The Crawdaddys - Crawdaddy Express (1979/1994)

In a time of trendy discotheques, bombastic arena rock, and sonic punk barbarisms, the Crawdaddys were truly a peculiarity of the late '70s. The Southern California four-piece rhythm & blues combo, led by two gifted songwriter/guitarists, Steve Potterf and Ron Silva, who began in the similar garage band the Hitmakers, shrugged off all present scenes and regressed to the past, to a Mersey-era Beatles style. Influenced by '50s R&B masters like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, the Crawdaddys jump-started their own California garage rock scene, which spread widely in the early '80s as more illustrious groups like New York's Chesterfield Kings and London's Barracudas also hiked their guitars up to chest level. Other influences, like the Yardbirds and the Velvet Underground, can be heard in the Crawdaddys' surprising yet sincere sound.

Potterf left the group after recording the first Crawdaddys' first LP, leaving Silva as head Crawdad. Unfortunately, the group's sound took a slight dive in aggression level as a result.