THE NEXT 25
Wisconsin musicians with biggest impact over past century
One year ago, we ranked the 25 most impactful Wisconsin musicians of the past 100 years. And we received a whole lot of feedback — about all the people we left out. That was one of the objectives, to spark some passionate debate. Many of those “snubs” suggested from passionate music fans are addressed here in our second volume of Wisconsin artists with the biggest impact over the past century — the next 25 (the original 25 are listed at the end of this story). There’ll still be cases to make about who’s not in the list, and debate over where artists are ranked. Like last year’s list, we have omitted artists who may have strong ties to Wisconsin but weren’t born here, like Clyde Stubblefield, Harvey Scales and Zola Jesus. But we hope it will inspire readers to reconnect with, or possibly discover, some important and influential Wisconsin artists.
25. Ava Max
It’s true that Ava Max’s career is just getting started; she released her debut full-length album, “Heaven & Hell,” last fall. But the budding pop star has already earned gold, platinum and diamond certifications for her singles in several countries around the world, and is the first Milwaukee native since Steve Miller to have a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Listen to: “Sweet But Psycho,” that aforementioned Hot 100 smash that recalled prime Lady Gaga, and helped usher in the current upbeat pop music era.
24. James “Curley” Cooke
When Steve Miller formed his band in 1966 in San Francisco, friend and fellow Wisconsin native James “Curley” Cooke was part of the original lineup on guitar. The Wausau native lasted only a year in that band, but he continued to work on albums with Miller on stage and in the studio, and with Miller’s Chicago-born, Racineraised keyboardist Ben Sidran. He also established the Pacific Northwest Blues in the Schools program in the Seattle area.
Listen to: The dreamy “Sacrifice” on Miller’s platinum-selling 1977 “Book of Dreams” album, which Cooke co-wrote. He also plays acoustic guitar on the recording.
23. Bill Miller
Born on the Stockbridge-Munsee reservation in northern Wisconsin, Miller’s big break came when Tori Amos selected him as the opening act for her “Under the Pink” tour in 1994. The following year, he was playing Native American flute on Vanessa Williams’ version of the Oscar-winning “Colors of the Wind” for the Disney film “Pocahontas.” He’s collected three Grammys since then, toured with Eddie Vedder and Arlo Guthrie, and has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Music Awards and Association.
Listen to: The quietly epic instrumental “Wind Spirit,” led by Miller’s majestic flute, from his 2006 album “The Spirit of Survival.”
22. Paul Cebar
There’s good reason Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos and Nick Lowe are such big fans of Cebar — and have been known to jam with him when they come to Milwaukee. With the R&B Cadets, Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans and Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Cebar specializes in a style all his own that draws inspiration from around the world, from New Orleans and Memphis, to Jamaica and Cuba.
Listen to: The delightfully funky “Didn’t Leave Me No Ladder” hasn’t lost a single drop of its swagger a quartercentury after its release.
21. Greg Koch
Joe Bonamassa once proclaimed the Wauwatosa native to be “the best guitar player in the world today.” Koch has lived up to that high praise, with a dazzling blend of blues, country, jazz and funk across 17 albums, four DVDs and multiple bands and other recordings. And he’s been gracious enough to share some of his tricks in instruction books and lessons; Guitar World proclaimed Koch one of the greatest guitar teachers of all time.
Listen to: Koch’s instrumental group with his son Dylan on drums, the Koch Marshall Trio, is one of his most popular bands, and the band’s “Sin Repent Repeat” is one of the outfit’s most intoxicating songs.
20. Joe Schermie
Three Dog Night had 14 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six gold and one platinum albums, from 1968 to 1972, when Madison-born bassist Schermie was part of the band.
Listen to: Three Dog Night’s cover of the Randy Newman-penned “Mama Told Me Not to Come” — their first Hot 100 chart-topper — is better known today than the original recording, with Schermie’s bass lending a funky vibe to this trippy tale of debauchery.
19. Spanic Boys
When Sinead O’Connor scrapped plans to be a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” with just three days’ notice in 1990, the show’s then-bandleader G.E. Smith reached out to this littleknown Milwaukee father-and-son-led rock band to fill the slot. Interview requests and orders for their album came pouring in, and together Tom Spanic and his son Ian were able to make eight albums and tour across the United States and Europe several times.
Listen to: “Meant to Be,” from the Spanic Boys’ 1991 album “Strange World.” After Tom died in 2016, Ian told the Journal Sentinel it was one of his father’s favorite songs to sing together.
