Mackaye, Ian
A punk-rock innovator who refused to be painted into a corner
Punk guitar solos, like punk songs, have to walk a fine line: they need to be melodic and simple without being cheesy, and they need to have teeth. Many punks eschew them altogether, but Jones’s tough Les Paul licks kept a place for string bending in the synthdominated early 80s. He drew on Carl Perkins’ rockabilly trickbag but also soaked himself in ska and reggae, making way for future genre crossovers. With The Clash, he expanded the boundaries of punk to help make room for the post-punk scene, and then continued to explore new territory with Big Audio Dynamite.