Talking about Motown was certainly nothing new during the NIHOF Rock and Roll discussions. However, the topic generally came up when discussing forgotten and neglected 60’s artists from the legendary label, and rarely for the achievements of the decade that followed. Yet one of the Detroit label’s biggest successes was a 70’s group that originated from the American Deep South where the Commodores emerged as a major player in the R&B scene.

Since even the most educated Rock historians disagree on when and who started Rock and Roll, it is difficult to also pinpoint who originated various subgenres of Rock. Perhaps no other band receives credit (or partial credit depending on which Rock historian you listen to) for helping to create more Rock subgenres than the Soft Machine.

With all due respect to Metallica, it has been often stated that Pantera was the most important Metal band of the 1990’s. Looking back to that decade, it is easy to see why Pantera has that distinction as if any band broke Metal into new boundaries in the 90’s it surely was Pantera.

We severely doubt that there will be anytime soon where music fans will debate the validity of Rap music especially in terms of its placement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To those who raise that vocal inquiry, we can only imagine the reaction should the Proto Rap pioneer, Gil Scott-Heron get in.