After getting the very impressive S.H. Figuarts Freddie Mercury action figure last week, it became very clear to canonball and me that we needed to come up with a good Top Ten List to cover other musicians who deserve the same plastic treatment. Deciding to actually put a list together turned out to be a bad idea…

See, CB and I share several things in common, but two big ones are our loves for toys and tunes. So, when we initially started talking about musical personalities who would make for great toys, it seemed like a no-brainer. However, as we are both such big fans of many diverse acts, the process of actually putting this top ten list together was impossibly daunting. It wasn’t because we were at odds with each over who should be on the list, it was actually the opposite: without even blinking, we had a list well past ten in our first back and forth. So, as you can probably tell, it was getting the list down to ten that was the issue because, well, we both wanted so many more.

So we had to get pretty particular with the ground rules here and this list is still going to come with a disclaimer. First, this list is only valid at the very moment it was published. Hell, I am already wrestling with changes I feel I want to make to my selections. Secondly, to help refine the process, we wanted to pick people who were not only iconic musicians, but also iconic PERFORMERS. The previously released Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson figures set the tone in this regard. This list has unforgettable showmanship and much as anything, so that helped us put aside more obscure and less iconic personalities, even though we would both totally buy figures of some of those people. Third is that we are choosing INDIVIDUALS, because, well, getting entire bands in, while deserving, is kind of cheating. Finally, while we each contributed five entries, we both agreed to the final ten entrants.

All of that culminates to the point that if you are reading this and immediately feel that we left someone off, or there are people more deserving, you are right. These are people WE want to see in Figuarts form, but the list is absolutely NOT all-inclusive, and is very “in the moment.” At the end, I feel these picks represent people for whom we  have strong supporting arguments to include, but that Bandai could probably release a “musician” figure once a month for the next 20 years, and we would still be say, “Yeah, but what about . . . xxxx?” This is my way of asking you to comment about who YOU think is deserving of a list like this, okay?

Ready? Well, we are not, but here we go!

Jimi Hendrix

When you talk about rock n’ roll iconography, there are very few musicians who rank as being more iconic than Jimi Hendrix. His talent and influence as a musician endures to this day, and permeates across cultural boundaries. Plus, he meets that important “showman” criteria, and his performances define rock, even as it exists today. So, while he was an easy pick for the list, he look got a little tougher because, like a couple of others on this list, as an icon, he changed and evolved, so it is easy to choose from many famous looks. So, that being said, I am picking his look from Woodstock because, well, that was probably the performance that cemented his place with EVERYONE, and it was definitely unforgettable.

Joan Jett

In full disclosure, I have been in love with Joan Jett pretty much my entire life. As a musician and personality, she is pretty much the definition of “Rock and Roll” to me, and that comes in a crowded field of men and women who burn brightly in terms of being musical icons. She was (and is) the quintessential front woman for a rock band, and is definitely the prototype for many, many other people, musicians or no, who have come after her. She is definitely famous, but maybe not *quite* as big of a name as some others on this list, but her spirit covers my incredible need to have people like Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, Shane McGowan, Danzig, and several others on here.

Prince

Prince is absolutely a no-brainer for this list. Prince is one of the most dynamic musicians of all-time, and his iconography extends beyond music into overall fashion style, and our culture as a whole. Plus, there is no such thing as disinterest or non-engagement at a Prince concert because he owns every piece of what makes up a master classic in musical performance, and performance art. Again, he has reinvented himself countless times, and most all of them have been to great success, but if I were to get a Prince figure, my first choice would most definitely be in the Purple Rain album cover getup. If Bandai would be willing to throw in the motorcycle as well, I would be happy to pay for it.

Joey Ramone

I am such a cheater, even at my own game. If I had to pick one band that I would call the most influential in terms of my musical tastes, the Ramones would most certainly be right there at the top of the running, with a couple others. When the Ramones made their debut, and when they were at their height, there was no one else like them. They were the loudest, the snottiest, and the rockin’-est, and they had the musical shops to back it up, especially for their punk rock style that was the foundation for everything that came after it. As the front man, Joey is representing the team, but I would be a liar if I said that the rest of the band would not be REQUIRED as well. Joey represents The Ramones and who is, by extension, is carrying the torch for groups that deserve to be made WHOLE in a line like this.

David Bowie

He who is the easiest pick for this list (for me), is also the most difficult when it comes time to choose. He is just so obvious for the Figuarts treatment, it is not even funny. I have spoken about musicians who have transcended their primary art form to influence many other aspects of life, but few have come close to what Bowie has done in terms of cultural impact. That said, reinvention was always a part of the art he created, so in terms of action figure releases, he could have a successful line all his own. There are just too many iconic and amazing looks for him, I am not even going to pick because I would be happy with any of them. The Ziggy Stardust/Star Man/Aladdin Sane eras are probably the most “toyetic” in terms of what could be offered, or, in light of the Freddie Mercury figure, a figure that could duet “Under Pressure” would be great, but like I said, I love Bowie so much, I will take any and all.

