2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Cafe Society
1

This year the list of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include

[ul]
[li]Leonard Cohen[/li][li]Dave Clark Five[/li][li]Madonna[/li][li]John Mellencamp[/li][li]The Ventures[/li][/ul]

As I understand it, every year five performers are inducted out of a list that is established by a group of music historians. The nominees are eligible after 25 years in the music business. The primary criteria is “the influence and significance of the artist’s contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.”

The problem I have is that five acts are inducted EVERY year. Doesn’t it seem like it should be more like the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which an inductee must get a certain percentage (75% for baseball, not sure what it would be for R&R) to become inducted? Look at the list of artists that will become eligible in 2010 .

It seems like way too many second and third-rate acts are making it in every year.

Also, as a sidenote… the acts that are inducted are allowed to choose who will induct them, correct? It seems like Eddie Vedder, Bono, and Springsteen are some of the most commonly chosen to induct others.

Who will Madonna choose to induct her? I would have gone with Britney a few years back, but have no idea now.

2

From Wiki:

Want to try your rant over again?

3

I, for one, think it’s about damned time that The Ventures were inducted. They should have been inducted about 30 seconds after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was founded, and it’s a shame that Mel Taylor isn’t alive to see the band get its due.

I hope they play Apache at the induction ceremony.

4

Hopefully Clark’s inclusion will inspire a change of heart regarding his hoarding of the *“Ready, Steady, Go!” * archives.

5

Good Lord. I’m not sure there’s one band in the 2010 list that I’d put in.

And, again, with Rush sitting out there not inducted when bands like this are:

Blondie
The Dells
Brenda Lee
The Flamingos
Ritchie Valens
Steely Dan
The Mamas and the Papas
Buffalo Springfield (one album!)

I could go on…

Look, most of the inductees and good bands and performers. Even the ones not remotely connected to mainstream rock can get my blessing. But leaving Rush out of the mix is some sort of snobbish elitism that’s just damn silly.

FREE THE TORONTO THREE!

6

But I find Rush unlistenable and Steely Dan up close to the Beatles as the best group in history. That’s why you don’t need a unanimous vote.

Buffalo Springfield did three albums, BTW.

7

Indeed. That’s why I will never visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or buy an issue of Rolling Stone.

The Hall of Fame is a joke anyway. Look at some of the artists who are eligible but who have never been inducted:

The above mentioned Rush, Genesis/Peter Gabriel, Deep Purple/Rainbow, Jethro Tull, Yes, Moody Blues, Steve Miller Band, Alice Cooper, The Hollies, KISS, Cheap Trick, Chicago, Dire Straits, BTO, The Guess Who, Duran Duran, The Cars, The Doobie Brothers, Boston, ELO, Three Dog Night, Styx, Donovan, Hall and Oats, Cat Stevens, The Smiths, Roxy Music, Def Leppard, Jim Croce, The Zombies, Iggy Pop, The Cure, Foreigner, Journey, Warren Zevon, Steve Winwood/Blind Faith/Spencer Davis Group, Grand Funk, Jeff Beck, The Replacements, The Spinners, Billy Idol, Steppenwolf, ELP, MC5, Blue Oyster Cult, Bad Company, Joe Jackson, Depeche Mode, The Carpenters, Kansas, Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, Bryan Adams, Tom Waits, The Commodores, REO Speedwagon, Devo, Peter Paul and Mary, America, The Turtles, The Alan Parsons Project, Billy Squier…

I understand they can only induct so many each year, but come on…look at some of those artists. Those are some pretty big names.

Well, until they get their act together, I’m officially boycotting them.

8

Yeah. And King Crimson, which opened the door for about 1/4 of your list.

9

Of course the fact that the nominating committee just keep nominating the same acts until they get in makes it harder.

10

Leonard Cohen? What’s the closest thing he’s done to rock?

11

It may not be rock and roll, but Leonard Cohen would get my vote for writing this beautiful song:

12

Okay… how is this. Shouldn’t the 50% minimum percentage be raised to a higher number? It seems like some rather mediocre acts are getting in.

13

I find it odd that the Rock Hall of Fame has a large “art rock” exhibit section (Robert Fripp famously told them to go to hell when they asked for some contributions), but hasn’t seen fit to induct any art rock bands!

Whatever you may think of, Yes or the Moody Blues, for instance, they were innovative, they were influential, they sold tens of millions of records, and have sold out arenas all over the world for decades. Why they aren’t in the Hall of Fame (while Frankie Freaking Valli and the 4 Seasons are!) is beyond me.

14

Up until now, I’ve generally felt that the inductees that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame selects each year have at least some reason for being there. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out why they would ever select the Dave Clark Five for induction. What kind of influence did they ever have on rock and roll music? Did the Dave Clark Five ever innovate anything? Do you know of anyone who learned guitar, drums, bass or keyboards because they were inspired by the Dave Clark Five?

15

Years ago, I was flipping through a book called The 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Albums of All Time (or something like that). I quickly noticed that there was something “odd” about their listings, then when I saw their winner for the top spot (Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells a Story), I did some further reading in the introduction. It seems that they felt that the only albums which qualified were those where you had a vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. Keyboards of any kind were right out, and God forbid that you actually used a synthesizer! (All of which makes me wonder if Jerry Lee Lewis wasn’t playing rock and roll, what was he playing?) It seems that the judges at the HoF subscribe to a similar theory. Fuckwits.

16

His totally not being rock is totally rock.

Ole Laughing lenny - you gotta love him!

17

Am I the only one who watched this last night? Madonna’s face looked scarily immobile!