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<title>Top Oldies Artists on Rhapsody Online</title>
<dateCreated>Tue Dec 15 19:58:31 PST 2009</dateCreated>
<dateModified>Tue Dec 15 19:58:31 PST 2009</dateModified>
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<outline type="include" text="The Rolling Stones" description="Few partnerships in rock 'n' roll have been as productive as the collaboration between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and of course having wunderkind Brian Jones along did nothing to hinder the Rolling Stones' popularity. From the get-go, the band played the raunchy, gritty doppelganger to the Beatles' dandified Merseybeat pop. They ventured a heavier, bluesier sound than their British Invasion counterparts, taking their cues from Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. The band's greatest strength, besides Charlie Watts, has always been their ability to add stylistic touches drawn from their interests in Eastern music, psychedelia, country and even disco to a blues rock chassis. It's difficult to listen to the trippy &lt;I&gt;Their Satanic Majesties Request&lt;/I&gt;, the down-and-out honky-tonk of &lt;I&gt;Exile On Main Street&lt;/I&gt; and the clean modernist surfaces of &lt;I&gt;Bridges To Babylon&lt;/I&gt; and believe they were recorded by the same band. Of course, in some ways they weren't; the lineup changes that have dogged the Stones account for much of their musical diversity. Jagger's famous slur and Richards' sloppy guitar elegance are the two constants in the band's many life cycles that make every Stones song instantly recognizable.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Classic Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-rolling-stones/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Pink Floyd" description="Early Pink Floyd recordings make space travel superfluous so long as we have keyboards here on Earth. Back when enigmatic lyricist and acid-eater extraordinaire Syd Barrett skippered the ship, the Floyd sounded something like Monty Python with instruments -- quirky, trippy and weird. Barrett made Bedlam seem a reasonable price to pay for such gems as &quot;Bike,&quot; &quot;Lucifer Sam,&quot; and the Space Rock tour-de-force &quot;Astronomy Domine.&quot; Upon Barrett's departure, the only marginally less maniacal Roger Waters took on singing and songwriting duties. The band dug even deeper into labyrinthine song structures, but nothing prior had prepared the world for 1973s &lt;i&gt;Dark Side of the Moon&lt;/i&gt;. The concept album par excellence, &lt;i&gt;Moon&lt;/i&gt; utilizes a narrative lyric structure and musical leitmotifs to give the album a sense of coherence. These compositional strategies culminated in '79s harrowing magnum opus, &lt;i&gt;The Wall&lt;/I&gt;, an unflinching look at England's soul -- its educational system, its flirtations with fascism, the conservatism leading up to Thatcher. After Waters' defection, the remaining members came down with a crippling case of the blands but decided to stick it out, releasing a series of flashy (note '95's &lt;I&gt;Pulse&lt;/i&gt;), nostalgic commodities that basically sounded like David Gilmour solo efforts (even if they continued to sell like genuine Pink Floyd productions). In July 2005, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Roger Waters reformed for the Live 8 charity concert. Sadly, in July 2006, Syd Barrett died at the age of 60, from complications of diabetes.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Art &amp; Progressive Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/pink-floyd/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Elvis Presley" description="Elvis Presley is rock 'n' roll. He sang like a dream, he was sexy enough to send girls swooning, and he exuded enough cool not to have the boys resent him. Adults worried about his rebellious nature, but they were eventually comforted by his polite, courteous manner. Yet as perfect as Presley's 1950s rock recordings are, he excelled at so much: down-home country crooning, raucous R&amp;B belting, enraptured Gospel singing, and classic pop balladeering. Elvis wasn't a vocal chameleon: these styles seeped out of him naturally, allowing his own personality to shine through. Despite his high level of talent and achievement in his craft, it was Elvis who made rock 'n' roll the international language of pop and inspired countless kids around the world to pick up a guitar or step up to a microphone. That said, Elvis didn't have a faultless career: he starred in plenty of bad movies, sang dozens of lame songs, got fat, and wore a kitschy white suit. But so what? He forever changed pop music, recording acres of perfect material over two short decades. Elvis (deservedly) remains the King.
- Nick Dedina" category="'50s Rock 'n' Roll" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/elvis-presley/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bob Dylan" description="Bob Dylan is on the short list of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He coupled a love for all forms of American popular and folk music with a personal and poetic songwriting style instead of relying on professional craftsmen or standard tunes. Influenced by Woody Guthrie, Dylan proved that you didn't have to be a technically perfect singer or musician to make brilliant pop music. The songs on 1963's &lt;I&gt;The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan&lt;/I&gt; catapulted the artist to stardom but he was already burning to get away from acoustic backing and match his unique vision to rock, country and blues. Dylan's music influenced a whole new generation of musicians -- such as the Beatles and Stevie Wonder -- to start crafting songs about what was important to them. While Dylan kick-started folk and country rock in his '60s studio work, the ragged home recordings he made with the Band showed that not even poorly placed microphones could stifle brilliance. Dylan still tours these days and records less often then he used to, but as albums such as 1997's &lt;I&gt;Time Out of Mind&lt;/I&gt; and 2006's &lt;I&gt;Modern Times&lt;/I&gt; prove, the man still has a lot to say and continues to do it in a way that no one else can.
- Nick Dedina" category="Singer-Songwriter" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bob-dylan/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bruce Springsteen" description="No rock performer has spoken with more authority on the human fallout of the American Dream than Bruce Springsteen. &lt;I&gt;Darkness on the Edge of Town&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;Nebraska&lt;/I&gt; are American Gothics haunted by star-crossed lovers and noble souls hag-ridden by fate into crime, depression, and worst of all, ordinariness. But lest we forget, the original denim rocker has also written some of the most uplifting songs in AOR: every line of &quot;Born to Run&quot; and &quot;Glory Days&quot; offers an ideal place to hang your troubles out to dry. Springsteen plays the perfect tailor for the damaged lives that populate his lyrics, recognizing the tiny flaws and the holes that gape in the human fabric, and doing his best to mend them -- sometimes with simple compassion, sometimes with joy. Just about everything the Boss has done has an air of permanence about it. You just know that when generations hence try to grasp what life meant to us, his music will offer an important clue. But despite his many accomplishments and incredible fame, something has kept the Boss down to earth. He generously handed out hit songs to Patti Smith and Robert Gordon in the 1970s, and even today continues to promote the careers of lesser luminaries such as duet partner Elliot Murphy.
- Henry B." category="Classic Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bruce-springsteen/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Beach Boys" description="In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson fused innovative chord arrangements with elastic-ranged vocal harmonies onto a foundation of Chuck Berry-inspired rock 'n' roll. The resulting music, set against a backdrop of surfing, girls, and cars, was unfortunately panned by the media as America's answer to Beatlemania. By the end of 1964, Wilson had retired from live performances to focus on composing and producing the band's recordings. Desperately trying to get the sounds from his head onto tape, the Beach Boys released the epic &lt;i&gt;Pet Sounds&lt;/i&gt; in May of 1966. In the liner notes of this orchestrated pop masterpiece, Wilson admits that his aim was to write a &quot;teenage symphony to God.&quot; Generally hailed as the greatest rock 'n' roll album ever, &lt;I&gt;Pet Sounds&lt;/I&gt; struggled to attain the commercial success of the band's earlier suburban hymns. Although the Beach Boys (as well as Brian Wilson) went on to make many more successful albums, they never came close to approximating the innovative genius and transcendent, childlike innocence that was &lt;i&gt;Pet Sounds&lt;/i&gt;.