Canonball here. Like VeeBee mentioned, narrowing this down to just five was much more difficult than I’d like to admit. I changed my mind a dozen times a minute, and even now I find myself second-guessing some of my choices because to choose just five means I have to leave so many out, and there are so many deserving of this Figuarts treatment. But here are my five, and I’ll stand by these for now:

MORRISSEY

 

This is my bias speaking completely because Morrissey is probably my all-time most beloved performer. There is no one who can pen song lyrics like he can, and no one who can deliver such a spectrum of emotion through music like he can. His work as a member of iconic ’80s band The Smiths sounds timeless and remains the soundtrack for every lonely, misunderstood kid who is screaming for acceptance, connection, and understanding. His own solo work has matched, and even surpassed in many cases, the glory of The Smiths, and in addition to a most impressive body of work, he always looked so darn cool singing those songs. Whether he was wearing glassed and twirling gladiolas with The Smiths, or looking absolutely tough fronting what looked like a ’50s rockabilly band (in appearance only) in the ’90s, Morrissey always looked so unassailably cool. Choosing him for a slot kind of covers that whole era of ’80s English rock that would include New Order, The Cure, etc. So, for me, Morrissey is a no-brainer.

Dee Dee Ramone

Okay, so I’m cheating with this one a bit since VeeBee already mentioned Joey Ramone, so we now have two slots in a top ten devoted to The Ramones. But you know what? They absolutely deserve it. And I have always been of the opinion that Dee Dee was the heart and soul of that band because almost every song that people know by The Ramones is a song that Dee Dee wrote. Once he left to pursue an ill-advised career in hip hop (whatever you do, DO NOT google “Dee Dee King”), The Ramones never really recovered (and I say that being a fan of his replacement, CJ Ramone). So while every member of The Ramones would make great figures, and Joey’s “gangly giant” look is more immediately recognizable, Dee Dee is punk rock ground zero for me and would absolutely slay as a Figuarts figure.

Bjork

Bjork is here because throughout her entire career she always looked incredible and was never afraid to take massive risks, both sonically and aesthetically. Her outfits and hairstyles were always interesting and creative, and her musical output was so much more than simple pop — it has always been challenging and explorative, which set her apart from many of her peers in her day. And she always came off as so authentic, as opposed to certain performers who so outwardly seek validation and work so hard to remain the topic of media gossip. Bjork is absolutely reclusive in comparison, which adds so much to her mystique and legitimacy. Get us a Bjork figure ASAP, Bandai! Just about any look from any era would do the job.

Grandmaster Flash

Hip hop as we know it began with this man right here, so his place in music history is more than secure. Again, my bias may be showing here because I adore ’80s rap and hip hop much more so than any other era, and some of the first music I ever owned and played to death was RUN DMC’s early albums. But when I went digging a little further back as I got older, I discovered Grandmaster Flash, with his iconic track suits and Kangol hats that became hip hop’s de facto uniform in the ’80s. Years later, when I became a DJ myself, “The Message” would be one of my set staples, and I still believer that, to this day, no one has been able to touch it. And what he did as a DJ literally changed the world and laid the foundations for rap, techno, house, jungle — all of it. A Figuarts figure that would come with some accessories like, say, a record crate and a turntable would be absolutely unreal.

Sid Vicious

Okay, so I’m really cheating with this pick. Sid was barely a musician. His brief tenure with the Sex Pistols was a disaster, and he was recruited to be in the band solely because of the way he looked (no punk looked more “punk” than Sid Vicious, even before he was in the Sex Pistols) and because of his tendency to, well, get into fights. Sid was turned into a punk poster boy and a puppet by the band’s manager, Malcolm McLaran. Sid’s story is actually a terribly sad one because it seems as though he was never really in control of his own life. He wanted to be part of the group and made a sincere effort to learn to play his bass, but he was fed dangerous amounts of drugs to ensure he’d do something “outrageous” to keep the Sex Pistols in the papers. And, in the end, he was dead by the age of 21. He literally was just a kid. It was such a horrible waste. His legacy is primarily his look — he’s still the coolest-looking punk ever, and that’s why I chose him; he’d make a fantastic-looking figure. But for accessories, we just need his bass. Leave the needles and broken bottles out of it.

That is our list. It isn’t perfect, even now, but it is hard to argue against any of them making great action figures. We will spare you doing parts 2-100 for this list, but just know, we did not even scratch the surface. Who would you like to see get the Figuarts treatment?