Dion

If you want to understand the very soul of East Coast rock -- Springsteen, J. Geils, the New York Dolls, Aerosmith, etc. --- you have to listen to Dion DiMucci. His mid-'60s recordings for Columbia are where doo-wop and the urban immigrant experience intersect with American roots music and folk rock. Dig Dion's blistering "Two Ton Feather." This is the Delta blues dressed up as a street-hustlin' Italian-American strutting through the Bronx with a switchblade and leather jacket.