Z.Z. Hill

Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire blues genre when he signed on to Malaco Records and growled his way through the uncompromising blues of his 1982 album Down Home. His debut single, the gutsy shuffle "You Were Wrong," showed up on Billboard's pop chart for a week in 1964. Hill's subsequent singles for the Kent logo should have been even bigger. But "I Need Someone (To Love Me)," "Happiness Is All I Need," and a raft of other deserving 45s went nowhere. A 1972 hookup with United Artists resulted in three albums and six R&B chart singles. From there, Z.Z. moved on to Columbia, where his 1977 single "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It" became his biggest-selling hit of all. From 1980 until 1984, Z.Z. bravely led a personal back-to-the-blues campaign.