A guitar virtuoso with few equals, Joe Satriani holds the undesirable record of the most Grammy nominations (15) without a win. Satriani primarily recorded instrumentals which were technically brilliant and immersed with his own unique style. Despite his unquestionable skills, generally instrumental guitarists face a bit of an uphill battle in the performer category.

Many a Rock band was based on their subtlety. The Undertones were not one of those bands. If anything, they were a band that may have understood the basic ideal of Rock and Roll better than anyone as their blend of Garage Rock during the Punk Years was very much a celebration of the Rock and Roll spirit. While other Rock bands of their era were busy making statements, this was a band that was just making Rock music; funny how that was forgotten in one of Rock’s best eras.

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.