- Eric Shea" category="'60s Oldies" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-beach-boys/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Grateful Dead" description="Born out of the burgeoning West Coast hippie scene in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district during the late '60s, and inextricably linked to psychedelic experimentation, the Grateful Dead blended psychedelic folk music and a transformative live experience that grew into the largest, most devoted and longest lived cult following in the history of popular music. Deadhead culture rapidly became more ubiquitous than the music -- the Dead's friendly jams, laid-back tunes and open attitude towards bootlegging inspired a tightly knit community that followed the band around the country and traded tapes of concerts years after they'd been recorded. The Dead's concert performances live forever in the often-altered minds of those who attended show after show, and in thousands of hours of recorded material. The majority of these Dead bootlegs were recorded really well and sound like someone took the time to master and equalize them. Hardcore Deadhead classics like &quot;Jack Straw&quot; re-emphasize why the band's live shows were a musical phenomenon. Those who identified best with the &lt;I&gt;Workingman's Dead&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;American Beauty&lt;/I&gt; LPs will be pleased to know that there is an overwhelming amount of well-recorded and downloadable live jams from that era when Jerry was younger, the songs were fresh, and the guitars sounded especially warm." category="Jam Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-grateful-dead/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Stevie Wonder" description="At any given hour, on any college campus anywhere, it is possible to hear &quot;Superstition&quot; blaring out of a fresh-faced funk newcomer's dorm room. Despite other artists' attempts at appropriating his style, Wonder is undoubtedly one of the most individual and astounding songwriters of our time, composing on such a grand scale that albums flow with harmonious ease, incorporating jazz, reggae, fusion, rock, funk and soul. He may have seemed like just a singles artist when performing his Motown hits during his teens, but on albums like &lt;I&gt;Talking Book&lt;/I&gt;, &lt;I&gt;Innervisions&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;Songs in the Key of Life&lt;/I&gt; Wonder proved to be a complex and complete artist, painting colorful political, spiritual and soulful journeys with a variety of guest artists and his own multi-instrumental skills. His voice, harmonica and keyboards are as instantly recognizable as his trademark sway, able to make you laugh and boogie with joy, or cry over the unbridled emotion of his compositions. In late 2005, he released &lt;i&gt;A Time To Love&lt;/i&gt;, his first new album in ten years. It was praised by critics and fans alike, further cementing his status as a musical legend who still has more magic to share.
- Jessy Terry" category="Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/stevie-wonder/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Jackson 5" description="The Jackson 5's bubblegum-flavored soul helped Motown usher in the 1970s with a string of chart toppers that included hits such as &quot;ABC,&quot; &quot;I Want You Back&quot; and &quot;The Love You Save.&quot; Raised in Gary, Indiana by devout Jehovah's Witnesses, the brothers endured the kind of strict upbringing that groomed them perfectly for the &quot;Motown machine.&quot; And what a well-oiled machine it was! The Jackson 5's likenesses could be found on everything from lunchboxes to dolls to Saturday Morning cartoons. But by 1974, the machine showed signs of wear and tear: songs weren't charting as highly as they had previously, and demand for Jackson 5 merchandise was drying up. The machine broke down completely when, frustrated by Motown's refusal to allow the brothers to write or choose their own material, the Jackson 5 parted ways with the label and signed with Epic. Motown won a breach of contract suit, thus retaining the rights to the name Jackson 5. The brothers changed their named to the Jacksons. The Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 1997.
- Linda Ryan" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-jackson-5/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Neil Diamond" description="OK, Neil Diamond is an easy target for parody -- voice straight outta Brooklyn, bespangled shirt straight outta Vegas. But this ex-Brill Building tunesmith crafted a batch of excellent songs during the 1960s (hits such as &quot;Solitary Man&quot; for himself and &quot;I'm a Believer&quot; for the Monkees) before emerging as a stadium superstar. His bombastic, ubermelodramatic work from the 1970s has earned him an enormous, if aging, female following who feel that Diamond tells them what their tight-lipped, big-bellied husbands never will. Today, a new generation of ironic hipster fans have swelled their ranks. Both these groups know that underneath the florid orchestrations and over-the-top emotion lies the truth. Who doesn't feel that love can go on the rocks? Who hasn't experienced a great September morning? Be it a longtime fan in too-snug polyester trousers or a smug 25-year-old in his dad's leisure suit -- both pump their fists in unison during &quot;America.&quot; Neil Diamond, an undeserving nation thanks you for trying to put some feeling (however unsubtle) into our bored, numbed lives.
- Nick Dedina" category="Adult Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/neil-diamond/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bee Gees" description="The Bee Gees made whiney falsetto hip, wide polyester collars the height of high-rolling fashion, and defined cool for an entire generation. A '70s supergroup who actually began as a brothers act in 1959, the Bee Gees have proven remarkably versatile throughout their long career, unafraid to experiment with everything from country to R&amp;B to straight pop balladry. They scored a number of hits during the 1960s and early '70s with shimmering hits like &quot;I've Got to Get a Message to You&quot; and &quot;How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.&quot; Some of the Bee Gees' most memorable tracks stemmed from the height of the disco era, culminating in 1977's &lt;i&gt;Saturday Night Fever&lt;/i&gt; soundtrack with tunes like &quot;Night Fever,&quot; &quot;How Deep is Your Love,&quot; and of course, &quot;Stayin' Alive.&quot; Lush harmonies, symphonic arrangements, and a tendency to reinvent themselves when the going gets tough have made this band one of the longest-running pop acts around.
- Sarah Bardeen" category="Disco" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/thebeegees/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Marvin Gaye" description="Perhaps the pervasive element of tragedy that ruled Marvin Gaye's life accounts for the profound intimacy found in his songs. He scored dozens of hits for Motown in the 1960s both as a solo act (&quot;How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),&quot; &quot;I Heard it Through the Grapevine&quot;) and singing duets (&quot;Ain't No Mountain High Enough&quot;). A late-decade period of depression and solitude ended with &lt;I&gt;What's Going On?&lt;/I&gt; (1971). That album eschewed the pop frivolity of Gaye's earlier work, grappling with such issues as the Vietnam War, poverty and the ecology. Its success allowed him to create increasingly personal records. &lt;I&gt;Let's Get It On&lt;/I&gt; was perhaps the most explicitly sexual album of its era; the double LP &lt;I&gt;Here My Dear&lt;/I&gt; recounted the disintegration of his marriage in such detail that his wife considered suing for privacy invasion. Gaye's final chart topper was &quot;Sexual Healing&quot; (1983), a luscious ballad that simmered erotically beneath Gaye's velvet-lined vocals. His unexpected death in 1984 at the hands of his father renewed interest in his life, music and legacy.
