My first thought was Detroit. But, we actually want people to go there. And survive.
Austin, Texas would be a good choice. They already have a Stevie Ray statue.
I think Cleveland’s claim is that the term “rock and roll” was coined here. Though I’ll agree that the name of the genre isn’t as important as the genre itself.
Detroit? What claim does Detroit have to being a founding spot of rock ‘n’ roll?
Memphis has Sam Phillips, of course. But Chicago has Chess Records, which trumps Sam for total importance. And New York has the Brill Building writers (even though most of them were in other buildings in real life) and they swamp Chicago for sheer numbers.
Freed and Cleveland’s claims are pretty solid. He made the genre by naming it and finding records that fit into the name and playing them encouraging producers to create more stuff he would play, in a virtuous circle. He started the concerts and the hysteria of teens.
Memphis and Chicago and New York each made a single type of music. Rock needed to consolidate each of those and many more to emerge as the all-encompassing giant it is today. That’s a big reason I find these purist arguments ridiculous and historically ignorant. Rock always was a mongrel. It embraced everything and pureed the originals into a new form of music. The HoF has to recognize that. If you want to celebrate one particular strain start your own HoF. Just don’t call it rock ‘n’ roll because it won’t be.
They do a few “covers”.
And, as said, thus they should give the award to the producers and record labels who scouted and made the bands.
I don’t know that Detroit has a greater claim than the other cities, but a whole bunch of notable acts came out of The Motor City. To name a few:
Alice Cooper
Anita Baker
Aretha Franklin
Bob Seger
Brownsville Station
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Del Shannon
Edwin Starr
Eminem
The Four Tops
Funkadelic
Gladys Knight & The Pips
Glenn Frey
Grand Funk Railroad
Iggy Pop
Jack White
Jackie Wilson
John Lee Hooker
Junior Walker & The All Stars
Kid Rock
The Knack
Madonna
Marshall Crenshaw
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
The Marvelettes
Marvin Gaye
Mary Wells
MC5
The Miracles
Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
Question Mark & the Mysterians
Rare Earth
Ray Parker Jr.
The Romantics
Smokey Robinson
The Spinners
Stevie Wonder
The Stooges
The Supremes
Suzi Quatro
The Temptations
Ted Nugent
Tommy James & The Shondells
Wilson Pickett
Detroit was home to the legendary Grande Ballroom and CREEM magazine. The city also has a kick-ass Kiss anthem going for it. “Cleveland Rocks” is a fine song, but it ain’t got nothing on “Detroit Rock City”
Yeah, of course it has a great lineup. But the claim was a “founding” city. Detroit’s ascendance came in the 1960s. That’s a decade too late. Might as well throw in Los Angeles or San Francisco if you want to go there. (Hint: You don’t.)
So which city was built on rock ‘n’ roll?
flees
I came in here to say something similar. No Jethro Tull, no Blind Faith, no Alan Parsons, no Ten Years After, no Kansas. At least Frank Zappa is in there, and Traffic.
(oooo! I only know one song by Ten Years After, the one in the Woodstock movie, and to this very day it still raises the hairs on the back of my neck. For that one song, they deserve ‘in’.)
I agree with your sentiment as well but you can’t base requirements on sales, charts, Top Ten, #1s, Billboard, etc…
A lot of the most popular, influential, genre-bending artists who ARE deserving have never had that kind of success.