Before punk really took off in the U.S. with the Ramones' debut album, there were a number of bands in the early '70s that combined the energy of '50s rock, the classic songcraft of the British Invasion, and the snarling attitude of bands like the Stooges. In Boston, the Real Kids were that band. Fronted by John Felice, they scuffled through the early '70s, finally recorded an album in 1977, and promptly imploded. Felice never threw in the towel, though, trying with the Taxi Boys, then the Real Kids again. Though the band never made much of a commercial splash, their influence stayed strong to the point where there were groups in the 2010s that sounded exactly like them. ~ Tim Sendra