I think the strictest Rock definition would put Neil 'Cracklin' Rosie' Diamond over Donovan 'Lay of the Last Tinker' Lietch—even if Jimmy Page did play on the latter's albums.

Amen. Two perfect albums, a slew of perfect singles, a legacy akin to the Velvets and the most Rockenroll name in history.

I took the whole ride home from work to review the Girl Groups playlist on my iPod—I'm still not ready to dispute Darlene Love, but I have to mention Martha Reeves, Shirley Owens of The Shirelles (which is who I'm leaning toward) and (despite misgivings for what I consider an inferior voice) this one chick named Diana…

I didn't put J. Geils down—I merely requested an accounting. I can be swayed. For example, the video for Centerfold certainly used to sway me.

You've changed my mind actually. I would have said that there are four major eras in pop music since the beginning of the 20th century—Rag, Swing, Rock, and Hip Hop—and my contention is that Pop music that is not overtly Swing or Hip Hop that fell during the Rock era counts—because it all works out of the basic idiom…

Actually, on my drive home I was worried I was coming off like a crank—the more I think of it, it is the Rock & Roll Hall of FAME not the Rock & Roll Hall of OBSCURITY. Let the babies have their bottle—Ima start my own museum and begin with the The Mo-dettes.

You have a point about Joni's seemingly solitary nature—but from a poetic standpoint, Joni's got Dylan beat hands down.

"the greatest girl-group singer"

"Joe Tex is not Rock & Roll"

As for ? and the Mysterians—that goes to a really important problem that I think the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has, which is that it is really about perpetuating an industry-based Rockist narrative of Rock history (see also Rolling Stone magazine). The story of Rock is not corporate and shouldn't be dictated to the…

The irony, lobsters, is that Dr. John was doing Tom Waits' shtick when Tom Waits was still growing his first soul patch. 'Mama Roux' is one of the few songs I will never skip when my iPod turns it up.

The problem with Joe Tex is that he never took himself too seriously and so his producers and even his fans never did either. He's like a less prolific Rufus Thomas—with a smokier, smoother delivery—but since he used it so often to tell jokes and make borderline novelty records, people couldn't see him for the talent…

If bad taste in humor were anathema to the Beastie Boys I'd call that line out—but they are, after all, the guys who did 'Cookie Puss'.

I was just posting about her after the Better Late Than Never Joni Mitchell feature. Laura Nyro's like Joni Mitchell if Joni Mitchell had been a New York Jew.

Because I have to do this every fucking year…
Donna Summer belongs in the Hall of Fame every bit as much as anyone else on that list and more than quite a few. Not only did she embody and epitomize the Disco era, she managed to release viable albums (even double albums) in a genre known for singles singles, establish…

Flying Cars
Give up on that dream—it will never happen. Even if the technology were practical, public safety would necessitate against it—can you imagine drunks and teenagers in flying cars? Where even a minor fender bender could drop a sedan on your house? If it comes to pass at all it will only be cops and the…

Probably will, too that stuff''s not bad at all.

I just checked and the year of that poem is 1966—four years after Jamaican independence.

"the countries in Africa were shedding their colonialization and coming into their own domain in the early 1960's and throughout the 1960's"

If you like Joni Mitchell…
Since the tendency is to lump her in with the 70's era female singer/songwriters I thought it might be worth mentioning who of that ilk I think is also worth paying attention to (in no particular order):