- Kali Holloway" category="Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/marvin-gaye/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Who" description="More than any band before them, the Who transformed rock 'n' roll into the weapon of choice for the generation gap struggles of the 1960s. Playing up tensions between young and old in teen anthems &quot;My Generation,&quot; &quot;The Kids Are Alright,&quot; and a cover of Eddie Cochran's &quot;Summertime Blues,&quot; this combativeness quickly became the band's hallmark. Roger Daltrey's perilous mic-swinging, Pete Townshend's ill-tempered guitar-smashing, and Keith Moon's &quot;gonzo&quot; drumming all bolstered the band's thuggish, working-class youth image -- and suggested it was more than image. As Mod's heyday waned, Townshend began pushing the band in more adventurous directions, which culminated in the first proper rock opera, &lt;I&gt;Tommy&lt;/I&gt; (1969). In one fell swoop, the band upgraded their standing from &quot;average Joes&quot; to intelligentsia. Emboldened by &lt;I&gt;Tommy&lt;/I&gt;'s success, Townshend's songwriting became increasingly self-centered and confessional. While &quot;Behind Blue Eyes&quot; and &quot;Love, Reign O'er Me&quot; are simply sublime, much of the Who's '70s material is bogged down by the band's internal conflicts and Townshend's downward spiral into alcohol and drug abuse. The public began to feel that the band had simply overstayed its welcome. Fans had a hard time forgiving the spokesmen of angry youth for getting old, and the band seems to have had a difficult time forgiving themselves.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Classic Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-who/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Temptations" description="The Supremes may have moved more product, but it was the Temptations who showed that a Motown act could do anything they set their pitch-perfect pipes to. Who else but the Temptations could release the peerless teen love ballad &quot;My Girl&quot; and the cinematic, psychedelic funk of &quot;Papa Was a Rolling Stone&quot;? They could be soft and sensual, gruff and grounded, or raw and rocking -- and pull each off beautifully. The grim reaper and drugs have not been kind to the Temptations, and only one original member carries on in their name. Their last few recordings can't match the brilliance of their 1960s to mid-1970s releases, but the band's sound remains more soulful than any young, ultraslick vocal group out there.
- Nick Dedina" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-temptations/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jimi Hendrix" description="It seems as if no other musician has had more posthumous music released than the mighty Jimi Hendrix. But more amazing is the stratospheric, comet-like career of the man who, more than anyone before or since, revolutionized the way the electric guitar is played. Ask any middle-aged English blues and rock guitar player from Eric Clapton to Pete Townshend, and they will each individually claim that they were Jimi's best friend -- Hendrix was known for having that kind of ingratiating effect on people. His prodigious guitar playing, his soul-saturated, swaggering vocal style, and his brother-from-outer-space aura immediately seemed to hypnotize anyone within a five-mile radius. From 1966 to his death in 1970, he breathed life into his Stratocaster, squeezing a new sonic language from the fretboard that had never been played, let alone fathomed, by any guitarist before. With drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass player Noel Redding, his power trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, forged a new galactic style of psychedelic blues. Nearly thirty years after his untimely death, his music remains as popular, influential, and powerful as ever." category="Acid Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jimi-hendrix/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Simon &amp; Garfunkel" description="With a bubbly guitar sound and hesitant, hushed vocals, Simon &amp; Garfunkel became a defining folk duo of the '60s and '70s. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel began collaborating in the mid-1950s. By 1965 they had their first hit with &quot;Sounds of Silence.&quot;" category="Folk Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/simonandgarfunkel/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Aretha Franklin" description="More than any other Soul performer (or such Jazz-Blues belters as Dinah Washington), Aretha Franklin brought impassioned Gospel singing to American popular music. Never as subdued as the subtler Sam Cooke, Franklin belts out profane R&amp;B songs with enough sacred lung power to send the sound waves all the way up to the heavens. Franklin doesn't go over the top, though, always staying in the realm of good taste and sensitive delivery. As she proved during her greatest period, the late '60 Atlantic Recordings, Franklin blows the roof off your house with so much class that you don't want her to stop until she has reduced your love shack to a pile of splinters. Who else could outdo Otis Redding and turn &quot;Respect&quot; into an eternal anthem of racial and sexual pride that even middle-class white men embrace? Franklin's voice has weathered the decades very well but her arrangements and material are often beneath her. You can't go wrong with any of her recent Gospel recordings and 1998's &lt;i&gt;A Rose is Still A Rose&lt;/i&gt; embraced hip-hop production with great success. Aretha Franklin remains a vital part of the modern music scene.
- Nick Dedina" category="Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/aretha-franklin/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Doors" description="The mania Jim Morrison elicits decades after his death is just one of the many fascinating and seemingly eternal aspects of the Doors. Lest it be forgotten, the band also recorded some of the darkest and most challenging music of their time. What is so distinctive about the Los Angeles group is how it successfully melded rock, jazz-inspired improvisation and Weill-esque angularity into dramatic settings for Morrison's haunting baritone and acid-damaged poetry. Their amazing range set them apart from their psychedelic brethren, as they moved seamlessly from the propelling rock of &quot;Break on Through&quot; to the breathy beauty of &quot;Indian Summer,&quot; the manic blues of &quot;Five to One&quot; and the Coltrane-flavored &quot;Light My Fire.&quot; Whether you feel that Morrison was a brilliant and complex modern-day shaman or a second-rate poet who lost it to alcohol and pills, it's impossible to deny the long-lasting impact the Doors have had on rock 'n' roll. In 2002, following a 20 year hiatus in the wake of Morrison's death, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek reunited, enlisting ex-Cult singer Ian Astbury on lead vocals and shamanistic behavior duties. The band now calls itself Riders On the Storm.
- Will Lerner" category="Classic Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-doors/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Moody Blues" description="Yes, they were part of the original British Invasion. And yes, they had a substantial hit in the 1980s. But the Moody Blues will always be remembered for their marriage of rock band and orchestra as heard on &lt;I&gt;Days of Future Passed&lt;/I&gt;(1967). Embraced by flower children and art rock lovers alike, the album-story winds through a prototypical day before ending with their most famous song, &quot;Nights in White Satin.&quot; Over the top? Absolutely. Pretentious? Possibly. So, the Moodies dropped the orchestra and placed more importance on keyboardist Mike Pinder's mellotron and the rest of the group's ability as multi-instrumentalists. The streamlined sound served them well, especially on songs such as the joyous rocker &quot;Ride My See-Saw.&quot; After making a series of albums in this vein, the band went on hiatus, only to reemerge in the late 1970s. They never again broke new ground in popular music, but they did have enjoy a few more hits, most notably &quot;Your Wildest Dreams&quot; (1986). The band has continued frequent touring and the sporadic release of records into the present day, with &lt;i&gt;Keys of the Kingdom&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Strange Times&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;December&lt;/i&gt; appearing in 1991, 1999 and 2003, respectively.
