Though Big Star failed to strike commercial success initially, their 1972 debut, #1 Record, is now widely hailed as a rock ‘n’ roll milestone. Heavily influenced by the British Invasion yet markedly original, Big Star offered a distinctly new sound characterized...

With grunge hitting like a tidal wave in the early 90s – you know the roll call: Nevermind, Badmotorfinger, Ten – all eyes were on...

Count Five blended British Invasion influences with elements of the more local San Francisco Sound to create something energetic, aggressive and exciting that became the...

Goonies never say die! It’s been 35 years since the cult classic adventure flick was released and quickly became a pop culture institution. The Dave...

Known as the “King of the Boogie,” Mississippi-born bluesman John Lee Hooker rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. The hypnotic drone of a...

Celia & Johnny came out on New York’s Fania Records, a label as synonymous with salsa as Stax Records is with soul. Fania made salsa nationally popular during...

Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman) combined the passionate spirit of gospel, the bawdiness of the blues and the swing of New Orleans jazz to create something altogether fresh: rock & roll.  When the young artist was signed by Specialty Records’ Art Rupe in the mid-‘50s, he...

Violent Femmes were one of the most inventive bands to emerge during the '80s college-rock boom. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the stripped-down trio uniquely combined...

Booker T. & the M.G.'s’ instrumental R&B/funk groove laid the blueprint for the sound of Southern soul. As Stax Records’ house band, they played on...