To me I think ofcourse the famous bands/artists like The Velvet Underground, The NYDolls, The Stooges, David Bowie are often claimed to have influenced bands.
I would like to add:
Kraftwerk, CAN, Captain Beefheart, Patti Smith to it.
Also bands like DEVO, Pere Ubu in America and Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle in England were early pioneers in music. I'm sure that almost every country had their pioneers. Like the Minny Pops were that in The Netherlands and Radio Birdman and The Saints were that in Australia. All very different styles, and may be shouldn't be just called Rock. But that's what people dis at the time.
