I've been a Laurie Anderson fan since "O Superman" – and, coincidentally, she was the person who first hipped me to William Burroughs (via his appearance on the "Mister Heartbreak" album). Her current album is pretty amazing. I highly recommend it.

And Loudon Wainwright III is great too, though I didn't really discover his music until the mid-90s. Before that, he was the guy with the guitar in a few early MASH episodes to me.