Cyndi Lauper started out in a rockabilly group called Blue Angel.
I like a lot of their early work. It seemed kind of jazzy. From what I remember they changed their sound because they weren’t very successful.
Not bluesy, exactly, but VERY different from the mellow pop they’d play in the Steve Perry days,
The band was founded by organist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon, who were proteges of Carlos Santana. The original drummer was Aynsley Dunbar, a longtime friend and collegaue of Frank Zappa. All of the founders were into extended instrumental jamming.
Hard to classify, but I’d call the early Journey a jazzy prog-rock band. But whatever you’d call them, little girls who liked “Send Her My Love” and “Faithfully” would have hated them.
Jimmy Buffet started in country, moved to folk, then found success and Parrot heads.
Ah, yes, you are correct. Same time frame, similar mellow sound. I always mix those guys up.
Hootie was only a joke to people who don’t like pop-rock. An their last album was released in 2005. It’s also worth noting that Rucker’s successful country album has only barely sold more than the worst selling Hootie albums.