- Will Lerner" category="Art &amp; Progressive Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-moody-blues/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Otis Redding" description="Probably &lt;I&gt;the&lt;/I&gt; voice of Southern Soul music and one of the greatest vocalists of all time, Otis Redding was, and continues to be, an inspiration to any musician with a desire to move people with music (and any listener not made out of stone). Neither as smooth as Marvin Gaye or Sam Cooke nor as funky as James Brown, Redding was a big, sweaty man who put every ounce into his performances: you can hear every mistake he ever made in his voice when he cries and screams his way through &quot;I've Been Loving You Too Long&quot; and virtually every other song he recorded. Backed by a top form Booker T. and the MG's, his Stax recordings still crackle with the energy and fire of the South. The sad justice in his passing, shortly after leaving a sea of flush-faced hippies gawking at the Monterey Pop Festival, is that he had just unwittingly cemented his status in both the rock and Soul worlds. His passing, at a criminally young twenty-six years of age, managed to both seal the end of the Soul singer era and leave a vacant space in music that has yet to be filled.
- Jon Pruett" category="Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/otis-redding/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Frankie Valli &amp; The Four Seasons" description="In 1965, when Frankie Valli left the Four Seasons to embark upon a solo career, he took the most recognizable aspect of the group with him -- his unmistakable falsetto voice. Though the Four Seasons had a number of hits throughout the 1960s, they never earned the respect other bands from the era have garnered. This trend continued with Valli's solo career. Shortly after releasing his debut solo album in 1967, Valli rejoined the Four Seasons until the early '70s, when he again broke off on his own. Though he had minor hits throughout the decade, his career more or less leveled off. Valli's '70s songs survive as prime AM radio fodder -- slow-paced, easily digestible numbers ideal for those moments in the dentist's chair while you're waiting for the Novocain to kick in.
- Mark Murrmann" category="'60s Oldies" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/frankie-valli-the-four-seasons/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Diana Ross" description="Thanks in part to a voice that could compete with Dionne Warwick on the level of pop appeal -- and let's not forget Berry Gordy's loving adoration for her -- Diana Ross not only became the lead singer of the Supremes, she became the quintessential image of the band in the public eye. What might have been had she remained part of the Supremes' backing vocal section will never be known, but the end result of Ross' being placed center stage was a later ascent to uber-diva as a solo artist. Within a year of taking leave of the Supremes in 1969, Ross already had a No. 1 song; within two years, she'd starred in a movie (&lt;i&gt;Lady Sings The Blues&lt;/i&gt;) and secured an Academy Award nomination. Not bad for an acting novice and singer on her own for the first time. Over the years, Diana Ross has continued to earn film roles, chart placements, and the undying respect and admiration of drag queens the world over.
- Kali Holloway" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/diana-ross/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Roy Orbison" description="Texas-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Roy Orbison first came to prominence with Sun Records in the 1950s, where he was typecast as a jiving Rockabilly singer with his minor hit &quot;Ooby Dooby.&quot; That song, along with his other material for Sun, barely hinted at the melodramatic power held in his operatic tenor voice and his near-Baroque songwriting sensibility. After working as a contract songwriter in Nashville and providing the Everly Brothers with a few hit singles, he signed to Monument Records in the early 1960s; the hits came fast and furious shortly thereafter. Orbison's most popular records sported beautiful, complex melodies, yearning lyrics, lushly orchestrated production and a tangible sense of rock 'n' roll drama brought on by his soaring, high tenor voice. The hits dried up for Orbison by the '70s, and he fell off of the radar somewhat until 1988, at which point he experienced a huge career renaissance due to his involvement with the Traveling Wilburys.
- Tom Heyman" category="'50s Rock 'n' Roll" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/roy-orbison/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="James Brown" description="The interlocking drum and bass brilliance of &quot;Funky Drummer,&quot; the exactly synchronized horns of &quot;Cold Sweat,&quot; and the socially conscious &quot;I'm Black and I'm Proud&quot; all have one thing in common: repetitive perfection. The Godfather of Soul may have let loose with raw squeals, doo-wop moans, plaintive wails and commanding grunts, but the bands he led never missed a note. Intense raw energy has never been compressed as succinctly as the vacuum-sealed package making up James Brown's band. Over the years, Brown has served as a university for many of the tightest performers around -- his musical graduates include Maceo Parker, Clyde Stubblefield, Bernard Purdie, Jimmy Nolen, Fred Wesley, Bobby Byrd, Pee Wee Ellis and Bootsy Collins. His songs have crucially influenced genres like jazz (Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis), reggae (Lee Perry, Sly and Robbie) and hip-hop (hasn't every DJ sampled James Brown at one point or another?). Music hasn't been the same since. James Brown died in Atlanta, GA on Dec. 25th, 2006, at the age of 73.
- Jessy Terry" category="Funk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/james-brown/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Carole King" description="No self-respecting 1970s co-ed dorm was without a copy of Carole King's &lt;i&gt;Tapestry&lt;/i&gt;, a mondo hit that did for female singer-songwriters what Paul Simon did for the guys. One of the main consequences of this key album was that the public got clued into all the great songs King had written -- often with Jerry Goffin -- for other artists when the Brill Building ruled '60s pop. Such wonders as &quot;Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow&quot; and &quot;You've Got a Friend&quot; are ultra-catchy, yet have a depth that is sorely missing in today's market of disposable singles. King's career was the inspiration behind the movie &lt;i&gt;Grace of My Heart&lt;/i&gt;.
- Nick Dedina" category="Singer-Songwriter" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/carole-king/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Smokey Robinson" description="People all over the world recognize Smokey Robinson's sweet voice within a bar or two. His deceptively light sound defines soulful romance, and it helped place his band the Miracles at the top of the charts throughout the 1960s. Robinson is also an exceptional songwriter (with such credits as the Temptations' &quot;My Girl&quot; under his belt) and a businessman who helped Berry Gordy build the Motown juggernaut. During the sex-mad '70s, Robinson shifted into contemporary crooner mode and his excellent hit album &lt;I&gt;A Quiet Storm&lt;/I&gt; provided the name and musical template for the simmering urban love genre that has helped keep our nurseries and daycare centers full.
- Nick Dedina" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/smokey-robinson/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Commodores" description="Led by Lionel Richie, the Commodores continued Motown's hold on popular music in the late '70s. With their mix of Funk (&quot;Brick House&quot;) and ballad (&quot;Three Times a Lady&quot;) hits, they were as much a part of that decade as pet rocks and guest spots on &lt;i&gt;Three's Company&lt;/i&gt;.
