| "The Zoo" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Scorpions | ||||
| from the album Animal Magnetism | ||||
| Released | March 1980 | |||
| Recorded | December 1979 – February 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:28 | |||
| Label | Harvest/EMI (Europe) Mercury (US) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Dieter Dierks | |||
| Scorpions singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Zoo" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was written by group members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals). The song also features a talk box performed by lead guitarist Matthias Jabs.
Schenker wrote much of the music during the band's first tour of the United States in 1979. When Meine first heard Schenker's riff, it reminded him of the band's earlier visit to a street in New York City humorously referred to as a "zoo". [1] Meine later composed the song's lyrics, which contain references to city streets, especially New York's 42nd Street.
The song has been featured on a few Scorpions "Best-Of" compilations, including Deadly Sting , Bad for Good: The Very Best of Scorpions , the box set Box of Scorpions , and a re-recorded version for the Comeblack album.
It has also been used in the soundtrack of the video game NBA 2K18 .
Although the song was released as a single in 1980, it commercially underperformed with limited chart success, peaking at #75 in the UK. Even so, it is a critically acclaimed heavy metal song, one critic noting that "The Zoo" is both "ominously slow and melodically accessible" with a key element being the "Berlin burlesque vocal melody". On this note, it is used by many strippers in their stage act. [1]
Scorpions are a German rock band formed in 1965 in Hanover by Rudolf Schenker. Since the band's inception, its musical style has ranged from hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and soft rock. The lineup from 1978 to 1992 was the most successful incarnation of the group, and included Klaus Meine (vocals), Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums). The band's only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has appeared on all of Scorpions' studio albums, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978, and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band since 2003 and 2016 respectively.
Unbreakable is the fifteenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 2004. In this release, Scorpions return to the style of music of their most successful albums, after experimenting with many different concepts and influences in the 1990s. This was the first album with Paweł Mąciwoda on bass guitar. Despite critical acclaim and extensive touring of the album, Unbreakable was not a big hit on the charts.
Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released on 27 March 1984 on Harvest/EMI in Europe and Mercury in the US. The album contains "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Still Loving You", and "Big City Nights", three of the band's most famous songs.
Savage Amusement is the tenth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1988. It peaked at No. 5 in the US and was certified platinum by the RIAA on June 20, 1988. It was the last Scorpions record to be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Still Loving You is a compilation album by the German hard rock band Scorpions.
Klaus Meine is a German singer best known as the frontman of the rock band Scorpions. Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker are the only two members of the group to appear on every Scorpions album, though he did not join the band until 1969, four years after its founding. Meine placed at No. 22 on Hit Parader's 'Top Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time' list in 2006.
Animal Magnetism is the seventh studio album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1980. The RIAA certified the record as Gold on 8 March 1984, and Platinum on 28 October 1991.
Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released on 6 November 1990. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart for albums in 1991. That same year, the song "Wind of Change" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Send Me an Angel" reached No. 44 on the same chart. It also has the only Scorpions track to credit bassist Francis Buchholz as a writer, "Kicks After Six". This album was the band's first album in a decade and a half to not be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Tokyo Tapes is the first live album by German rock band Scorpions and their last release by RCA Records. It was also the final release to feature Uli Jon Roth, who left after the 27 April taping session.
World Wide Live is a live album by German rock band Scorpions released in 1985. The original audio recording was produced by Dieter Dierks. A VHS was released at the same time with footage of Scorpions' world tour.
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" is a song by the West German rock band Scorpions, considered their signature song. The song was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, Love at First Sting (1984). It was written by Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell, Rudolf Schenker and arranged/produced by Dieter Dierks. The lyrics of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" also reference the title of the album on which it originally appeared – Love at First Sting.
"No One Like You" is a song by German rock band Scorpions. It was written by band members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals) and released as the lead single from the band's eighth studio album Blackout (1982). It was produced by Dieter Dierks and was recorded at Dierks' studio.
"Send Me an Angel" is a song by the German rock band Scorpions, recorded for their 11th studio album, Crazy World (1990). The song was composed by Rudolf Schenker, written by Klaus Meine, and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. It was released as the album's fourth and final single in September 1991. Along with "Wind of Change", the song became the album's signature track, reaching number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart on 25 January 1992, number 8 on the Mainstream Rock Chart on 19 October 1991, and high chart positions in many European countries.
Humanity: Hour I is the sixteenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, which was released in Europe on 14 May 2007 and in the United States and Canada on 28 August 2007. Humanity: Hour 1 is a concept album based on a loose storyline by Desmond Child and futurist Liam Carl, which predicts a world torn apart by a civil war between humans and robots. This apocalyptic nightmare serves as a warning shot to all humanity, whose only hope of survival is to reclaim our humanity.
Bad for Good: The Very Best of Scorpions is a compilation album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 2002 by Hip-O Records. The final two songs, "Cause I Love You" and the title track are new tracks and were written for the compilation.
Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 is a live DVD released by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was supposed to be released on 18 December 2007 but was delayed till 12 February 2008 for reasons undisclosed to the public.
Virgin Killer is the fourth studio album by the German rock band Scorpions. It was released in 1976 and was the band's first album to attract attention outside Europe. The title is described as being a reference to time as the killer of innocence. The original cover featured a nude prepubescent girl, which stirred controversy in the UK, US and elsewhere. As a result, the album was re-issued with a different cover in some countries.
Sting in the Tail is the seventeenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released on 19 March 2010 in Europe and on 23 March in North America. At the time it was a farewell album, released prior to their farewell tour.
Return to Forever is the eighteenth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in Europe on 20 February 2015. The album marks the final release of the band to feature the Unbreakable-era lineup with longtime drummer James Kottak leaving the band in September 2016, who was replaced by former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee.
Born to Touch Your Feelings: Best of Rock Ballads is a compilation album by German rock band Scorpions. It includes the most popular Scorpions ballads, with a brand new acoustic studio version of the song "Send Me an Angel", a new full band studio version of the song "Follow Your Heart" and two brand new songs "Melrose Avenue" and "Always Be with You" that were written specifically for this compilation.
