We asked ourselves a lot during this process why did so many Punk bands fizzle out so quickly? Was it truly just better to burn out than fade away? That is a debate for another time (and someone else’s website) but again we find another American Punk Rock group that had more historical significance than mainstream success.
During the early 60s many music fans were divided musically into either the Beatles camp or the Rolling Stones camp and they despised the other fans. Nowadays, that seems a little silly, but it wasn’t that long ago that a couple of us at NIHOF remembered that the Metal community had fans divided into the Metallica and Megadeth camps as well.
Again we find ourselves with a band that achieved great success on the charts yet were not darlings of the critics. Yet as successful as Three Dog Night were in the early 70’s, they are barely known by today’s generation. Funny, they were not always so anonymous.
Although we always seemed to be aware of them, even we were surprised just how many subgenres of Rock and Roll there seems to be. In the case of the Ska Revival genre we wonder if it the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will see fit to grant them an inductee. If so, our bet would be on the Specials.
How does one's Rock and Roll induction chances bode when you are just as well known for a rivalry with a fellow performer (James Brown) as you are for the music you created? This is the question we pose when we look at 60’s Soul superstar, Joe Tex.
How much chance does a band have to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if they are best known for wearing funny hats? To many, Devo was just a one hit wonder who looked like they wore garbage bags and had flower pots on their heads. Of course, their fans knew they were much more.
With the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of Metallica many eyes looked to the other members of the “Big Four of Thrash Metal”. Does this pave the way for their induction? Time will tell, but the odds are that if any of the other bands in that elite group get in, Slayer is probably the group with the best shot.
They say that in some cases the sum is greater than its parts. In terms of rock bands this is often true. But what if the parts still did other things after it left the sum? Okay, that was convoluted, but with The Guess Who, we think that this statement holds some water.
Considering how much Western Pop Culture is inundated with Australians, we would have thought we would have had an Australian act by now. Instead, our first selection from “Down Under” was on the brink of flirting with being the biggest band in the world at one point. It didn’t happen, but it is hard pressed to find anyone who can’t hum an INXS song or two.
There are many people who first heard of Kool & the Gang from the monster hit, Celebration in 1980. After that, the band churned out multiple hits of the softer R&B vibe that generated much success. However, like a few other artists on this list we can’t help but feel that we are discussing two different careers as the Kool & the Gang of the 1970s was much different than the decade that followed.