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.
The term heir apparent is used far too often in Pop Culture. Lou Gehrig may have proved to be the rightful heir to Babe Ruth in the Yankees, but while Eric Lindros had a decent hockey career, his original nickname of the “Next One” (In reference to Wayne Gretzky’s moniker of the “The Great One”) was a title he couldn’t quite live up to. If Rock and Roll had a career equivalent it might be the band once thought to be the heir to the Beatles; Badfinger.
Punk and Disco may have dominated the late 70’s, but that didn’t mean that Rock bands did not break through. The English band Dire Straits managed to churn out some music that has had some astounding staying power over the years.
Although none of the members of the NIHOF committee were alive when Ben E. King achieved his greatest success, we were among the millions that rediscovered him with the re-release of his signature song, “Stand by Me”. Those that found him again, found one of the smoothest voices of and most sophisticated voices of all time.
For a country with such a small population, the rich musical history of Ireland is an extensive one. Our first representative from the Emerald Isle is the Hard Rock band, Thin Lizzy; though it may surprise some casual fans that Thin Lizzy was even Irish.
The next selection found the NIHOF committee reminiscing a little bit more than some of our other selections. It seemed we all had an older sibling or knew of one with a worn out vinyl of Breakfast in America. They were like comfort food; they may not have been the best out there, but Supertramp just felt so comfortable to listen to.
Anyone taking a look throughout this list will see the vast amount of artists from the United Kingdom. Primal Scream is another such artist, but if anyone seemed to represent the last twenty years of British music better than they did, we would like to know who that might be.
If any artist associated with Disco gets into the Hall next, the current top contender would have to be Chic. Ironically, if people wanted to make the argument that they aren’t a Disco band, a few of us at NIHOF would not completely disagree.