Thåström / Peace Love & Pitbulls

Thåström is a much beloved rock star in his native Sweden, but virtually unknown in the English-speaking countries. His only foray into singing in English was with the short-lived band Peace Love & Pitbulls, whose industrial-tinged rock began to gain a following right before they disbanded. There's a lot of hard rock and dark, noir-ish folk in his solo works.

Kate Bush

Kate Bush is definitely one of the most influential women in pop/rock.  So many artists made it huge by turning elements of her sound into mainstream hits, from Tori Amos to Florence & The Machine.

The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes turned a serious fixation on Exile-era Stones, Faces, and a bit of Skynyrd into a long and pretty successful career.

Type O Negative

I meant to post this before Halloween. Better late than...

Dragon

Dragon was a band from New Zealand who were fairly successful in their homeland and Australia in the mid-1970s. They broke up at the end of that decade but resurfaced a few years later with a more polished sound. They had a fairly big hit in 1984 with "Rain" and subsequently had their 1987 album released internationally under the name Hunter. They never really caught on in the US, but they are now in the Australian RNR Hall of Fame. Some of their 80s stuff reminds me of The Call. There's some real gems here.

The Smithereens

I always thought the Smithereens were the East Coast's blue collar rock band of the '80s. The Replacements represented the Upper Midwest. Social Distortion represented Cali. I don't know if that makes any sense, but they had some of the '80s best rock songs, regardless.

RIP Tom Petty

RIP Tom Petty!