Since the band's 1960s heyday, the influence of the Byrds on successive generations of rock and pop musicians has grown steadily, with acts such as the Eagles, Big Star, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, R.E.M., the Bangles, the Smiths, and innumerable alternative rock bands of the post-punk era all exhibiting signs of their influence. Musician and author Peter Lavezzoli described the Byrds in 2007 as "one of the few bands to exert a decisive influence on the Beatles", while also noting that they helped to persuade Bob Dylan to begin recording with electric instrumentation. Lavezzoli concluded that "like it or not, terms like "folk rock," "raga rock" and "country rock" were coined for a reason: the Byrds did it first, and then kept moving, never staying in the "raga" or "country" mode for very long. This is precisely what made the Byrds such a rewarding band to follow from one record to the next."