Nah, that’s crap. When AC/DC recorded “It’s a Long Way to the Top”, they did so looooooooong before they ever left Australia for London, and looooooooooong before “Back in Black” or “Highway to Hell” was ever recorded. They made “Long Way” replete with all it’s cynicism and world weariness back in 1975 in a dusty Sydney studio for a grand total of $6,500 in studio costs. And it remains one of the greatest rock classics ever recorded. So they really meant what they were saying when they made that song. It was the real deal, and they were as poor and as broke as any struggling band in the music scene at the time. The tune was a sleeper hit here in Australia which made a little bit of money for Festival Records, a family owned local label, and then the song fell into the department of “lost classics” waiting to be rediscovered by later generations. In my opinion, that’s what the real spirit of making ballsy music is about. Just do it. Damn the costs or the consequences. Just get it out there, somehow. If it’s good enough, it’ll get discovered eventually.
Most importantly of all, you don’t need no goddamned Hall of Fucking Fame to feel vindicated. As the original artist, you’re vindicated everytime some new teenager hears your tune and rocks their head.
FTR, I have nothing against Mr. Seger. In fact I like “Mainstreet”, which is generally overlooked. I just think that ELO should have been nominated by now.
As for the other bands mentioned, I agree that Black Sabbath and AC/DC should be in as representatives of their genre.
I think Jeff Lynne will eventually go in solo as a producer (whether or not you like his style).
Since the time frame is 25 years, it will interesting to see who makes it from the 80’s. with artists from 1980 becoming eligible next year.
Sorry, but I’m not spilling any tears over the bypassing of a band that wrote such an inane lyric, “Don’t bring me down, Groos”.
For years I thought he was singing “Bruce” and really rolling the R, which in itself raised any number of questions. Then, asking about the song here, I learned that it’s “Groos”. Just a nonsense word to fill the note.
Jeff was on VH1’s Storytellers a couple of years ago and said that he did indeed make up “groos” as a filler word. He was informed by the studio engineer that the word was similar to the German word for “greetings” (Grüße). However, since everybody thought he was saying “Bruce”, he started singing “Bruce” in concert.
I agree that it’s not one of ELO’s better tunes. In fact, Discovery, or “Disco-very” as it was often referred to, is way down my list of favorite ELO albums.
Once you get to the late 80s, it’s hard to leave out Guns 'n Roses. Still, I think the years of 80s eligibility will be some good chances to induct the people left behind in previous years.
The inductees obviously favor not only the names people know, but the music they hear on a regular basis. Most people in the know would agree that the Sex Pistols were incredibly influential, but when is the last time you listened to that album? Meanwhile, some of Bob Seger’s hits are damn near unavoidable.
uh…Scholz…Tom Scholz of Boston and the Rockman and all that other stuff.
Minor nit.
Oh - and while Mr. Blue Sky is a good song (and a wonderful Doper) - c’mon - ELO?! Honestly - who cares? The did Telephone Line and Medieval Woman - jeez, what crap.
The fact that the Sabs have not been inducted is beyond stupid - even if they don’t want in themselves. They are essential to the music we listen to today - anything remotely heavy past, oh, 1978 or so is all about Black Sabbath. You can’t even remotely say that about ELO.
One can only hope, although I must say that I would have seriously doubted that Britney Spears would do “Satisfaction” or “I Love Rock and Roll”. (I have never been less convinced that an artist did, in fact, love rock and roll.)
In re the R&R Hall of Fame, they still haven’t inducted The Stooges, have they? The big ninnies.
