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From the style of music you are interested in, you're dead on the money with which type of guitar to get.
Anything with single coil pickups should give you that smooth blues or treble-y funk ound (Ray Vaughan, Hendrix, Chili Peppers etc...).
The Tele is a great guitar, but a little bit too twangy for my tastes. It is the go to guitar for countryfied blues. Not enough bottom end though for alt rock.
The middle of the road would be a Strat if you could afford it, but the Fender Jazzmaster and Fender Jaguar are both great guitars for the price (you should be able to find one for around $500, just not the signature series). They would definately give you the sound you're after.
When you move into the Gibson/Epiphone line, you're looking at humbuckers which give you way more bottom end and warmth, but it comes at a price as they tend to feedback more at higher volumes, at least in my experience. Think Jimmy Page, Slash etc...
A great song to listen to is the Beatles' Get Back. Lennon is playing an Epiphone Casino (an awesome guitar and something worth looking at if you want a humbucker guitar with wamth, and they're only $350-$500) and Harrison is playing a Telecaster. You can hear the distinct differences in them as Lennon takes the lead and Harrison the rythym. Harrison's backing work shows the chunkiness of the Tele and the twang, and Lennon's work showcases the warmth and smoothness of the humbucker style guitars.
One thing I would recommend is narrowing it down to who your favourite guitarists are, find out what they played, and find a similar guitar in your price range - there are budget versions of EVERY guitar out there, and each one can give a beginner satisfactory results.
Oh, and I will assume you don't play guitar - I would suggest going with the Fender style guitar, as the body type allows for a lower action (the space between the strings and the neck) which isn't as hard on your fingers as the higher action on humbucker guitars, which (with the exception of the Les Paul) tend to be hallow body.
Sorry for rambling, hope there's some good advice in there somewhere!