LITTLE STEVEN VAN ZANDT PICKS

Best Garage Bands of All Time

1. The Shadows of Knight
The Chicago band had its only U.S. hit with a cover of "Gloria" (by Van Morrison's band Them) in 1966. "They introduced that song to kids in the suburbs," Van Zandt says. "Van Morrison was a blatant impersonator of Jagger when he wrote the song. He soon carved out his own identity."

2. The Pretty Things
"They are part of the original British Invasion, but they forgot to invade!" Van Zandt says of the early-1960s U.K. band, whose biggest hit was "Don't Bring Me Down." "Their guitarist, Dick Taylor, was in the original Rolling Stones. They are still together and great, to this day."

3. The Len Price 3
"They sound like the pop-rock-y side of the Ramones meets the early Who," Van Zandt says of this young Kent, England, trio, who released their 2007 album, Rentacrowd, on Little Steven's Wicked Cool label. "You can hear a bit of West Coast surf music in there too."

4. The Chesterfield Kings
"These guys are the best garage-rock band in the world at the moment," Van Zandt says of the Rochester, New York, group signed to Wicked Cool. "They go back to the early 1980s. It's the sound of white kids struggling to make black music and failing gloriously."