1. David Bowie – Even Ziggy represented just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the rest of the decade had in store from the greatest chameleon in rock history, but it’s a pretty significant tip. AaaaaaaaaaWHAMBAMTHANKYOUMA’AM!!!!!
2. Stevie Wonder – The great period merely starts here, but the singles he made during his first decade (!) of recording were pretty damn good, too.
3. Joni Mitchell – The greatest and most musically adventurous of the singer-songwriters. Her most innovative albums are yet to come, but with BLUE she had already attained unmatchable perfection.
4. John Lennon – Those first two albums are more than enough to merit his induction as a solo artist.
5. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – The Captain isn’t all that popular around these parts, but here’s a Hall of Acclaim vote for just about the orneriest, prickliest SOB – both musically and personality-wise – to ever set foot in a studio.
6. Ornette Coleman
7. Black Sabbath
8. Frank Zappa
9. Sonny Rollins
10. Deep Purple

BACKSTAGE WING
1. Nicky Hopkins
2. Jann Wenner
3. Rudy Van Gelder
Honorable mention: "Some stupid with a flare gun" - the inept, accidental arsonist who inadvertently inspired "Smoke on the Water." Without this young man, we would have been deprived of the now-36-year-old earworm that is: Dun-dun-DUN! Dun-dun-dun-DUN! Dun-dun-DUN! DUN-dun!