When J. Geils performs April 2 at The Landing at Pine Point in Scarborough, he will most likely have some devoted followers in the audience.

The J. Geils Band topped the list of readers’ picks for overlooked artists who deserve induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in response to my March 10 column. That’s not surprising — the Boston-based group was one of the most successful blues-rock bands to come out of the 1970s, and they spent many a formative year gigging around New England.

In fact, blues-based rock bands dominated the list overall, with readers deeming Steppenwolf, Deep Purple, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Doobie Brothers, The Steve Miller Band and Grand Funk Railroad as worthy inductees.

Progressive rock — which, as I pointed out in my earlier column, is a category that has been all but ignored by the hall — also got a lot of votes, with Jethro Tull, Yes and The Moody Blues topping the list.

No. 1 on Jim Williams’ list is Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens: “Whenever I hear DJs playing Sheryl Crow’s version of ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’ and then saying, ‘That’s Sheryl Crow’s version of Rod Stewart’s classic,’ I yell at radio ‘It’s a Cat Stevens song!’ “

I agree with you, Jim. However, I have a suspicion that Stevens’ conversion to Islam and his comments regarding Salman Rushdie in the 1980s are keeping him out of the hall. I’m not saying it’s right, but politics and personal biases have been known to keep people out before. (Case in point: The Ronettes and Darlene Love being barred from induction by Phil Spector until his arrest and subsequent conviction on murder charges removed him from the hall’s board of governors.)

I’m also pretty sure that KISS and Ted Nugent, two of Gray resident Bruce Murchie’s picks, are being kept out of the rock hall for mostly political reasons. Gene Simmons has never been shy about telling the hall where to go, and Nugent is well-known for his conservative views.

Not surprisingly, zydeco and soul artists were noted by Dave Babb, a DJ for the community radio station WMPG-FM who goes by the moniker “The Blues Doctor.” According to Babb, Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis, Clifton Chenier and Beau Jocque are more worthy than any of the recent inductees.

“Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis were both great singers whose careers in soul music spanned four decades with many many hits” Babb wrote. “Clifton Chenier invented modern zydeco music in the ’50s and performed up until his death in 1987. He won a Grammy too. Beau Jocque invented the new style zydeco popular in the world today.”

I don’t agree with Paul Cate’s artist of choice, though I’m not sure he was serious: “If only for their contributions to karaoke experiences everywhere, I would love to see Sonny & Cher inducted.”

To each his own, Paul. However, I will close by saying that if Sonny & Cher — or even Cher by herself — are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I will personally burn a copy of “Believe” on the steps of the hall while wearing a T-shirt that reads: “Sonny chose a tree over listening to this.”

Rock on.

Deputy Managing Editor Rod Harmon may be contacted at 791-6450 or at: rharmon@pressherald.com