b. 1 May 1954, Detroit, Michigan, USA. This accomplished musician gained his reputation during the late 60s as a member of the house band at the 20 Grand Club. This Detroit nightspot often featured Tamla/Motown acts, one of which, the (Detroit) Spinn…

b. 11 February 1940, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. Bobby "Boris" Pickett (And The Crypt-Kickers) recorded the US number 1 "Monster Mash' in 1962, a song which has remained alive for decades due to perennial radio airplay each Halloween. Pickett mov…

Best known for his work in collaboration with director Tim Burton composer Danny Elfman created one of the most distinctive bodies of work in contemporary film music bringing his talents to a dark fantasy world populated by superheroes monsters and f…

Though he came out of the '70s Southern California scene and was championed by Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon's music is far more dark and sardonic than that background would suggest. The quintessential troubadour-with-an-attitude, he's sung about guns…

In the spotlight since the age of four, Michael Jackson rose to fame as the lead vocalist for the Jackson Five. In the late 1970s, Jackson embarked on a solo career as a young adult with the Quincy Jones-produced OFF THE WALL. With one hit album unde…

Screamin' Jay Hawkins was a true wild man, even by first-generation rock & roll standards. A veritable musical witch doctor, he combined swampy blues, R&B punch, and rockabilly carousing, adding in his own fascination with voodoo, magic, and loopy ex…

From their first Syd Barrett-led psych-pop record to their concept albums and elaborately presented live shows of the 1970s, these space-rock pioneers reached unprecedented heights of commercial and aesthetic success. Their '73 opus, DARK SIDE OF THE…

The U.K.'s Dire Straits became one of the world's most popular rock bands the old-fashioned way, through songwriting and musicianship. When "Sultans of Swing" broke through on both sides of the Atlantic in 1979, the sound suggested Bob Dylan backed b…

Greek electronic composer Vangelis's first taste of fame was as a founding member of the 1960s rock group Formynx, who enjoyed wild acclaim in their home country of Greece. In 1968, Vangelis left Greece for Paris, where he formed the prog-rock group …

Celtic vocalist Enya first gained notoriety as a member of the group Clannad in the 1980s, but became a superstar as a solo artist by fusing traditional music from the British Isles with dreamy new-age textures. Enya is a true crossover artist: her m…

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

Spearheading the US rock 'n' roll revivalism that began in the late 60s, Sha Na Na evolved from the Columbia University vocal group the Columbia Kingsmen, formed by brothers George and Robert Leonard. Taking their new name from a line in the Silhouet…

Creedence Clearwater Revival seemed like something of an anomaly in the psychedelic 1960s. Far removed from the mind-expanding, flower-power explorations of their California contemporaries, they were a gritty, hard-hitting band respectful of their bl…

From the youthful arrogance of their early 1960s recordings to their ambitious rock operas and the more introspective FM rock staples of their mid-1970s albums, the Who raged like a rock-&-roll inferno. Pete Townshend's guitar fireworks and Keith Moo…

b. Shelby F. Wooley, 10 April 1921, near Erick, Oklahoma, USA, d. 16 September 2003, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Wooley, was born part Cherokee Indian, grew up on the family farm, learned to ride as a child and rode in rodeos as a teenager. His father…

One of the premier beat groups from the mid-60s Merseybeat explosion, the Liverpool-based Searchers were formed in 1960 by Chris Curtis (b. Christopher Crummey, 26 August 1941, Oldham, Lancashire, England; drums), Mike Pender (b. Michael John Prender…

Put together by rock critic/visionary Richard Meltzer (who wrote lyrics for a number of the band's songs) and producer Sandy Pearlman, Blue Oyster Cult adopted all sorts of emblematic gestures to conjure an outlaw image. The band's high-decibel, prog…