The marketing department wanted me to plug Network Rockstar Challenge again.  I thought it might be a bit too soon, but then again, it’s also a little early in our rock career for us to go “unplugged.”

Yes, I do deserve to be shot for making that pun, but you have to find me first.

So, we figured, what’s a good way to rock this mother (an industry-wide technical term) out? We decided to compile a list of our top five geek rockstars.  We’d make it more, but then we’d have to put it on multiple pages, and “Top Xs” on multiple pages are pretty lame.

The criteria for the list is simple: Does the work draw from, or add to, technical culture.  Does it use technology in new ways – either to create music, or as the subject of music.  More importantly: Do they rock?

#5 – The Protomen

The Protomen are champions of finding a story in the most unlikely of places and running with it.  From the barebones of the story of the only NES “Megaman” series, the Protomen have created a dystopian rock-opera about an oppressive society akin to “1984” or “Children of Men.”

What’s surprising – other than the fact that they’ve taken this large project to completion (and beyond, in the case of the upcoming prequel) – is that it’s way better than any rock opera based on a video game has a right to be. 

#4 – MC Frontalot

The coiner of the term “nerdcore hip hop” – MC Frontalot is in our list to represent an entire genre of music blending the beats of the streets with the raps of the (server) racks.  One of the first to gain mainstream (well, in the geek mainstream) acceptance when he played at the 2004 Penny Arcade Expo, he’s the principal subject of the documentary on Nerdcore, “Nerdcore Rising.”

The interesting thing about nerdcore as a genre is the idea of separating content from context; one of the defining themes of information in today’s society – if not the defining theme of Web 2.0.  Nerdcore is essentially a musical exploration of that subject – in short, rapping (the context) about stuff you don’t normally rap about (the content.)

#3 – Devo

In addition to the “new wave” geek look that the band sported, it’s easy to forget that Devo is, at it’s very core, “smart rock” – the entirety of the band’s reason for existing being the exploration of the concept of hostility to intelligence – a “de-evolution,” from which the band gets its name.  They also supported the satirical “Church of the Subgenius,” whose in-jokes made their way to various geek circles. 

But more than that, Devo was on the forefront of video technology.  They were not only known for being one of the first bands out there sending music videos to MTV, but they were recording their very first stage appearance at Kent State University – back in 1973 when the technology for video recording was neither cheap nor easy to use. 

#2 – Dr. Brian Howard May, Ph.D.

Brian May is the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, and co-authored “Mgl Emission in the Night Sky Spectrum” and “An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles (Part I)” based on observations at the Teide Observatory, and completed a Ph.D. thesis in astrophysics, entitled “A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud,” from the Imperial College London departments of Physics and Mathmatics. 

He was also the lead guitarist of “Queen.”

#1 – Stevie Wonder

According to Popular Science, Stevie Wonder’s been at the forefront of technology, using third-party accessibility software on both PCs and Macs to use high tech audio editing tools.  Though why should this surprise anyone – the guy got the nickname “Stevie Wonder” because he learned to play the piano, harmonica, and bass blind and signed up with Motown Records at the age of 11. 

But he also presents the “Vision Free Awards” which rewards companies and organizations that make products that the blind can use, championing accessible technology.