GROTON, Mass. -- Musician J. Geils, founder of The J. Geils Band known for such peppy early 80s pop hits as "Love Stinks," ''Freeze Frame" and "Centerfold," has died in his Massachusetts home at 71.

The band could write a country song so convincing it was covered by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris (“Cry One More Time”) and even came up with the first U.S. reggae hit (“Give It To Me”).

"The very first album I bought was the J. Geils Band 's Love Stinks album," admits the guitarist. "I loved it because every time I heard a song where the band would just drop out and it would be a ...

In fact, the "hits" - "Centerfold"and "Love Stinks", for example - didn't arrive until near the end. It did, indeed, feel that the band was reclaiming its roots as an R&B tour-de-force live act.

The J. Geils Band’s 1981 classic is both naughty and innocent, desirous and delicate. It is a complex listen born from the age-old theme of innocent crush-turned-unrequited love.

Peter Wolf, frontman from the J. Geils Band and a bona fide rock 'n' roll raconteur, has had Forrest Gump or Zelig type of life -- to the point where it's probably easier to list who he hasn't met ...

From 1967 to 1983, the J. Geils Band recorded several hits, including "First I Look at the Purse," "Love Stinks" and the 1981 single "Centerfold," which stayed on top of the Billboard charts for ...