One of the first underground bands that gained attention, the Fugs played their brand of Rock and Roll ripped with satire and coarse language in an era where that was unheard of. In a sense, the Fugs were responsible for injecting a Proto Punk attitude and can be argued were a new type of “Shock Rockers”. Clearly ahead of their time, they helped to launch a series of innovative lyricists, though likely just as many bad ones.

They may have been classified as a Noise Rock band and band members themselves have thought have themselves as Punk Rockers, but in many ways they were a precursor to the Industrial scene that was about to follow. Singing about a myriad of disturbing topics (songs about mutilation were tame for them) they delivered with a blistering guitar attack pounded by loud drum machines. They never hit it big, but then again, they probably never tried to either.

From San Francisco the Quicksilver Messenger Service did not have hit albums or really even a hit to speak of, but they did have a reputation for having an excellent live act and were one of the first “Jam” bands of note. The latter could make them a potential entrant as the style that they helped to popularize was a respected one and the San Francisco connection does not hurt either.

The first Frenchman on the list may have been equally influential creating music for the eyes as well as the ears. Jean Michel Jarre has been referred to as the man who took the synthesizer to new levels of popularity in Europe during the late 70’s. He was one of the early stars of New Age, Synth Pop, Ambient and virtually every genre that had Electronic elements in them. Jarre became internationally known for the dazzling outdoor spectacles where laser lights and fireworks set the visual backdrops to his audio masterpieces. Jarre is an accomplished musician and certainly had a Hall of Fame career…though it will likely not be a “Rock and Roll” Hall of Fame career.