Comment by bsder

1) Was ZZ Top bad? Was Pantera bad?

I chose those two because they were fairly famous local acts in Texas long before they became nationally famous.

ZZ Top in particular used to open for a lot of bands who would tour Texas. They were noted for bringing along a set of local fans who would help sell tickets for your tour.

2) One must suck before one gets good

If you can't make a living while you notionally "suck", you lose the pipeline to "good". I would, in fact, argue that this is really what is dragging down a lot of our "pop culture" right now. We are finally seeing the results of that pipeline collapsing around Y2K.