- Rosemary Pepper" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-commodores/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Janis Joplin" description="In one of her trademark tunes, &quot;Piece of My Heart,&quot; Janis Joplin proclaimed, &quot;I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough,&quot; and she went on to prove it in her life, playing by men's rules and exercising her rather varied appetites -- musical and otherwise -- whenever the spirit moved her. Perhaps that allowed her to feel things that few white women would admit to, let alone express. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; A fifth generation Texan, born in the deep water anchorage town of Port Arthur, Joplin always had one of her tiny high-heels firmly placed on the open road. A noisy and wildly talented harbinger of the burgeoning cultural revolution, she turned her back on small town life and hitchhiked to San Francisco with the equally atavistic impresario Chet Helms. With Helms' help, she hooked up with bluesy folk rock combo Big Brother and the Holding Company, sharpening their rather soft psychedelic edges and transforming the group into a firebrand outfit that would make a huge mark on the 1960s' musical landscape. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Joplin took her cues from the blues greats, grafting the sensual rhythms of Bessie Smith and the defiance of Willie Mae Thornton to a pulsating rock beat. The world noticed what the wild-haired chanteuse was up to when Big Brother performed at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival, bringing her rare and bombastic talent to that infamous stage and holding her own with Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Big Brother's second album, 1968's &lt;I&gt;Cheap Thrills&lt;/I&gt;, found Joplin helping to midwife a new mode of musical expression for &quot;chick&quot; singers. Being a refined looker who could actually carry a tune (think Mary Hopkin, Marianne Faithfull) was no longer enough once Janis started belting with authority from her heart and deepest soul. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Unfortunately, her massive talent did not bring the peace and self-acceptance she craved. She used to bemoan her sense of isolation, remarking sadly, &quot;Every night I make love to 25,000, but I go home alone.&quot; Ironically, she was adored by millions but had apparently lost her capacity to recognize real love when it was offered. She tried to fill the void with drugs and alcohol, and ultimately died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. She looms as large in death as she did in life, encouraging subsequent generations to feel without holding back. Joplin left behind a small but tremendous legacy, including two albums with Big Brother, and two solo albums (&lt;I&gt;I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Bules Again, Mama!&lt;/I&gt;, recorded with the Kozmic Blues Band, and &lt;I&gt;Pearl&lt;/I&gt;, with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, which came out a month after her death).
- Jaan Uhelszki" category="Blues &amp; Boogie Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/janis-joplin/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Kinks" description="Led by singer-songwriter Ray Davies, the Kinks recorded countless songs that have proven to be both timeless and highly influential. Their slew of early singles -- from the Hard Rock prototype &quot;You Really Got Me&quot; to the whimsical, lackadaisical and humorous &quot;Sunny Afternoon&quot; -- made them one of the most popular bands of the British Invasion. However, it was Davies' singular, distinctively noncommercial vision that made their superstardom a relatively brief part of an otherwise lengthy career. Tensions between the musicians didn't help matters, as onstage fights between Ray and his guitar-playing brother Dave were notorious. Although they ostensibly mastered the singles format, the Kinks became an album-oriented band in the truest sense: between 1968 and 1977, the band released numerous concept albums that varied wildly in quality and subject matter. The most famous, and perhaps the finest of the lot, is &lt;I&gt;Lola vs. the Powerman &amp; the Money-Go-Round, Part One&lt;/I&gt; (1970). The record is a cutting, acerbic look at the music industry, and the song &quot;Lola&quot; put the band back on top -- and what a song to do so, as it's become the most famous song in the rock 'n' roll oeuvre to deal with gender-swapping and/or transvestism. The Kinks continued to record powerful singles and solid albums, but their fame rests firmly on their utterly unique early material.
- Eric Shea" category="British Invasion" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-kinks/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Byrds" description="The Byrds are one of rock 'n' roll's most underrated bands. There is so much more to The Byrds than the Folk Rock of &quot;Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is A Season)&quot; -- they were the first group to blend the harmonies and backbeat of British Invasion with the warm, lyrical blood of folk music. The sustenance to their sugar was the evocative mash of Roger McGuinn's trademark, chiming 12-string Rickenbacker, soaring, three-part, gossamer vocal harmonies, and innovative pairing of analog synthesizers with country music's elastic tonal twang provided by the Telecaster B-bender (a string-stretching device invented by the late, great Clarence White and Gene Parsons to approximate a pedal steel's fluid cry). The Byrds effortlessly flew like a feathered Lear jet through Dylan-esque musings, inner galactic Psychedelia, and Cosmic American Music soundscapes that helped bring country music to a wider audience.
- Eric Shea" category="Folk-Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-byrds/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Cream" description="Cream is the prototypical acid rock band, formed in the late 1960s by guitar god and bored Yardbird Eric Clapton as an outlet for his growing interest in the notions of a heavier and louder take on American blues. Although bands like Blue Cheer, Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly appear to have had more of an influence on hard rock and metal than Cream, the importance of the band cannot be understated. For while Blue Cheer were playing so loud that dogs were exploding left and right at their shows and Iron Butterfly delivered what was arguably the first ill-conceived, unbearable drum solo that really mattered, they did these things before relatively small audiences, while Cream were a huge, nationally recognized band furthering the cause of loud rock music on an international stage. Much the way Jimi Hendrix's music had done before them, Cream's drug-addled, parent-horrifying records poured into suburban households all over America and England, changing the face of teenage rebellion forever. Cream's records aren't exactly the greatest rock music ever recorded, but in their best moments -- during lurching, blown-out covers of such blues standards as &quot;Spoonful&quot; and the blistering &quot;Steppin' Out,&quot; for example -- the band genuinely changes the way blues can sound without losing touch with the form's roots. Cream also played with psychedelia and even pop music, with varying results.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Blues &amp; Boogie Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/cream/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jefferson Airplane" description="Jefferson Airplane's Psychedelic pop and Acid Rock songs helped put San Francisco on the musical map of the 1960s. The band was formed in 1965 with Signe Anderson as lead vocalist. She was soon replaced by Grace Slick of the Great Society and the new, improved Jefferson Airplane landed on a hit with &quot;Somebody To Love&quot; from their timely 1967 album, &lt;i&gt;Surrealistic Pillow&lt;/i&gt; (the same lp that hit with the alleged druggie anthem &quot;White Rabbit&quot;). Loaded with swirling guitars and lysergic solos, this album provided part of the soundtrack to San Francisco's Summer of Love. The Jefferson Airplane was founded by Marty Balin, who left the band in 1971. Besides Anderson and Balin, many other notable musicians traveled on the Jefferson Airplane through a revolving door that once welcomed Alexander &quot;Skip&quot; Spence of Moby Grape as well as David Freiberg of the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Following a myriad of lineup changes, the band went through some name changes as well. Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship and then Starship. Jefferson Starship's most celebrated appearance came in the form of a &lt;/i&gt;Star Wars&lt;/i&gt; made-for-television musical special that was aired shortly after the film's box office success. Hosted by Bea Arthur, the one-hour show featured much of the &lt;i&gt;Star Wars&lt;/i&gt; cast as well as a now-endearing musical performance by Jefferson Starship. The band later had a hit in the '80s as Starship with &quot;We Built This City,&quot; a MOR/AOR pop hit built with synthesizers, sound bites and the shelf-life of a soft-banana." category="Psychedelic" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jefferson-airplane/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Four Tops" description="Who could have predicted that high-school vocal group the Four Aims would become one of the most beloved groups on the legendary Motown label? It took the Four Tops a good ten years of near misses before they hit with 1964's &quot;Baby I Need Your Loving,&quot; but once the quartet got rolling, they were nearly impossible to stop. They racked up an incredible number of chart hits, including such Number 1 smashes as &quot;I Can't Help Myself (Sugarpie Honeybunch)&quot; and &quot;Standing In the Shadows of Love.&quot; Levi Stubbs' soulful vocals were the perfect complement to the rich, seamless backing of the other Tops, and combined with the songwriting prowess of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Four Tops were at the peak of their game throughout their seven-year tenure on Motown Records. The group continued to find pockets of chart success throughout the 1970s and '80s, including such post-Motown smashes as &quot;Ain't No Woman Like the One I've Got&quot; and the disco-flavored &quot;When She Was My Girl.&quot; Under Stubbs' leadership, the band didn't have a single change in personnel during its 40-year career -- a rarity for the Motown roster -- and was inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1997, Lawrence Payton died of liver cancer and, after a short stint as a trio, the surviving members recruited Temptation Theo Peoples to take his place. Because of illness, the group saw a handful of other Motown vets shuffle through the line-up in subsequent reunions. In October of 2008, Levi Stubbs died in his sleep in his Detroit home at the age of 72.
