Go-Go’s? (Hell, if Linda and Pat are in, they should be. At least they wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. Bjork? I’d put her in way before Linda and Pat for writing her own music, eclectic musical tastes, and being influential. Might be a tough “rock n roll” sell, but if Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode eventually get in, she should.
ETA: I picked them, not because they’ll soon become eligible (I think they both are already), but because they should get in soon-ish.
Both are, in fact, already eligible. The Go-Gos first album was released in 1981, so they’ve been eligible for over a decade; Bjork’s first solo album came out in 1993, so she became eligible last year.
I might put Bjork in a similar spot with Kate Bush (who was nominated last year) – much more popular outside the U.S., which I suspect is a factor in lack of support for induction.
A couple of predictions, with no comments as to worthiness, just the politics of the thing:
Foo Fighters will be eligible next year. It seems that everyone in the business likes Dave Grohl, plus there’s the Nirvana connection. I’d say they’ll be inducted their first year of eligibility. Personally, I loved the first two albums, but lost interest around the 4th album as it just sounded like more of the same.
Given that almost every music critic on the planet had a massive boner for them in the early 00s, The White Stripes are a lock when they become eligible in 2024.
We will never see a hardcore punk or death metal band inducted. But I never thought we’d see any prog bands beyond Genesis and Pink Floyd inducted and I turned out to be wrong there.
Well, scrolling down on the link I posted in 53, I find a list of those who have been nominated but never inducted; which, weirdly enough, is far SHORTER than the list of actual inductees, leaving me to suspect that almost everyone who gets nominated eventually gets in.
Bad Brains and the Replacements have been nominated in the past; neither would make my personal top 50 list of hardcore punk bands, but they were definitely part of that scene.
Hamlet: I agree with your comments on Pat Benatar. And I think the same can also be said about Joan Jett, yet she was inducted in 2015.
So who’s the very shittiest act in the Hall? I’m leaning towards Chicago, but it’s hard to count out the Bee Gees, Cheap Trick, the Eagles, Def Leppard, Donovan, or James Taylor.
Oh, hell no to Cheap Trick being a shitty act. Are you kidding me? One of the great power pop bands of all time, and strongly influential to anyone with an ear for pop melodies!
The only one I might disagree with here is Def Leppard; the rest are very good and accomplished artists, yes even the Bee Gees! (The pre-disco Bee Gees were phenomenal!)
And the Bee Gees were great at disco too. They were just all round great songwriters, and well worthy of a place in any hall of fame.
Def Leppard though :dubious:
You’d be hard pressed to find too many artists as influential as Kraftwerk in or out of the Hall.
Donovan ant Taylor were great songwriters and all the rest definitely deserve induction. Even Chicago started out great before they turned to mediocrity, and their success after that puts them in the running.
And the only reason to dis the Eagles is to show you saw The Big Lebowski
Here’s Kraftwerk having a bit of a “Marty McFly/Chuck Berry’s cousin in 1955” moment from 1970
Of those, only Donovan is weak. The others are all bona fide HoF acts.
The Hall has tweaked the other categories over the years. In the past, Performer and Non-Performer were quite distinct. But a few years ago, the Hall removed Non-Performer as a category and replaced it with an annual Award for Musical Excellence, which is a broader category. Some inductees are strict non-performers, but it has also been used for people who wear a lot of hats in the music business, or people whose performing career is split over several acts. Leon Russell and Nile Rogers both get in this way. If Todd Rundgren doesn’t get in as a performer in the next few years, he will probably be inducted for the Award for Musical Excellence.
Interestingly, Chic was nominated seven times but not inducted, but they haven’t been nominated since Nile Rogers got in.
I’m a huge Todd fan, and think he should get in for his music both solo and with Utopia, but I’m a realist about his chances. He’s constantly changed his style, and that is not how you get into the Hall of Fame. And he’s never had the sales to be anything other than “Todd Who?” to the majority of the public and the voting members.
On the other hand, as the producer of Badfinger, Grand Funk “We’re An American Band”, XTC “Skylarking” and Meatloaf “Bat Out of Hell” he’s a shoe-in.
Easy Question. The Lovin’ Spoonful
Chicago?? 
I think the HoF is as full of shit as anyone else here, but if any group deserves to be in there, it’s Chicago. They were one of the biggest and highest selling musical acts of the 1970s. That’s like saying Springsteen or R.E.M. doesn’t belong.
Not sure.
?
I checked Wikipedia’s list of music acts ranked by career record sales.
I concede that ALMOST everyone who sold anywhere near as many albums as Chicago are in the Hall. In fact, if they weren’t in the Hall, they would be the very MOST commercially successful rock act (as defined by Wikipedia) to be denied that honor.
On the other hand: they didn’t sell as many records as either Coldplay or Linkin Park, who are both nearly eligible.
And the list of eligible candidates who aren’t in is currently headed by Cher, Foreigner, Meat Loaf, Alabama, and Bryan Adams. They all sold ALMOST as many records as Chicago, and I think the HoF can get along without any of them.
They’re right around the level of commercial success where sucking won’t keep you out of the Hall, but they’re not clearly on the safe side of the line.
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