In 1986, my freshman year in high school, a friend let me borrow a copied cassette tape. When I got home and threw it in my tape player, I was introduced to the Beastie Boys, “Licensed to Ill.” A middle class white kid from the suburbs had a hip hop group to grab hold of. The Beastie Boys brought rock and rap together like no group had ever done before. The news...

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Donovan, The Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N’ Roses (Why is the apostrophe on the “N” like that?), along with several people you haven’t heard of, in 2012. There are very few current bands I would consider “rock bands,” like Foo Fighters, Chili Peppers, Jack White, and maybe Linkin Park, The Strokes...