- Linda Ryan" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-four-tops/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sly &amp; the Family Stone" description="People these days ask too many questions like, &quot;Where is Sly Stone?&quot; or &quot;What has Sly Stone done for me lately?&quot; The real question someone should ask is: &quot;What was Sly Stone doing in 1968 that makes his music just as heavy to experience today, as it did back then?&quot; Truth be told, Sly wasn't doing anything too complicated. He just wanted to take us higher, literally and musically. Sly and the Family Stone were formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California, where bands have a history of incorporating a multitude of cultural influences into their own rock 'n' roll melting pot. The Family Stone was no exception; their band was a sonic brew of male and female members who made psychedelically-charged political soul tempered with an intergalactic hard funk. It was this heady combination, seen best in the outrageous outfit's live shows, that helped them thrust themselves into the mainstream. From 1967's &lt;I&gt;Whole New Thing&lt;/I&gt; to 1969's &lt;I&gt;Stand!&lt;/I&gt;, Sly and the Family Stone sounded like they were having a party that the whole world was invited to. Outrageous horn arrangements, power soul anthems and bionic funk took the band up in the stratosphere until 1971's epic &lt;I&gt;There's a Riot Goin' On&lt;/I&gt;, an album that was labeled too dark and political by critics, but respected as honest and gutsy by fans. Sly continued to record with the Family Stone until the late 1970s when his problems with substance abuse consumed him. To this day, Sly Stone has managed to stay out of the public eye except for the rare television appearance and occasional &quot;blue moon&quot; sighting at San Francisco's Brother-In Law's Barbecue Ribs.
- Eric Shea" category="Funk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sly-the-family-stone/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Mamas &amp; The Papas" description="The Mamas &amp; the Papas were one of many bands to capture the zeitgeist of the 1960s counter-culture movement. Formed in New York by folkie John Phillips, the quartet moved from New York to Los Angeles in the mid-'60s, and promptly caught the ear of MCA's Lou Adler. The band's airy harmonies, supplied by Mama Cass, Michelle Philips and Denny Doherty, shimmered around John Phillips' poetic lyrics, adding just the right glow to what would become the group's signature sound. Songs such as &quot;California Dreaming&quot; acted like beacons in the night to disenfranchised youths, who came to the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in droves. But the group's Flower Power-inspired lifestyle would contribute to their downfall, as drugs, alcohol and too much &quot;free love&quot; tripped its members up. The Mamas &amp; Papas called it quits in 1971.
- Linda Ryan" category="'60s Oldies" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-mamas-the-papas/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Monkees" description="They may have been prefabricated to steal pocket change from the pockmarked teen masses, but the Monkees were the best darn prefab rock band ever created by cynical cigar chompers (and counterculture director Bob Rafelson). Who cares if &quot;Last Train to Clarksville&quot; is an inferior rewrite of the Beatles' &quot;Day Tripper,&quot; or if the Monkees were just an inferior, third-generation pastiche of the Fab Four? Their songs were fantastic -- from the hard-rocking drive of &quot;(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone&quot; to the dreamy Psychedelic splendor of &quot;Porpoise Song.&quot; Could any of today's teenybopper confections release anything as brilliant as the Kinks-esque &quot;Randy Scouse Git,&quot; which goes from sunny, British music hall to slamming Pre-Punk and back again? Despite all the nattering nabobs of negativity who say the Monkees never wrote their own tunes, they did pen a considerable number of their songs. They also relied on the talents of proven Brill Building scribes such as Goffin/King, Neil Diamond and Boyce/Hart. The TV show they were created to front remains a fun time capsule, and their bizarre, acid-drenched movie &lt;I&gt;Head&lt;/I&gt; is still a creative tour de (unfocused) force. What does it say about modern pop music that the Prefab Four made better music than today's &quot;uncompromising&quot; artistic geniuses?
- Nick Dedina" category="Bubblegum" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-monkees/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dionne Warwick" description="The Burt Bacharach resurgence proves that what the world needs now is Dionne Warwick. She was one of the links between classic pop, rock and R&amp;B in the '60s, with hits like &quot;Walk on By,&quot; &quot;I Say a Little Prayer,&quot; and &quot;Do You Know the Way to San Jose.&quot; Warwick was the singer who could handle Bacharach's deceptively complex material and make it seem simple. The rock, disco, and rap generations knew her as the host to &lt;i&gt;Solid Gold&lt;/i&gt;, as Whitney Houston's aunt, and then as the mouthpiece for the Psychic Friends Network. Now these people are rediscovering her roots as a great vocalist.
- Nick Dedina" category="Vocal-Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dionne-warwick/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Chuck Berry" description="Chuck Berry is one of the true architects of rock 'n' roll music and a member of the Holy Trinity, with Little Richard seated to his left and Bo Diddley on his right. Berry's music is planted deep in the American psyche, enjoying iconographic status on a level with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The trademark three-chord rhythm of songs such as &quot;Johnny B. Goode&quot; is the very basis of, and synonymous with, rock 'n' roll. As well as uncannily channeling the joys and frustrations of mid-1950s teenagers, Berry is a consummate blues player and has even dabbled in country music. Songs such as &quot;Havana Moon&quot; show an interest in the exotic rhythms of the islands. With his unmistakable, rollicking leads and duck-walking stage antics, you can't pick up a guitar without owing something to this great man.
