We hate using an American Idol reference but how many times does Simon and company tell the contestants after they nailed a performance that “they made the song their own”. Somehow, this just seemed like the right quote for Joe Cocker.

It has been said that the Velvet Underground was the Ground Zero for Alternative music. There are levels of truths to that and the disciples they spawned via vinyl were incalculable. Jonathan Richman was a man who was greatly influenced by the Velvets, so much so, it could be argued that he literally picked up where they left off. 

Once again, we are faced with a group that may not belong on this list as they may be better placed in the Early Influences category and could very well get into the Hall under that umbrella. For now we will discuss the merits of The “5” Royales, a group that may have been one of the first vital cogs in Soul music.

Previous entries discussed the maligned genre of “Arena Rock” which although produced many successful acts has become synonymous with soulless music devoid of any true Rock and Roll spirit. That description always seemed harsh as any band who could sell out an arena has some merit to them. Anyways, we will let some other website debate that. One of the bands with the Arena Rock tag was Foreigner whose early albums were a little better than they got credit for.