If expanding your knowledge of music is like stockpiling your arsenal of sounds, then lesser-known bands and musicians are basically your secret weapons. The five we've rounded up here are mostly obscure for mainstream listeners, yet they're extremely potent sources of inspiration. And in certain circles, they're well-regarded as the icons they truly are. We hope one day the rest of the world catches up.
Kurt Cobain often name-dropped California band Redd Kross when asked about his influences. Of course, they've given life to plenty more musicians than him since first kicking around in the Los Angeles scene of the '80s. Because they've never stuck strictly to one genre – they've filtered in rock 'n' roll, punk, grunge, metal hardcore, and even riffed on the blues – their impact is sweeping. Beyond Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, and R.E.M. are among the most famous groups who have noted the effect of Redd Kross in their own trajectories. They're still going strong, by the way; their most recent album was released in 2012.
At the top of the industrial totem pole but under the radar of probably most of the general public is Throbbing Gristle, the English act that was as controversial as it was groundbreaking during their late '70s and early '80s heyday. Mars Volta ringleader Cedric Bixler-Zavala has cited them as an inspiration, but a slew of niche sounds – noise, no wave, experimental electronic, goth-rock – owe thanks to these trailblazers of sonic subversion.
The only few who'll argue against the notion that Throbbing Gristle actually created the industrial genre will say that it was specifically founder Genesis P-Orrige who's responsible. The term was coined after the group included the slogan "industrial music for industrial people” with their '76 debut, The Second Annual Report, on their own imprint, Industrial Records.
Their impact goes beyond music, even. Throbbing Gristle explored antagonism, fear, and jarring discord in an attempt to hash out culture, politics, the human experience – it was performance art.
This Mississippi singer and guitarist is one of the most important figures in Delta blues, and was a mighty influence for contemporaries like Robert Johnson, as well as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf – and a litany of legends thereafter. The middle of 17 children, Son House served 15 years of his adult life in prison for killing a man, which he always held was in self-defense. He had a strong career until retiring the scene in 1942. In the '60s, he was rediscovered living in Rochester, NY, and played for another stretch until withdrawing for a final time in 1972. Bonnie Raitt, Jack White, and pretty much anyone inspired by the blues holds Son House in high regard.
This guitar virtuoso, born in 1915, began her career as a child playing and singing gospel music, and ultimately pioneered its merging into the secular mainstream. Tharpe's mixing of blues and folk is often heralded as the blueprint of rock 'n' roll; Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard have all named her as an influence. Last year, around the time that would have been her hundredth birthday, tributes from the media rolled out in waves. Still, Tharpe's legacy is one that is not championed nearly enough. Everyone should know who she is.
In the punk and rock 'n' roll underground, the New York Dolls are icons – but above ground, there's still plenty people oblivious to the glam-rock group's massive influence. They actually predated fellow New York punks the Ramones, as well as the Clash and the Sex Pistols, both in formation and with their '73 self-titled debut. Not only proto-punk in sound but also in style, the New York Dolls disregarded gender norms in platforms and sported wild hair, makeup, and glitter in an era of heightened masculinity. They had an impact on generations of bands. Two famous groups where the Dolls' touch is most obvious? KISS and Guns N' Roses.
Jhoni Jackson is an Atlanta-bred music journalist currently based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she juggles owning a venue called Club 77, freelance writing and, of course, going to the beach as often as possible.