- Mike McGuirk" category="'50s Rock 'n' Roll" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/chuck-berry/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Gladys Knight" description="Gladys Knight had plenty of R&amp;B hits during the first half of the '60s. Accompanied by her brother Bubba and cousins William and Edward, Gladys Knight took the reins with her husky voice, leading the way through the group's 1960s and '70s hits, and belting out lyrics while the Pips subtly harmonized and occasionally provided sound effects (woo! woo!). Her powerful, Gospel-enriched vocals meshed perfectly with the Pips' sophisticated soul-rock sound, but it wasn't until they signed with Motown that they crossed over to pop superstardom. Their '70s work on Buddha is just as rewarding, with &quot;Midnight Train to Georgia&quot; being the first in a string of big hits. Some of that magic was lost when she became a solo Adult Contemporary singer, but Knight has been re-energized recently. Whether singing her new politically-charged Gospel material or &quot;I Heard it Through the Grapevine,&quot; her voice still sizzles.
- Nick Dedina" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/gladys-knight/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Buddy Holly" description="Buddy Holly's shockingly early demise -- he was only 22 when the light plane carrying him, Ritchie Valens and J.P. &quot;The Big Bopper&quot; Richardson crashed outside of Clear Lake, Iowa, in February 1959 -- brings an extra dimension of appreciation to his legacy. Holly's accomplishments as a singer, writer and bandleader run deep, and his music remains a favorite of casual oldies listeners, hardcore music fans and musicians nearly 50 years after his death. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Charles Hardin Holley grew up listening to country music in tiny Lubbock, Texas. The advent of Elvis Presley as a regional star on Sun Records in 1954 and '55, along with a general acceptance of the newest rhythm and blues sounds among hip white kids, pushed Holly toward his own rocking style. While those leanings were tamped down on his earliest singles for Decca (including the first version of the later smash &quot;That'll Be the Day&quot;), the rechristened Holly was soon punching out a highly original version of rock 'n' roll with his small band the Crickets. Holly's music displayed a number of colors; he was able to blend soft and hard to differing degrees, helping his smart, romantic songs range across the emotional spectrum. There are varying levels of assurance (&quot;That'll Be the Day,&quot; &quot;Well All Right&quot;) and joy (&quot;Peggy Sue,&quot; &quot;Rave On,&quot; &quot;Every Day&quot;), but straightforward pain is curiously absent from much of his work. Holly is much more likely to manifest an adult bewilderment, as he did in one of his last compositions, &quot;Peggy Sue Got Married.&quot; Critic Jonathan Cott would later point to that song as prefiguring folk rock and the Beatles' &lt;I&gt;Rubber Soul&lt;/I&gt; -- six years before their advent. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Holly's death is all the more tragic given what we now know about the business pressures that led him to join the poorly managed Winter Dance Party tour of early '59. His legend has been burnished by the horrible results -- Bob Dylan has testified to a sort of metaphysical passing of the baton during a show he attended -- but that alone hardly explains the ongoing love for the tough, innocent sounds Holly left behind. The Beatles, Stones and Hollies (wink, wink) all took major inspiration from him, as did later generations of Bruce Springsteens, Elvis Costellos and the participants in several tribute albums and countless cover versions. But one only has to put on a recording by the man himself to feel that, as the old slogan goes, Buddy Holly lives.
- Jaan Uhelszki" category="'50s Rock 'n' Roll" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/buddy-holly/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Supremes" description="The Supremes basically ruled the pop charts in the 1960s and don't try to let those Beatles fans tell you otherwise. No other act on the Motown roster was as consistently brilliant on the charts or releasing such sublime pop gems. The key word here is &quot;pop,&quot; since that's what Motown did best and that's most certainly what the juggernaut songwriting combo of Holland/Dozier/Holland did like no one before or since. There was nothing especially thought-provoking in their music, but within that glassy back-beat, aerodynamic production and Diana Ross pouring on the vocals like maple syrup, there was total perfection.
- Jon Pruett" category="Motown" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-supremes/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Tom Jones" description="Emerging from a small Welsh town like a black-haired tornado, Jones won the hearts and panties of scores of women on both sides of the Atlantic with his roguish good looks, bodybuilder's physique, impressive vocal range, impassioned and wonderfully melodramatic delivery, and those oh-so-tight pants which left nothing to the imagination. Emerging during the British Invasion of the mid-1960s, Jones had quite a bit in common with pop singers who flexed their vocal muscle over heavily orchestrated arrangements. But his classic numbers -- &quot;It's Not Unusual,&quot; &quot;Delilah,&quot; &quot;She's a Lady&quot; -- reveal a raw sexuality and primal urgency that link him more to Vegas-era Elvis than popular crooners such as Sinatra. What Jones really does best is bring his unmistakable charisma and over-the-top vocal stylings to any and all musical settings -- country, electronica, R&amp;B and rock 'n' roll. A great example of this is his cover of Prince's &quot;Kiss,&quot; where the Welshman sexily growls and prowls like an over-sexed uber male while Art of Noise puts the music in a quirky dance pop setting.
- Will Lerner" category="Vocal-Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/tom-jones/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Donovan" description="Generation X moviegoers thank him for producing Ione Skye, while &lt;i&gt;Details&lt;/i&gt; readers are into his son's band Nancy Boy, but aging Aquarians know that Donovan was one of the key artists of the revolutionary 1960s. He started his career as Britain's answer to Bob Dylan, and his first two acoustic folk albums are charming, low-key winners; but he turned into a &quot;Sunshine Superman&quot; just in time for the Psychedelic revolution. If all you've heard from Donovan is &quot;Mellow Yellow,&quot; do yourself a favor and check out his late '60s material. He remained a folk-popper at heart and the ultra-groovy production touches are completely in key with the current Indie scenes in America and Europe. Donovan's career didn't survive the post-Altamont age of '70s cynicism, but in 1996 he cut his album &lt;i&gt;Sutras&lt;/i&gt; with Rick Rubin, showing that his flowery style is as groovadelic as ever.
- Eric Shea" category="Folk-Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/donovan/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Drifters" description="One of the longest lived groups in rock 'n' roll, the Drifters began playing in the early 1950s after R&amp;B legend Clyde McPhatter left Billy Ward &amp; the Dominoes to strike out on his own. Since that time, the Drifters have seen a revolving membership that includes Johnny Moore (who stepped in after McPhatter was drafted), Ben E. King and Rudy Lewis all filling in on lead vocal duties. The Drifters are probably best known for their songs &quot;Under the Boardwalk,&quot; and &quot;This Magic Moment.&quot; However, the Drifters not only pulled in audiences around the world, they also kept a fairly regular presence on the charts during their lengthy career. Their lush vocal stylings had a timeless quality that changed just enough to stay fresh. From smooth crooning to vibrant, leaping Gospel songs, the Drifters kept their cool for almost 50 years.
