On Target: 38 Special’s aim remains true

Kirk Baird

Friday, March 23, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

Fast Facts

What: 38 Special.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Mandalay Bay's House of Blues.

Cost: $23, $28, $33.

Information: 632-7580.

In the 27 years that 38 Special has been around, it's safe to assume that lead singer and guitarist Donnie Van Zant has been asked just about everything.

From "How do you feel about the band's label as a Southern rock band?" to "How has the band stayed together all these years?"

Nevertheless, the first question from this reporter seemed to catch him off guard: "Is it '38 Special' or '.38 Special?' It shows up both ways in print and on the Internet."

"It depends on my mood," Van Zant jokingly said in a recent phone interview. "If I'm in (an angry) mood, I put the dot. If I'm in a good mood, I leave it out. It really doesn't bother me one way or another. "Actually, I had to think about it: 'How do I do it?' I think I just put '38 Special' when I'm signing autographs."

So let it be written, so let it be done.

And 38 Special that's without the dot performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at House of Blues.

Performing is something the band has been doing a lot of lately. In fact, it's touring in support of an album, "Live at Sturgis," which is its first live release.

It's no wonder, then, that even while relaxing at his home in Jacksonville, Fla., the 48-year-old Van Zant said he was itching to return to the road.

"It's my way of life right now," he said. "I'm enjoying the road right now more than ever before."

Sure, that lifestyle has been difficult on his family, he said, but it hasn't been an entirely negative trade-off.

"I'm able to do a lot for them, too." Plus, "It beats handling Sheet- rock and driving the truck," he said, laughing as he added, "My dad would kill me for saying that because he was a truck driver for 35 years."

But driving trucks was not in the cards for Van Zant.

Growing up in Jacksonville, his parents listened to old-style country such as Hank Williams and Ernest Tubbs, so he did, too. When the music scene changed in the early '60s with the British invasion, Van Zant did so as well, along with his two brothers.

Drawn to the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, older brother Ronnie started a band, One Percent, which Donnie remembers watching perform in the family's living room.

From One Percent eventually emerged Lynyrd Skynyrd, which Ronnie remained front man for until a plane crash took his life in 1977.

Nine years later Johnny Van Zant, the youngest of the brothers, took over for Ronnie in Lynyrd Skynyrd and still performs with the band, which these days can be seen in concert as regularly as 38 Special.

There's no doubt that because of the success as singers in Southern bands, as well as the fact that the brothers routinely sang about their Florida roots, there is a certain Dixie association with the name Van Zant. The image doesn't bother Van Zant ("I'm proud to be a Southerner"), but it's not necessarily indicative of 38 Special's music.

"We're an American rock 'n' roll band. We appeal to a broad spectrum of people and have proven that over the years," Van Zant said. "I mean, 12 million records (sold) is nothing to laugh at."

He has a point.

From 38 Special's early days in the late '70s, there was little to separate the band from the Southern rock sound generated by Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band and Molly Hatchet, among others.

But into the group's heyday, the early to mid-'80s during which the it had four platinum albums, its sound started to change.

What started as classic Southern rock grew lighter, with early hits such as "Rockin' Into the Night" and "Hold on Loosely" incorporating more pop-friendly elements. This style of more mainstream rock further progressed with later hits such as "Like No Other Night" and "Second Chance."

The band even found success lending singles to soundtracks: "Teacher, Teacher," from 1984's "Teachers," and "Back to Paradise," from 1987's "Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise."

These days, however, there is really only one tag that attaches itself to 38 Special, that of "classic rock act."

And along with most bands put into that classification, 38 Special isn't finding the success it once did. Radio airplay on the classic rock stations is mostly relegated to the older hits; the band isn't playing the same larger venues as before; and when was the last time you saw a 38 Special video on MTV, or even its more adult-oriented sister, VH1?

Van Zant, however, seemed comfortable with the fact 38 Special isn't quite the draw -- both in record and ticket sales -- it once was.

"I'm very happy where we are at this stage of our lives," he said. "What goes up, must come down, but I don't feel like we're down. I feel like we're at a good stage of our lives.

"We've had our ups and downs, but I can truthfully tell you I've enjoyed the ride the whole way."

As for the future, Van Zant said the band will continue the ride until it isn't fun anymore.

"We still feel like we have a lot to offer people," he said. "We believe in our hearts we still have a No. 1 song in us, or we wouldn't be doing this."