1. The Beach Boys
I guess I am a sucker for harmonious rock bands. Brian Wilson was not just a songwriter, but a music composer. I think Smile is the greatest album never released and I dig Pet Sounds, as well as most of the early surf hits (and even Kokomo is a guilty pleasure).
2. Phil Collins/Genesis/Peter Gabriel
Yeah, that’s easy, putting three amazing acts under the same heading. Genesis and Phil Collins would probably make it in the top 10 separately as well, but I want to give more artists the great honor to be in my list. I especially like Mama, That’s All (Genesis), Another day in paradise, In the air tonight (Phil Collins) and Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel). I always found it striking to see that almost all Eagles fans I knew are also Genesis/Collins/Gabriel fans. Presumption once again confirmed.
3. INXS
4. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
5. Bee Gees
6. Electric Light Orchestra
7. The Beatles
But the best song by a Beatle IMO is Band on the Run by Sir Paul McCartney
8. Tears For Fears
9. The Rolling Stones
10. I can’t really decide whether my #10 is Talk Talk or Coldplay.

I got into the Beach Boys and Coldplay most recently. Before, I mistook the Beach Boys for not much more than a surf band who also wrote God Only Knows by chance, but then I discovered the Smile Sessions and all the fascinating stories behind it.
It took me a while before Coldplay’s songs and Chris Martin’s voice grew on me. I actually like Coldplay just as much or even more now they are moving into something more similar to dance music.
Before that, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, just because it took me a while to appreciate them rightfully. Before that, in my childhood, all others pretty much, because my father would play them ALL THE TIME, and I just couldn’t resist liking them. It’s also how I became an Eagles fan.