- Mark Murrmann" category="Classic R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-drifters/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bobby Darin" description="Beginning as a '50s teen idol, Bobby Darin kept his musical life afloat through the '60s and '70s by swinging from pop, rock and folk, while hitting the Las Vegas lounge circuit along the way. Darin helped immortalize rock 'n' roll's earliest years with songs such as &quot;Splish Splash&quot; and &quot;Dream Lover.&quot; By the end of the '50s, Darin marked his style change with an album of pop standards. Among the songs on this 1959 album was the most enduring version of Brecht-Weill's &quot;Mack the Knife.&quot; The '60s saw Darin trapse through the Vegas circuit then morphing into a politically active, Dylan-influence folk singer with a number of Rolling Stones covers rounding out his set. As the '70s rolled around, Darring again donned his tuxeudo and returned to the world of the Vegas nightclubs and even briefly hosted a television show. In 1973, at the age of 37, Darrin died during open-heart surgery, leaving behind a wonderfully eclectic collection of music. In 1990 Darrin was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
- Jaan Uhelszki" category="Brill Building Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bobby-darin/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Hollies" description="The long-running and mightily adaptable Hollies are one of the most beloved bands to have emerged from the British beat-group boom that remade pop and rock in the first half of the 1960s. Though less of a songwriting force than the Beatles Â a stance that would figure into founding member Graham Nash's eventual decision to leave and throw in his lot with David Crosby and Stephen Stills Â the Hollies produced many grand singles and a number of albums that are deeply treasured by connoisseurs of the era. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The Manchester-bred quintet's early U.K. hits were watery versions of American R&amp;B discs such as Maurice Williams and the Zodiac's &quot;Stay&quot; and Doris Troy's &quot;Just One Look.&quot; When they began melding their vocal harmonies with more thumping band sounds and songs that better reflected their distinctly English sensibility, the Hollies' records became something truly special. Writer-for-hire Graham Gouldman (who also gave &quot;Heart Full of Soul&quot; to the Yardbirds and later became a focal point of 10cc) provided unstoppable smashes like &quot;Bus Stop&quot; and &quot;Look Through Any Window,&quot; which snugly fit in the band's repertoire alongside originals such as &quot;Carrie Anne&quot; and &quot;Pay You Back With Interest.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The Hollies' slightly fey quality perfectly fit the psychedelic-influenced pop of 1967, and they made one of the most timeless singles of that genre with &quot;King Midas in Reverse.&quot; Nash was unhappy to see it stall at No. 18 in Britain, however, and was further disillusioned when the group rejected his &quot;Marrakesh Express.&quot; Upon his departure, the Hollies recruited Terry Sylvester and went on to some of their biggest American successes. They introduced &quot;He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother,&quot; a standard on the talk show and Vegas circuits, and later hit with the 180-degree turnaround of &quot;Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress,&quot; which repackaged Creedence's &quot;Travelin' Band&quot; into an anthem with an incomprehensible vocal. Their final big U.S. hit came two years later with 1974's &quot;The Air That I Breathe,&quot; another big ballad that proved hard for listeners to resist. Personnel changes continued, with singer Allan Clarke notably in and out in the mid-'70s. Nash rejoined for one album, &lt;I&gt;What Comes Around,&lt;/I&gt; in 1983; past glories, though, were hard to regain. Clarke retired in the '90s, to be replaced by Move singer Carl Wayne, who died in 2004. Though now a hobbling concern, the Hollies will forever be remembered by hardcore fans and casual admirers as the makers of a high stack of rock 'n' roll classics.
- Jaan Uhelszki" category="British Invasion" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-hollies/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Ventures" description="These days, cop show &quot;Hawaii Five-O&quot; may seem cheesy so far from its '70s heyday but its title tune by the Ventures hasn't aged a day. The Ventures are the biggest selling instrumental rock group of all time: they created albums rather than just collections of songs and were able to adapt their &quot;surf guitar&quot; sound to a wide range of styles. The solid body Fender guitar sound of the Ventures' Bob Bogle and Don Wilson worked with surf, country, spy, and psychedelic music. Who but the Ventures could pull this off? Few have even tried. Busloads of rock guitarists profess the Ventures' influence (like the Who's Pete Townshend). With well over forty million albums sold, they are the definitive (and first) &quot;big in Japan&quot; act. Though their following is slightly more modest everywhere else, the Ventures will be cool forever.
- Nick Dedina" category="Surf" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-ventures/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Platters" description="After producer and songwriter Buck Ram got a hold of a group, he performed a certain magic. It worked with the Penguins and it worked with the Platters. Ram transformed the Platters from a run-of-the-mill Doo-Wop group to one of the best-known and most-loved Oldies groups around. Aside from recording some of the most classic, spine-tingling makeout music ever, the Platters earned the distinction of being the first black group to have a No. 1 hit on the (usually all-white) pop charts. Many disc jockeys, club owners, and listeners thought the Platters were white, as the group provided the soundtrack for generations of awkward teens' first sweaty-palmed, clumsy slow dance. Although &quot;Great Pretender&quot; and &quot;Only You&quot; are the most instantly recognizable Platters hits, the velvet throat of Tony Williams led the Platters to a number of Top-40 hits through the early part of the '60s.
- Mark Murrmann" category="Doo-Wop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-platters/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dusty Springfield" description="During the British pop invasion on Yank shores, Dusty Springfield kept Swinging London alive with the sounds of American Soul and Vocal Pop. Like a tea-sipping combination of Peggy Lee and Dionne Warwick, she brought some much needed class to the pimply pop masses. Her voice, a husky but subdued instrument, purred rather than roared -- her love of R&amp;B filtered through her British reserve like light going through a diamond. This approach worked perfectly on material written by her favorite teen drama tunesmith teams, Goffin/King and Bacharach/David. Going stateside, she recorded the sublime &lt;i&gt;Dusty in Memphis&lt;/i&gt; with Aretha Franklin's production team. Instead of being a down-home gritfest, it contains her most glistening, uptown material. The perfect summation of a career.
- Nick Dedina" category="Blue-Eyed Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dusty-springfield/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Buffalo Springfield" description="Los Angelino folk rockers Buffalo Springfield were as integral to the West Coast canyon rock sound as the Byrds, but they were also politically active: they dared to criticize the establishment at a time when the youth revolution was hit hard by the Kent State massacre and the Berkeley campus riots. Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Jim Messina, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (from bluegrass hipsters the Dillards) came together as Buffalo Springfield in 1966, when Stills spotted Neil Young's hearse driving down Sunset Boulevard. Recognizing him from the Canadian coffeehouse folk scene, Stills flipped a U-turn and chased him down to see if he wanted to start a rock 'n' roll band. He did, and Buffalo Springfield was born. The band's sound reflected the early to mid-1960s, when college kids, beatniks and other free thinkers were gravitating from folk protest songs to rock. Like Dylan and the Byrds, their folk roots flirted with country rock and psychedelic undertones to create a sound laden with beautiful vocal harmonies. While the pacific &quot;For What It's Worth&quot; was the only commercially successful song, there could have been more to follow but the band lasted just two years, as the conflicting egos of multiple visionaries amounted to too many cooks in the kitchen. Nonetheless, in that short time Buffalo Springfield put a serious dent in the music world. Their fruitful family tree bore Neil Young's solo career, Stephen Stills' Manassas, Crosby Stills Nash &amp; Young, Loggins &amp; Messina, Poco and rootsy outfits including the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Buffalo Springfield's songs stand the test of time, influencing everyone from Big Star to the Beachwood Sparks and beyond.
- Eric Shea" category="Folk-Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/buffalo-springfield/data.opml?rws=%2Foldies%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
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