18. Jidenna
The son of noted scientist and professor Oliver Mobisson, singer and rapper Jidenna was born in Wisconsin Rapids and lived all over the United States (and spent some years in his father’s native Nigeria) before Janelle Monáe discovered him, signing him to her Wondaland Records label in 2015 — the same year he helped Monáe crack the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with their collaboration “Yoga.”
Listen to: “Classic Man,” Jidenna’s sharp debut single, which lured Kendrick Lamar for a popular remix version.
17. Korey Cooper
Christian rock act Skillet was founded by John Cooper in his native Memphis, but Cooper and his wife and bandmate Korey Cooper ultimately settled in Korey’s native Kenosha around 2005. Their popularity among Christian music fans and hard-rock lovers continues to grow; four albums released between 2006 and 2016 have either been certified gold, platinum or double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Listen to: The anthemic “Hero,” from 2009 album “Awake,” Skillet’s first single to go double platinum, includes a Korey Cooper songwriting credit (in addition to her rhythm guitar and keyboard work).
16. Danny Gokey
There have been plenty of singingshow competitors from Wisconsin, but none as successful as Milwaukee-born Gokey. A fan favorite beginning with his audition at the end of the “American Idol” Season 8 premiere in 2009, Gokey ended up in third place, and attempted a country career before becoming an award-winning Christian pop artist with four Christian airplay chart-topping singles so far.
Listen to: “Hope in Front of Me,” the title track of his first Christian album that proved the genre change would be a good fit for the former church music director.
15. Dan Nimmer
Learning to play piano by ear before honing his chops at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Milwaukee native was recruited to the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by
Wynton Marsalis, in 2005, just a year after moving to New York. Beyond his orchestra work, he has recorded on several Marsalis projects and is the leader of his own trio.
Listen to: “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” the opening track on a live Marsalis and Willie Nelson tribute album to Ray Charles, with Nimmer’s swinging piano a standout.
14. Killdozer
Like their Touch and Go Records label mates Die Kreuzen, Madison-based post-hardcore band Killdozer recorded with Butch Vig at Smart Studios in Madison, and their 1989 album “Twelve Point Buck” was a turning point, influencing the likes of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, who ended up working with Vig as well.
Listen to: “Buck” opener “New Pants and Shirt” showcases Killdozer’s pleasingly punishing style, with Michael Gerald growling menacingly over the Hobson brothers Bill and Dan’s sludgy guitar and sluggish drums.
13. Die Kreuzen
“They just missed that window where they could have been massive,” Butch Vig once said of the Milwaukee band, who broke up in 1992 before they were offered a deal with Atlantic Records. Nevertheless, the band’s innovative, explosive blend of hardcore punk, metal, glam, gothic rock shoegaze and psychedelia is recognized today as being ahead of its time, finding passionate admirers like Steve Albini and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore.
Listen to: Die Kreuzen had several intense minute-long thrash rockers, but “Black Song,” the final track of their last album “Cement,” is an epic 7-minute
sendoff.
12. Lynne Arriale
Getting first place at the International Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 1993 was just the beginning for the Milwaukee native. Arriale has gone on to tour in 28 countries and play some of the most prestigious venues, including the Kennedy Center, and has consistently earned praise for her albums, frequently ending up on critics’ annual best jazz album lists.
Listen to: Arriale’s body of work is so vast it’s hard to recommend an entry point, but a soulful piano rendition of “Feeling Good” with the Lynne Arriale Trio is a sublime introduction.
11. Trixie Mattel
After winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” in 2018, Mattel (developed in Milwaukee’s drag scene by Silver Cliff native Brian Firkus) has become the show’s greatest success story. But credit extends beyond Mattel’s filthy and dark humor and Barbie-meets-Dolly look; she really stood out with original, tender and funny country songs, helping to spark a growing queer country movement.
Listen to: The comical “Mama Don’t Make Me Put on the Dress Again” is a swell showcase for Mattel’s smart songwriting chops.
10. Josh Thompson
The Cedarburg native launched a successful country career in 2009, but beyond his own songs and albums, his greatest achievements have been as a hit songwriter for several superstars, including four Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers for Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan.
Listen to: “Drowns the Whiskey,” one of two No. 1 songs Thompson cowrote for Aldean, a remorseful, brokenhearted tune sweetened by Miranda Lambert’s vocals.
