What should have been. This is a sentence that seems to permeate the history of Rock and Roll, especially on a list such as this. We can’t help but think that this sentence may fit Mott the Hoople better than anyone else as the Ian Hunter-led band seemed to inspire so much yet accomplish so little.

Maybe stating that Mott the Hoople accomplished little is a bit of a misnomer, but they should have been so much more. Best known State Side for their David Bowie penned “All the Young Dudes”; Mott was selling a lot more records in their native country. Embracing the Glam Rock movement, Mott the Hoople played that style of music that was anything but androgynous. They fused with Glam with Hard Rock and a Proto Punk attitude and found themselves a wide cross-section of fans. Though they were popular, they always seemed to be forever knocking at the door of mainstream acceptance. Time has shined a positive light on them and much of their work was cited by diverse bands thereafter. Mott the Hoople may have been the best “Should have been” in Rock history.

www.mottthehoople.com

It rarely fails. As new genres emerge there seems to a need to anoint a pair of songwriters as the new Lennon and McCartney. New Wave did so with the pair of Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook; better known as the creative unit behind Squeeze.

As the Rap stars begin to become eligible for the Rock and Roll of Fame, they face the same debate that stars from other genres do: that of whether popularity should supersede art. LL Cool J could be the first of the Rap stars to fall strongly on the popularity side of the equation, as though he did sell a lot of albums, but was also accused of selling out.

When thinking of the great acts from Motown, the general focus is on the vocal talents they produced. The lone exception would have to be Junior Walker & the All Stars; a self contained Motown band that had the raunchiness and grooves that the other polished Motown artists did not have.