterburner
B-side"Party on the Patio"
Released1985
Recorded1985
GenreSynth-rock
Length4:03
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard
Producer(s)Bill Ham
ZZ Top singles chronology
"Legs"
(1984) 		"Sleeping Bag"
(1985) 		"Stages"
(1985)
Music video
"Sleeping Bag" on YouTube

"Sleeping Bag" is a song performed by the band ZZ Top from their 1985 album Afterburner.

Reception[edit]

Cash Box said that the song is a "high tech workout which makes good use of drum machines and Fairlight effects as well as the 'lil ole band from Texas' innate soul."[1]

The song was released as a single in 1985 and became their most successful single, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, equaling the peak of their previous single "Legs". However, unlike "Legs", it also reached No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, a first for the band.

The song was featured in the 2017 film I, Tonya during an ice skating routine. The real-life Tonya Harding previously used the song in some of her actual routines.[2]

Track listing[edit]

7" single[edit]

  1. "Sleeping Bag" - 4:02
  2. "Party on the Patio" - 2:48

12" maxi-single[edit]

  1. "Sleeping Bag (Extended Mix)" - 6:12
  2. "Party on the Patio" - 2:48

Music video[edit]

A music video directed by Steve Barron was made to promote the song. In the form of a story narrative, two thieves break into a house to recover a sack of money, but are thwarted by a young woman living in the house who runs off with the sack, meeting a young man who accompanies her on the run. After being assisted in their escape by the band members, the ZZ Top video girls and the Eliminator vehicle, the thieves are eventually arrested.

The video marks the end of the Eliminator vehicle featured in the videos from the Eliminator album (although its supposed destruction happens off-screen) and introduces the Afterburner space shuttle.

Actors Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and John Dye (Touched by an Angel) appear as the female and male leads. Kymberly Herrin who appeared in ZZ Top's Legs music video was cast again as one of the ZZ girls.

Charts[edit]

Chart (1985-1986) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report[3] 36
Canadian RPM Top Singles[4] 18
German Singles Chart 40
Irish Singles Chart 14
New Zealand Singles Chart[5] 13
Swedish Singles Chart[5] 13
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[6] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 41

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (1985) Position
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 83
Chart (1986) Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[7] 80

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. October 19, 1985. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  2. ^ Rosen, Christopher (December 11, 2017). "Best of 2017 (Behind the Scenes): The stories behind the best songs on the I, Tonya soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ "RPM Weekly, Sleeping Bag". Library and Archives Canada.
  5. ^ a b "ZZ TOP - SLEEPING BAG (SONG)". SwedishCharts.com.
  6. ^ "ZZ Top - Billboard Hot 100 History". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  7. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 27, 1986). "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 52. p. Y-21. {{cite magazine}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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