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Here's a list off the top of my head that makes much more sense (focusing on long term artists, and leaving off anyone like Nick Drake who would have made it had his music not turned up in a car commercial.) Sonic Youth have received way more "appreciation" than any of these groups. I also considered Yellow Magic Orchestra, but they've only lacked the appreciation in the U.S., while in their homeland they were bigger than the Beatles.:
1. Rocket from the Tombs (who split into Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys after writing all the classic songs of both!)
2. Suicide (who make way more sense than the Cars, and I'm sure Rick Ocasek would agree)
3. Hawkwind (the hippy band who influenced the Sex Pistols among others)
4. The Last Poets (who arguably invented rap music in the '60s way before hip hop)
5. The Sonics (NW punk rock from the early '60s who influenced the Who, the Kinks, The Cramps, etc...)
6. Pere Ubu (who make infinite more sense than their scene contemporaries Devo)
7. Wire
8. NEU!
9. The Fall
10. The Soft Boys
11. Television (in place of Talking Heads)
12. The Heartbreakers (way more underapreciated than Thunders first band, and better musically too.)
13. The Runaways
14. The Bad Brains
15. The Slits
16. Love
17. Laurie Anderson
18. The Birthday Party
19. The Spacemen 3
20. The Contortions
21. Richard Hell & the Voidoids
22. The Raincoats
23. Lydia Lunch/Teenage Jesus & the Jerks/Eight Eyed Spy
24. The Germs
25. The Screamers
Runners up: the Dictators, Gang of Four (slightly more "appreciated" than Sonic Youth), Gary Numan (barely disqualified because of "Cars" being the mega hit it is, but the rest of his period catalog is way overlooked), Swans, Pussy Galore, Big Black, Hood, The Ex, of course this could go on forever...
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