THEY'RE BAAAAACK ... The return of the Slammie Awards

As part of our 15th anniversary year, we're bringing the Slammies back from the dead for a special "15 years of rawk" edition that honors not just current artists but the past 15 years of the South Florida music scene.

The original South Florida Slammie Awards ran from 1992 through 1999, outlasting most Florida-based rock awards events (there were many) during the booming '90s music scene. Featuring everyone from Marilyn Manson, Puya and Nonpoint to Against All Authority, Further Seems Forever and New Found Glory, the Slammies spanned the full spectrum of styles in cutting-edge hard music, from punk to metal to hardcore with a little indie thrown in. And, of course, a mosh pit or two.

When the local music scene sputtered in the new millennium, Slammie Productions concentrated on the growing demand for national acts and became a mainstay on the club scene with regular concerts that continue at venues from Miami to Palm Beach. The occasion of the 15th anniversary of the birth of the Slammies gives us the impetus to look back at an impressive array of area talent that should at the least give us hope that South Florida remains a fertile breeding ground for great music.

A good chunk of the nominees come from those 1990s glory days but there's also a fair share of representation from the current scene, and we especially recognize the hardy souls who refuse to stop and span several eras of local music.

With apologies to everyone we missed, here's a very unscientific survey of South Florida's original music scene ...