Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
Former Stray Cat Brian Setzer was born in New York City and raised in Long Island. His first instrument, at age eight, was the euphonium, and he played the tuba-like instrument for ten years. He began having dreams of leading a big band with horns as a teen, but got sidetracked by punk. Initially, as a guitarist and songwriter, he took his... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s
Pub rock, the English roots rock movement of the early '70s, would never have earned a cult following if it wasn't for Brinsley Schwarz. Initially, Brinsley Schwarz was a rambling, neo-psychedelic folk-rock band that borrowed heavily from Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Grateful Dead. Following a disastrous publicity stunt to promote its debut... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Perhaps best known as one of the guitarists/vocalists for the seminal pub rock group Brinsley Schwarz, Ian Gomm began his career in music as an apprentice in EMI's mechanical and engineering departments. During his five years with the label, Gomm also fronted several R&B-inspired trios, opening for bands such as the Who, the Move, and Pink... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
John Cameron Fogerty achieved fame as the lead singer/songwriter and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and has since gone on to a chart-topping solo career. Born in Berkeley, CA, Fogerty and his brother Tom organized the group that would become Creedence as the Golliwogs in the late '50s. As Creedence, they released nine Top Ten singles,... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
Like Dave Edmunds, guitarist/pianist/vocalist Mickey Jupp was a champion of traditional rock & roll during the late '70s, a time when it had been all but discarded. Unlike Edmunds, Jupp wrote the majority of his own material, which updated '50s rock & roll with a tongue-in-cheek irony.
Jupp began his career with the Essex-based...
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Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
During the late '70s, Rockpile was the touring band for both Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Like Edmunds, the band was passionate about traditional rock & roll. Like Lowe, the band played with a reckless, trashy abandon. Driven by the powerful rhythm section of drummer Terry Williams and Lowe's bass, guitarists Billy Bremner and Edmunds were free... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
The key group of the early-'80s rockabilly revival, the Stray Cats scored several big hits on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to a striking visual style tailor-made for the early days of MTV, as well as genuine musical chops that evoked the best players of rockabilly's original heyday. The Stray Cats were formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s
Led Zeppelin was the definitive heavy metal band. It wasn't just their crushingly loud interpretation of the blues -- it was how they incorporated mythology, mysticism, and a variety of other genres (most notably world music and British folk) -- into their sound. Led Zeppelin had mystique. They rarely gave interviews, since the music press... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
When Bruce Springsteen finally broke through to national recognition in the fall of 1975 after a decade of trying, critics hailed him as the savior of rock & roll, the single artist who brought together all the exuberance of '50s rock and the thoughtfulness of '60s rock, molded into a '70s style. He rocked as hard as Jerry Lee Lewis, his lyrics... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
When Bruce Springsteen finally broke through to national recognition in the fall of 1975 after a decade of trying, critics hailed him as the savior of rock & roll, the single artist who brought together all the exuberance of '50s rock and the thoughtfulness of '60s rock, molded into a '70s style. He rocked as hard as Jerry Lee Lewis, his lyrics... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s
One of the best and most original rockers of the early '60s, Del Shannon was also one of the least typical. Although classified at times as a teen idol, he favored brooding themes of abandonment, loss, and rejection. In some respects he looked forward to the British Invasion with his frequent use of minor chords and his ability to write most of... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
If the old scientific adage is true -- that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction -- then British pub rockers Ducks Deluxe were purely and simply a reaction. With the mid-'70s English pop scene dominated by glitter/glam rockers like Gary Glitter and Sweet or blustery, chops-heavy art rockers like Yes, Jethro Tull, and Genesis,... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s
Historically renowned as the band which launched the entire British pub rock scene, the all-American Eggs over Easy originally arrived in the U.K. to cut a record with producer Chas Chandler in 1970. Sessions at Olympic Studios went well, but escalating problems with the group's American backers, Cannon Films, saw the project run aground in the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Mike first started playing guitar at the ripe old age of 4, taught by his dad Mike Guaragna Sr., who was quite a jazz guitarist himself. After seeing four lads from Liverpool on Ed Sullivan’s TV show one night in 1964, the music bug really really bit. And ever since then Mike has been touring and playing music venues from end of this... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey, was the drummer in the Beatles from 1962 to 1970 and thus one of the most famous musicians of the '60s. Though the least prominent member of the quartet, he distinguished himself as an occasional singer of good-natured material and as an actor. Upon the group's split, Starr went solo with two novelty projects:... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s
Faithful rock & roll revivalists taking their cues from rockabilly and late-'50s guitar rock, the Kingbees formed in Hollywood in the late '70s. Songwriter, guitarist, and singer Jamie James was the centerpiece of the trio, which recorded a couple of albums for RSO in the early '80s. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide