Alan Vega

As half of the pioneering electronic punk duo Suicide and a solo artist, sculptor, painter, and writer, Alan Vega pushed his art to its limit. With Suicide, Vega's unwaveringly intense vocals -- which combined the magnetic snarl of a '50s rocker with the unbridled expression of a Beat poet -- were the perfect contrast to Martin Rev's icy, minimal electronics. However, on early solo albums such as 1980's Alan Vega, he concentrated on the twangy roots of his music, bringing the influence of Gene Vincent and Roy Orbison to the surface. With 1983's major-label release Saturn Strip...