One of the true bad boys of early Rock and Roll, Larry Williams emerged from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks (he was allegedly pimping and dealing before he recorded any music). With music that was rowdy and infectious he took over where Little Richard left off (or feared to go). With a series of hits that appealed to both black and white audiences Williams was poised to be a huge star but drug problems forced his label to drop him. Williams went on a downward spiral and despite a few attempted comebacks was never a star again. He has a great footnote in Rock history and could get in if the Hall overlooks his demise, which is tragic even by Rock and Roll standards.

Although we can’t hear “Working for the Weekend” without recalling Chris Farley’s famous skit on SNL, the Canadian group, Loverboy was a very popular Rock band in the 80’s that was able to find an audience south of their border. Their style of Arena Rock was a palatable one, though their iconic leather pants and headbands are mocked more these days. Thankfully in their concerts today, they have dispensed with that look, though one look at front man Mike Reno would indicate that he wouldn’t exactly fit into them anyway.

Although younger readers may only know Kris Kristofferson as the gruff mentor to Blade in the movie trilogy, the bearded legend was consider one of the greatest songwriters of his generation and the amount of musicians who have performed his material is staggering. Kristofferson began singing his own material in the 70’s and although he was popular, he became far more famous for his acting. Kristofferson should be in the Hall for his songwriting contributions, but as a performer alone, he faces a very uphill climb for induction.

They were rude, crude and misogynistic. They had nude women on stage and played straight up Heavy Metal. And they didn’t apologize for any of it! W.A.S.P. was another Metal band form Los Angeles who managed to conquer to the music world in the 80’s. They may not have been deep but to those looking for a fun brand of loud Heavy Metal; this was a damn good choice.