9. Glenn Yarbrough
The Milwaukee native always had an angelic voice; he helped his mother pay the bills as a paid boy soprano at Grace Church in New York City. But following a private concert with Woody Guthrie in his college dorm room, he was inspired to pick up guitar. By 1960, he formed the popular folk trio the Limeliters, and by the middle of the decade, went solo, achieving his greatest chart success with 1965’s “Baby the Rain Must Fall,” which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Listen to:
“Take My True Love by the Hand,” used to darkly comic effect in arguably the best episode of “Breaking Bad,” “Ozymandias,” from the show’s final season.
8. Kevn Kinney
The Atlanta-born Drivin N Cryin may embody the sound and swagger of Southern rock, but its frontman is a Midwesterner. The Milwaukee-born Kinney has led the group for 36 years and nine full-length original studio albums, including the Gold-certified 1991 release “Fly Me Courageous.”
Listen to: Drivin N Cryin’s devilish “Straight to Hell,” covered in 2017 by Darius Rucker with fellow country stars Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Charles Kelley of Lady A.
7. Daryl Stuermer
A gig with his jazz-rock band Sweetwater in his native Milwaukee launched Stuermer’s career; then-Frank Zappa keyboardist George Duke was at the show, leading to Stuermer’s work with jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in the mid’70s. Stuermer replaced Steve Hackett as Genesis’ touring lead guitarist in 1977, a job he holds to this day, and has been by Phil Collins’ side for his solo career,
both in the studio and on tour, in addition to fronting his own band.
Listen to: Collins’ “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven,” Collins’ final Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1990. In addition to playing guitar on the track, Stuermer is credited as cowriter.
6. Skylar Grey
Like Justin Vernon, Skylar Grey (born Holly Brook Hafermann in Mazomanie) had her own life-changing musical retreat to a cabin, where she wrote what would become the chorus for “Love the Way You Lie,” the biggest hit in Eminem’s blockbuster career. Grey has been a go-to songwriter and singer for the rapper ever since, has released her own solo albums, and has been featured on several singles with Macklemore, Nicki Minaj and other stars.
Listen to: While Rihanna ended up singing Grey’s chorus on “Love the Way You Lie,” Grey’s piano ballad “I Know
You” is a fine showcase for her equally anguished and angelic voice.
5. Andy Hurley
When he was a sixth-grader in Menomonee Falls, Hurley wrote for a school assignment that he would be in a band when he grew up. His wish came true as the drummer for the Fall Out Boy, still filling arenas around the globe, a testament to a catalog that includes a double-platinum album, three other platinum albums, and two other gold albums, all in the United States alone.
Listen to: The band’s first Top 10 hit, “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down,” which kicks off with the sound of Hurley’s heavy drum work.
4. Viola Smith
Billed as “the world’s fastest girl drummer” in the 1930s, the Mount Calvary native was one of the first professional female drummers in the world. Her self-described “charmed life” included gracing the cover of Billboard, performing in an Abbott & Costello movie and on “Ed Sullivan” five times, playing Harry Truman’s inauguration, and performing in the original Broadway production of “Cabaret.”
Listen to: Her show-stopping drum work for “Snake Charmer,” immortalized in a 1939 TV performance with the Coquettes that you can find on YouTube.
3. Eric Benét
First finding success with the groups Gerard and Benét in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Milwaukee native really came into his own as a solo R&B artist, beginning with 1996 album “True to Myself,” receiving four Grammy nominations across the subsequent two decades.
Listen to: R&B chart-topping single “Spend My Life With You” from his 1999 platinum-certified album “A Day in the Life.”
2. Herbert Stothart
The Milwaukee-born composer (who studied music at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and was eventually an instructor there) received a dozen Academy Award nominations for best original score from 1935 to 1945, for such films as “Mutiny on the Bounty” and
“Madame Curie.” But it was his most enduring score that earned him an Oscar: the score for “The Wizard of Oz.”
Listen to: His theme for Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most recognizable compositions in cinema history.
1. Jane Wiedlin
As co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the pioneering Go-Go’s, the Oconomowoc native was part of the first allfemale band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts, with debut album “Beauty and the Beat” in 1981.
Listen to: “Our Lips Are Sealed,” a delicious piece of bubblegum pop, and the Go-Go’s first American single, cowritten by Wiedlin and Terry Hall of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.
Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
Piet also talks concerts, local music and more on “TAP’d In” with Jordan Lee. Hear it at 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMSFM (88.9), or wherever you get your podcasts.