Obscure Artists Who Shaped Rock History
Many famous musicians find inspiration from others—sometimes, those who influence others are well-known greats. People like Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, Roger Waters, and many others are household names in the rock industry—but what about the obscure artists? The ones who don't get the spotlight despite influencing some of the greatest of all time? Let's examine some of the obscure artists who shaped rock history.
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Fred "Link" Wray
Fred "Link" Wray was a guitarist and songwriter, who is most famous for his 1958 hit, "Rumble". Wray's instrumental was one of the first songs in rock music to utilize distortion and a trembling effect in its production. The song was banned from radio in New York over fears that the title, slang for fighting, would incite gang violence. Link Wray is said to have inspired iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, among others.
Bob Dylan
One of the greats that Link Wray influenced was Bob Dylan. The singer-songwriter references Wray in the song "Sign Language", recorded as a duet with Eric Clapton in 1975, with the lyrics "Link Wray was playin' on a jukebox I was payin'". Upon Wray's death in 2005, Dylan and Bruce Springsteen performed Link Wray's "Rumble" as tribute.
Silver Apples
In the 1960s, electronic music wasn't fully understood by the industry and thus was relegated to the underground. That is, until Silver Apples came on the scene in 1968. Comprised of Simeon Coxe and Danny Taylor, the duo were pioneers of electronic music use outside of academic circles. The fusion of EDM and psychedelic rock was a huge influence on none other than Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix
A man who needs no introduction—Jimi Hendrix is a rock icon who's name is synonymous with Woodstock in 1969. His shredding guitar performances at Woodstock and elsewhere set him apart and made him a rock music legend, even though his career was cut tragically short. Hendrix drew his influence from Silver Apples, as the three shared a recording studio. They even recorded a version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a synthesizer, while Hendrix played the guitar.
Funky 4 + 1
Funky 4 + 1 were one of the earliest innovators on the R&B stage, with Sharon Green (otherwise known as Sha-Rock) being the first female rapper to reach prominence. A pioneer of female emcees, and the "plus one" of Funky 4 + 1, her style influenced many notable rappers, including DMC of Run-DMC.
DMC
Otherwise known as Darryl McDaniels, DMC founded the hip-hop group Run DMC and is considered another pioneering voice in the hip-hop movement. But he was influenced by Funky 4 + 1's Sharon Green, who's use of an echo on her hits inspired him to use the same technique in "Down With The King" and "Run's House", two of the group's biggest hits.
Lois Maffeo
You could be forgiven for not knowing who Lois Maffeo is. In the late 1980s in Olympia, Washington, Maffeo became a pioneer in the underground music scene, particularly in the indie/rock world. Recording songs during college for K Recordings, Maffeo's influence still reverberates today, particularly in the work of Bikini Kill, a punk-rock band formed in Olympia in 1990.
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill were a punk rock group formed in 1990 in Olympia, Washington. Born out of the influence of the underground rock scene, and people like Lois Maffeo, Bikini Kill were famous for popularizing the "Riot grrrl" era of underground music, with fiery, feminist lyrics.
DJ Screw
DJ Screw was a hip-hop producer that went in the opposite direction to the slow tempo hip-hop of the 1980s. Thanks to DJ Screw's unique method of remixing—slowing a record down to 60 or 70 quarter-note beats per minute, then mixing in beat-skips and record scratches—other artists such as Thundercat took notice. It's often said that without DJ Screw's methodology, much of Gen-Z electronic dance music wouldn't exist.
Thundercat
Stephen Bruner, better known as "Thundercat," was hugely influenced by DJ Screw's mixes. He infused them into his own music, including hiring Screw to help mix hits like "Them Changes" and "Dragonball Durang".
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell was a musician from the 1970s that had a huge influence on artists like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Campbell is perhaps one of the most famous country crossover artists of all time with hits like "Wichita Lineman", "Rhinestone Cowboy," and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". Campbell's storytelling lyrics in almost every song would inspire The Boss, who grew up listening to Campbell.
Bruce Springsteen
The Boss. Bruce Springsteen. One of America's greatest rock musicians and cultural icons of the late 20th century. Springsteen's love of America is embodied in his song, "Born In The USA" and many of his songs resonate with an American middle-class lifestyle.
Lee Perry
Lee Perry was a music producer and singer from Jamaica. Known for his innovation in the 1970s of dubbing one track over another to create a new sound, Perry did this all from his home-built studio in 1973, which used basic equipment but produced an incredible sound. He worked with Bob Marley and was a primary influence for the sound of an unlikely music group: The Clash.
The Clash
From "London Calling" to "I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)", The Clash were a revolutionary British punk rock group that was formed in 1976. Lee Perry's work in "Police And Thieves", written with Junior Murvin, would inspire Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon to cover the song on their first album, after the pair were involved in an anti-police riot at the Notting Hill Carnival in the same year that The Clash was born.
Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown was an iconic figure in British punk-rock in the late 1960s. His flamboyance, eccentric character and banshee-like screams were the stuff of parental nightmares. Still, Arthur Brown forged a legacy in the punk rock scene in that era with songs like "Fire". This peaked at number two on the Billboard Top 100 Charts, second only to The Beatles.
KISS
One of those influenced by Arthur Brown's screaming, heavy-metal sound was KISS. They were also influenced by the extravagant makeup that Brown often wore on-stage and would later come to be their signature look.
R Stevie Moore
Before almost anyone was recording and releasing their own songs, R Stevie Moore was doing it in the 1960s. With a technique known as "lo-fi", or DIY-production, R Stevie Moore has produced and released more than 400 albums, all from the same place between 1978 and 2010: his apartment in New Jersey. He also started the R Stevie Moore Cassette Club, which was a mail-order service for his homemade cassettes. His self-production style is said to be one of the main influences of MGMT, or "The Management".
MGMT
Also known as "The Management", MGMT was formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut by two college friends, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWynGarden, while attending Wesleyan University. In 2016, MGMT had the chance to record "You Are Too Far From Me" with R Stevie Moore.
Chrome
Chrome is an American punk-rock band founded in 1976 by Damon Edge in San Francisco. Famous initially for their raw sound, which blended elements of punk and psychedelic music, Chrome helped to facilitate the boom of industrial music in the 1980s. Their 1977 release generously borrows influences from the likes of Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix.
Nine-Inch Nails
Among those listening to Chrome's new wave punk/indie music was Nine-Inch Nails. The rock group formed in 1988 as friends Trent Reznor and manager John Malm Jr formed the group, despite Malm having little to no active musical role. Inspired by Prince to play everything himself, Reznor was the frontman, and just about everything else, of Nine-Inch Nails. The name was chosen "because it abbreviated easily", according to Reznor.
The World's First Rock And Roll Artist
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is widely considered to be the world's first rock and roll artist. She was "The Godmother of Rock and Roll" and inspired Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Johnny Cash. Heartbreakingly, for more than three decades, her legacy went completely unknown. She was a lesbian, African-American female musician in a time of racism, sexism, and homophobia in the United States. After her death in 1973 following a stroke, she lay in an unmarked grave in Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia. In 2011, she was finally given a proper gravestone and memorial. In 2013, she was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall Of Fame and in 2018, into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.