Led Zeppelin Tops WTMD Staff Picks for Greatest Artists

The WTMD staff is a small, but highly opinionated group of music lovers, and when asked to identify the 10 Greatest Artists of All Time, responses spanned from 311 to U2, Diana Ross to The Boss.

But the popular consensus is that Led Zeppelin is The Greatest Artist of All Time . . . at least as determined by 13 people in May 2009.

Be sure to rock the vote by submitting your 15 Greatest Artists by 12 p.m. Saturday, May 23rd.

We'll start counting down the 897 Greatest Artists of All Time on June 1st!



Erik Deatherage, Morning Show Host

Bob Marley;
John Lennon;
The Clash;
U2;
Joni Mitchell;
James Brown;
Neko Case;
Peter Gabriel;
Thomas Dolby;
Van Morrison


Tyler Laporte, Mid-Day Host; Music Director

The Band
Led Zeppelin
311
The Beastie Boys
The Beatles (George is my boy)
Eric Clapton
Miles Davis
Pink Floyd
Jimi Hendrix

John Mathews, Afternoon Host; TMD Roadhouse Host

Jimi Hendrix
Mahavishnu John McLaughlin
Junior Wells
Bob Dylan
Pete Droge
B.B. King
The Clash
Tom Petty
Peter Frampton
Death Cab For Cutie

Billy Zero, Program Director, All-Request Lunch Host

Beatles
Pink Floyd
Bob Dylan
Led Zeppelin
Elton John
Fleetwood Mac
Bob Marley
Eric Clapton
Michael Jackson
Nirvana

Ryan "Bug" Glaeser, Operations Manager; Stuck in the Jam Host

Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
EPMD
FFHH (Full Disclosure: Bug's in the band)
YES
Phish
311
Buddy Guy
James Brown
Thursday

Don Rogers, Weekend Host

Oasis
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Black Sabbath
The Ramones
AC/DC (Bonn Scott only)
Metallica
Kasabian
Ryan Adams
The Beach Boys

Nick Jackson, Videographer; Baltimore Unsigned Producer

The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Led Zeppelin
Bob Marley
Eric Clapton
The Clash
Louis Armstrong
The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
Simon and Garfunkel

Steve Yasko, General Manager

Bruce Springsteen
Elton John
Electric Light Orchestra
The Mamas and the Papas
Diana Ross and The Supremes
Mahalia Jackson
The Who
Elvis Presley
George Jones
Billie Holiday

Andrew Lovett, Producer

Foo Fighters
Dave Matthews Band
Incubus
The Temptations
Traffic
The Supremes
Sublime
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stevie Wonder
Little Richard


Melissa Lauren,Weekend Host

The Beatles
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
The Clash
Talking Heads
U2
Radiohead
Beck
Bjork
The White Stripes

Sam Gallant

The Faces
Paul Simon
Al Green
Beck
Rolling Stones
The Specials
Jimi Hendrix
Toots and the Maytals
Them and Van Morrison
Fela Kuti

Amy Wielunski, Membership Director

Alison Krauss & Union Station
The Beatles
Johnny Mercer
Van Morrison
Queen
Gene Ammons
The Rolling Stones
James Taylor
Chris Thile
Joni Mitchell

Kristin Bachran, Membership Coordinator

Eric Clapton
The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
The Band
Bob Dylan
Miles Davis
Bill Withers
Sam Cooke
Prince
Jeff Buckley

What Defines a Great Recording Artist?

It's relatively easy to rattle off a list of great songs or albums, but what defines a great recording artist? Is it record sales? #1 songs? A showcase night on American Idol?

Producer Brian Eno once noted, The Velvet Underground never sold a lot of records, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band.

Ani DiFranco, on the other hand, sells a lot of records. But she does it on her own terms. DiFranco founded Righteous Babe, an independent label, long before the Internet was a series of tubes while reimagining an artists' business model--and redefining the role of the singer-songwriter--for the MySpace generation.

Bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish reinvented their songs and set lists every night, creating a new concert experience for fiercely loyal fans and introducing a series of live albums and bootlegs that, arguably, are just as important as their studio work.

Jeff Buckley is fondly remembered for one amazing album. And, like a lot of artists who died too young, a catalog of posthumous releases (and an assembly line of vocal imitators) has tried to fill the void.

George Clinton receives royalties every time someone samples Parliament-Funkadelic. When does he ever get credit for the originals?

Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are enjoying a renaissance in the twilight of their careers. They never experienced the mass adulation (and scorn) as when Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar, but where would popular music be without Various Positions or Rain Dogs?

Are younger songwriters like Jack White and Ryan Adams so prolific--with so many incarnations--that it's hard to identify a career-defining album?

How many of these artists qualify as the Greatest Artists of All Time?

That's up to you to decide.

Cast your vote for up to 15 artists by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19th, and tune in as we start the countdown of the 897 Greatest Artists of All Time later around Memorial Day.