America

A huge hitmaking force in the ’70s, America filtered folk-rock harmonies and country-rock twang through some major pop songwriting smarts to create a long string of enduring Top 40 tunes.

Ironically, the band that came to define a subset of American pop began in England.

Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek were Air Force kids who met and started a band together in London in 1970.