If you grew up in New Orleans in the 1970s and spent any time in the bars on Bourbon Street or the clubs around the Quarter, there is a decent chance you heard a three-piece band doing Led Zeppelin covers so convincingly it made you check the marquee twice. That band was Zebra. And the guy making all that noise on bass and keyboards at the same time? That was Felix Hanemann, a Warren Easton kid from right here in the city who turned two instruments into one job and helped create a sound that no one in rock music had quite heard before.
A New Orleans Kid With Two Instruments and Zero Chill
Felix Hanemann was born on May 1, 1953, in New Orleans. He graduated from Warren Easton High School, one of the oldest public high schools in the state, then studied music at the University of New Orleans and Loyola University with a minor in English. By the time most kids his age were figuring out what to do with their lives, Felix was already deep into his second band. He joined his first group, The Salt and Pepper Conspiracy, at 14 years old. The name alone tells you everything about the era.
In the early 1970s, Hanemann started playing in a bar band called Shepherd's Bush with guitarist Randy Jackson (not the American Idol one, the other one, the better one if you ask anyone from New Orleans). They made their money playing covers in the French Quarter club scene, and they were good enough that people actually stopped talking to listen, which, if you know anything about French Quarter bar crowds, is saying something.
From Shepherd's Bush to Zebra
In late 1974, Hanemann and Jackson left Shepherd's Bush and formed a new band called Maelstrom with drummer Guy Gelso. They had a fourth member on keyboards, Tim Thorson, but when Thorson left in February 1975, something interesting happened. Instead of replacing him, Felix just picked up the keyboard parts himself, while still playing bass. The three-piece lineup clicked in a way that felt permanent. They renamed themselves Zebra after spotting a Vogue magazine cover featuring a woman riding a zebra, which is about as rock and roll a naming origin story as you can get.
What made Zebra special was the sheer volume of sound three people could produce. Felix was the secret weapon. He was not just "the bass player who also plays some keys." He was a full-on keytarist before the word existed, switching between bass guitar and synthesizers, layering sounds, and singing backup vocals while doing all of it. The progressive rock influence of Yes and Jethro Tull combined with the raw power of Led Zeppelin, and it all passed through a New Orleans kid who had studied music theory at two universities. That combination was wild.
The Fastest Selling Debut in Atlantic Records History
Zebra built a following playing New Orleans bars and clubs like The Library and Cosmos II in the French Quarter. But the band had bigger ambitions, and they eventually made the move to Long Island, New York, where they became local legends all over again. An FM radio station called WBAB started playing their demos, and the buzz reached Atlantic Records executive Jason Flom, who signed them in 1982.
Their self-titled debut album, produced by Jack Douglas (who had worked with Aerosmith and John Lennon), dropped on March 25, 1983, and sold 75,000 copies in the first week. It became the fastest selling debut in Atlantic Records history at the time. The album went Gold, peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, and stayed on the charts for eight months. The singles "Who's Behind the Door?" and "Tell Me What You Want" became rock radio staples. "Who's Behind the Door?" hit number 10 on the Mainstream Rock chart.
For a band that started as a cover act in a French Quarter bar, that is a pretty serious trajectory.
Still a New Orleans Band at Heart
Here is the thing about Zebra that matters to us: they never stopped being a New Orleans band. They may have moved to Long Island, and they may have toured nationally, but they always came home. Their 35th anniversary concert in 2010 was held at the Mahalia Jackson Theater, right here in New Orleans, and that night the band was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Two years later, they were also inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Two halls of fame in two states, which is the musical equivalent of having a camp on the Northshore and a house in the city.
Their live DVD from 2007 was recorded at the House of Blues in New Orleans, and they continue to tour primarily along the Gulf Coast and East Coast. A 50th anniversary album is in the works, reuniting the band with original producer Jack Douglas, along with a documentary called "Tell Me What You Want: 50 Years of Zebra."
Felix Hanemann: The Secret Weapon
Felix Hanemann is the kind of musician who does not get enough credit because he makes the impossible look routine. Playing bass and keyboards in a three-piece rock band means there is no one to hide behind. Every note counts. Felix filled the space that would normally require two or three more musicians, and he did it while singing backup vocals. His solo album, Rock Candy, released in 2000, showcased the songs he had been writing for two decades. He has also played with Harry Slash and The Slashtones and the Led Zeppelin tribute band Hindenberg, because when your original band already sounded like a bigger version of itself, why not keep going?
New Orleans has always been a city where musical boundaries do not exist. Jazz musicians play funk. Funk musicians play rock. Brass bands play hip hop. Felix Hanemann took classical training, progressive rock ambition, and good old New Orleans hustle and turned it into something that sounded like a full orchestra coming from three guys on a stage. If you have ever worn a WWOZ Listen to Your City shirt or nodded along to a Do Watcha Wanna design, you already know this city runs on people who refuse to play it safe with their music.
Be a New Orleanian, Even When the World Calls You a Long Islander
Zebra's story is a New Orleans story even when it is technically a Long Island story. Three guys formed a band in a city that lives and breathes music, moved to a place where they could get a record deal, and never forgot where they came from. Felix Hanemann went from playing his first gig at 14 years old to performing at the Mahalia Jackson Theater to accept a Hall of Fame honor. That is the kind of New Orleans arc that makes you want to raise a glass and say, "Yeah you right."
If Dirty Coast has always been about celebrating the people who make this city what it is, then Felix Hanemann and Zebra belong right here in The Dirt Encyclopedia, alongside the jazz legends, the funk pioneers, and the chefs who turned crawfish into a religion. Because New Orleans rock is real, it started in the French Quarter bars, and Felix Hanemann played bass and keyboards at the same time while doing it. That is as New Orleans as it gets. Check out the Periodic Table of New Orleans for more of the people, places, and traditions that make this city unlike anywhere else on earth.
FAQ
What band was Felix Hanemann in?
Felix Hanemann is a founding member of Zebra, the hard rock band formed in New Orleans in 1975. He plays bass, keyboards, and sings backup vocals. Zebra's self-titled debut album in 1983 became the fastest selling debut in Atlantic Records history.
Is Zebra a New Orleans band?
Yes. Zebra was founded in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1975 by Felix Hanemann, Randy Jackson, and Guy Gelso. The band later relocated to Long Island, New York, but maintained deep ties to New Orleans and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater.
What instruments does Felix Hanemann play?
Felix Hanemann plays bass guitar, keyboards, and synthesizers, often switching between them during live performances. He also sings backup vocals. His ability to handle multiple instruments in a three-piece band gave Zebra its distinctively full sound.
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