I like several of those guys. One's from my hometown, as is another yet-unmentioned guitar god of the 80s, Prince. I just meant we had been focusing on the metal side, so that whole group wasn't relevant.
I agree.
While we're at it, I'll throw in the holy trinity of Iron Maiden guitarists - Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers. Although, Janick didn't join until 1990.
Then, there's the great Chris DeGarmo from Queensryche. The band never really recovered from his departure.
And, while Blue Oyster Cult had their hey day in the 1970s, they had some good Martin Birch produced albums in the early 80s. Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser is one of the most underrated, and the most underrated, guitar player of all time.