For some reason, the Pacific Northwest has been the breeding ground for a lot of music. Grunge was born there. "Louie Louie," one of the most radio-played songs of all time, was given life there when the Kingsmen covered this Richard Berry tune. Jimi Hendrix was from the Seattle area. So was Quincy Jones.

Finally, someone has gathered resources to talk about this area of the country and how the musicians there affected an entire generation of listeners - and other players. The author has been dubbed Seattle's unofficial curator of rock and roll and is regarded as one of the main experts on the Northwest scene.

Blecha has spent 20 years gathering the facts that are splayed all over these pages. He conducted over 500 interviews to gather said data, and everyone from audio engineers, record label founders, DJs and various other cutting-edge experts were questioned.

This terrific journey begins in 1957, when Richard Berry performed his newly-penned song "Louie Louie," and ends around 1994 with the pretty much simultaneous death of Nirvana's singer/frontman Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. This puts it all in perspective for those who thought Oregon and Washington were little more than places with a lot of rain.