Pink Floyd- Maybe it's because he left and had a few bad words to say about us, but Dylan isn't the king in Minnesota. Prince is the hometown hero, for musicheads it's probably The Replacements and I think a lot of people would consider Soul Asylum (of all bands) above Dylan at least when recognizing local music. It's very strange, but probably mostly due to growing up in outstate Minnesota and leaving Minneapolis before he made it big. You just don't hear about Dylan much. When he does come to town nobody really treats it as a homecoming. When Prince makes an appearance at a show, it's in the entertainment section of the local newspaper the next day. Once you leave us, we're against you I guess! OK, after all that on Dylan, I go Pink Floyd.
Radiohead- This has to be U2's knockout... Please be U2's knockout.
Marvin Gaye- I'm lukewarm on both, but I feel I haven't been voting for classic R+B enough so I'll give my vote to Marvin.
Stevie Wonder- Three years ago I would have said, I wasn't a big fan of either but now Stevie is one of my favorites and I like a lot of Springsteen stuff. So when I write a lot of negative stuff in my comments, know that I'm open minded enough to give it another chance.
R.E.M.- I don't know what it is about Hello Nasty... maybe the interludes but it's the only album I enjoy by the Beastie Boys.
Nirvana- I was listening to International Submarine Band yesterday and I said to myself, I love Johnny Cash songs when other people are singing them. I still like Cash a little bit, but it's his slow, methodical pace that keeps me from being a fan. I'm pickier about country than I am with jazz. It's got to be bright and poppy but it better not be pop.
Prince- Very tough choice as I've really dug into Costello's catalog this past year. I always passed it off because I didn't take the time to listen to the whole albums. I never liked Imperial Bedroom until a couple months ago. But, there are a lot of artists similar to Costello, a lot of people have tried to do Prince but don't come close. He's a genre by himself. Although, a lot of times Prince tries to do Prince and doesn't come close either, but when you create something so fresh like he did, it's tough to match it consistently.
The Cure- Can't stand the Police so The Cure gets my vote based off a handful of good songs. You know what I said about being open minded about giving artists another shot? Yeah, the Police don't get that respect.