Zoot

There are more than one artists under the name Zoot. a) Zoot was a four piece power pop/hard rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965. As a group, they relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and performed in several Australian cities under a variety of names. In 1967 they fully adopted the name Zoot. Amongst the more notable members of Zoot were founder Beeb Birtles, Darryl Cotton, and Rick Springfield. In mid-1968, Zoot relocated to Melbourne, where their management promoted them under the slogan "Think Pink – Think Zoot" – all band members wore pink costumes; Darryl Cotton's car was repainted pink; his pet dog, Monty, had its fur dyed pink; and their main performing venue, Birties Disco, was pink-themed throughout. Zoot were voted Top Australian Group in teen pop Go-Set magazine's reader poll published in June 1969. Unfortunately they were subject to homophobic ridicule for their use of pink outfits, and on tour in Brisbane, Cotton was injured in an assault by street toughs. Early in 1970 Zoot finally discarded their pink outfits and attempted to shift their image and music towards heavier rock from the earlier teeny-bopper pop In December that year, they released their most successful single, "Eleanor Rigby", which was a hard rock cover version of The Beatles' ballad and by March 1971 it had peaked in the Aussie top five. Go-Set magazine listed Zoot's 'Eleanor Rigby' in it's Top Records for the Year of 1971 at No. 12. In May 1971 despite the top 30 charting of their next single, "Freak", the group disbanded. Springfield departed for the US in 1972, while Cotton & Birtles issued a cover version of the Mann-Weil track, "Feelings", on Sparmac Records under the name Frieze, due to sponsorship by Frieze Brothers (a regional clothing brand). Rick Springfield later formed The Ferretts and had a number one hit in Australia circa 1977 with 'Don’t Fall In Love’. Springfield eventually achieved international fame as a solo artist, songwriter and actor, but fondly refers to Zoot as the best band he was ever in. Beeb Birtles would go on to further success with Mississippi, and later founded the Little River Band in 1975. late Zoot lead vocalist Darryl Cotton had an Aussie solo top 10 hit in 1980 with ‘Same Old Girl’. Cotton passed away in the summer of 2012 after a bout with liver cancer. b) A post rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They released their first album in 2013, Después el agua. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.