Sometimes, the most talented and powerful musicians are invisible. Often, the most skillful artists opt to work in the background. Others gain notoriety on the radio, but their songs never quite become associated with their faces. That’s the case for the following artists, each of whom had tons of hits on the radio, but I doubt even diehard fans of their era could pick them out of a lineup. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Del Shannon
I don’t think there’s a Gen Xer or baby boomer alive who hasn’t heard “Runaway”. That rock and roll tune was a No. 1 smash in the US, UK, Canada, and several other countries. It wasn’t Shannon’s only rockin’ hit, either. He enjoyed quite a few Top 40 hits throughout the 1960s and remains a rock and roll icon to this day.
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And yet, few can envision what Del Shannon looks like in their head. Check out the above live performance to see the man himself in action.
Bobby Goldsboro
Does Bobby Goldsboro ring a bell? His name should, considering this country and adult contemporary musician had quite a few Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He even had his own television show in the mid-1970s. And yet, personally, even though I’ve heard songs like “Honey” and “Watching Scotty Grow” countless times in my childhood, I had no idea what the man looked like until I wrote this list. Check the above video for a peek.
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers, at least to me, is a pretty good example of an extremely talented and successful musician who cultivated a musical following but didn’t quite craft an instantly recognizable image. Just because he’s on our list of artists most can’t pick out of a lineup doesn’t take away from his music, though. Rivers had a ton of hits in the 1960s and 1970s. “Poor Side Of Town”, a baroque pop classic, topped the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1966. Rivers also dished out quite a few Top 40 hits that spanned rock and roll, blues rock, and even country rock. The above performance features Rivers in the flesh.
(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
More The List
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CIRCA 1955: (Clockwise from bottom left) Herb Reed, Dave Lynch, Tony Williams, Paul Robi and Zola Taylor of the early rock and roll group "The Platters" pose for a portrait in circa 1955. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Don Barnes of .38 Special is shown performing on stage during a "live" concert appearance on June 26, 1994. (Photo by John Atashian/Getty Images) -
American country and western singer and musician Johnny Cash (1932 – 2003) performs on stage at the Painters Mill Music Far in Owing Mills, Maryland, September 29, 1977. He is strumming a guitar and standing in front of a microphone. Bassist Marshall Grant (1928 – 2011) of Cashs backing band The Tennessee Three plays behind him on the right. (Photo by Leffler/Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images) -
Seminal American rock group The Byrds consisted originally of Jim (Roger) McGuinn, born 1942, David Crosby, born 1941, Michael Clark, born 1944, Chris Hillman, born 1944 and Gene Clark, born 1941. Their folk and pyschedelic tinged music was popular and influential during the late 1960s and early 1970s. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) -
From left, Paul McCartney (playing a Hofner 500/1 violin bass guitar) and John Lennon (playing a Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar) of English rock and pop group The Beatles perform on stage for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) music television show 'Shindig!' at Granville Studios in Fulham, London on 3rd October 1964. The band would play three songs on the show, Kansas City/hey-Hey-Hey!, I'm a Loser and Boys. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
