So the Zombies just made it. Good for them. But I question how they were inducted over other deserving bands of that type.
One of those bands being Paul Revere and the Raiders. Ive been tempted to start a thread about them after rediscovering them last year. I’m pretty sure they have been passed by due to their hokey stage get-ups but Mark Lindsay and gang were serious about their music. Plus The Kid had some pretty good guitar chops.
OK, I’ll admit I’m a fan, but I’m not surprised that they haven’t been inducted. It’s hard to pin down exactly why, but I will chalk it up to lack of relevance. When I think of The Zombies, for example, I think of what they brought to the musical scene at the time. (I also think of Bunny Lake Is Missing, but that’s a different story.) Like The Velvet Underground and some other contemporary groups/performers, they helped turn a figurative corner. As much as I like PR&TR, they were a talented musical group that did well…and that’s about it. I would not, in casual conversation, bring them up as a group that is an exemplar in some respect. My college-age nieces and nephews are aware of The Zombies, but just sort of roll their eyes if I mention PR&TR.
Here’s my suspicion about Paul Revere & the Raiders, which would probably apply to a lot of other, similar bands:
Too short of a peak
Not enough music which endured
Not considered to be particularly influential by later musicians
Not enough of a fan base which continues to support the band, and pushes for their nomination
Now, if you’re a fan, you can (and should!) argue those points. But, the R&RHOF already really has all of the obvious choices as enshrinees (other than bands which haven’t yet met the “25 years since first record” requirement). Thus, most of the bands which get inducted now seem to elicit a lot of disagreement about their induction by music fans, and there are a lot of fans of good acts who aren’t in, who now point to, “well, hell, if is in the Hall, why isn’t my favorite band?”
I would guess that, if the case for a band’s induction falls short on at least two of the above, they’re going to have a hard time getting considered.
Also, point #3 above seems to be a big one that the voters consider, and a number of acts which didn’t have big commercial success, or weren’t around for very long, have gotten in specifically because of this point.
On edit: ZonexandScout’s post suggests that the Raiders may fall short on #2 and #4.
Good points all of course and valid but one could argue the same points against the Zombies.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not screaming about the injustice of PRandTRs not getting in in general but if you are letting in the Zombies it seems there are other bands along those same lines who deserve it… maybe even more so.
Maybe so, and really, all of it is subjective. As I noted, pretty good cases could be made that most recent inductees aren’t as “deserving” as acts that are still on the outside.
I could argue that the Zombies’ music (at least a few of their songs, particularly “Time of the Season,” “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No”) has been more enduring, but again, that’s subjective.
Yeah, those songs are absolutely wonderful. More importantly, they were all written by Rod Argent. He’s well-respected both as a songwriter and a keyboardist. I think that counted for a lot.
The problem with the Raiders is that they weren’t just perceived as lightweight goofballs, but that half or more of their hits weren’t written by them and that the ones that were had producer Terry Melcher as a co-writer.
According to Wiki their first three top 20 hits were “Just Like Me,” by Rick Dey and Rich Brown, and then “Kicks” and “Hungry,” both by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. “Good Thing,” and “Him or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?” were by Lindsey and Melcher and “I had a Dream” were by them and Isaac Hayes and David Porter. “Too Much Talk,” which didn’t appear on an album, and “Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon” were by Lindsey. Their last hit and only number one, “Indian Reservation” was by John D. Loudermilk.
None of those songs are as good as the Zombies’ hits, even though that’s mostly a good solid list of 60’s pop, with “Kicks” and “Good Thing” my favorites. (“Mostly” because some are so obscure they bring nothing to memory.) But The Turtles had just as many top 20 hits. And Herman’s Hermits had almost as many as both of them put together. I like their catalogs more than the Radiers’.
The kicker is that I don’t think the Zombies should have made it in. How can I cheer for a band with even weaker credentials?
The point applies to any Hall of Fame. You don’t look for the weakest member and use that as an excuse to let in anybody. You look at the weakest member and say that you’ll never do that again.
R&R lore has it that the group was legendary for live performances. I think if video of some of their weekend gigs at the Dance Castle or other hangouts had survived, not just the lip-synched, cutesy stuff from Dick Clark shows, Paul Revere and the Raiders would be honored alongside James Brown, Janis Joplin, and those type of performers.
And remember, the freakin’ MOODY BLUES didn’t get into the RRHOF until last year.
(“Why else does he wear a mask? Why else does he conceal his past? Wouldja think about that a moment, my friends? Whenever you’ve seen Batman, who is he with? Criminals, that’s who! You look in the old newspapers: every picture of Batman shows him with thugs and with thieves and hobnobbing with crooks! Whereas my pictures show me always surrounded by whom? By the police!”)
Like it or not, whether you wrote your own stuff is clearly a major criterion in the eyes of the committee. A criterion. Not the only one. But it seems to matter, bigly.
It may or may not mean anything to this question, but PR&tR are a band that are pretty much unknown outside the USA. I’ve heard of them, of course, but I’m a total rock nerd… and I couldn’t name any of their tunes.
Mine is Johnny Rivers, who did write his #1 hit and had great results with that distinctive twangy ‘Secret Agent Man’ sound in his Whiskey-A-Go-Go days.
There’s a Non-Performer category that covers songwriters quite well. If you want to judge performers by their songwriting output, you can toss out Aretha Franklin, Darlene Love, Dusty Springfield, and almost every act that performed for Motown Records.
I still strain to wrap my head around an era when a kid can get off the train from New Orleans with only his guitar and a fistful of songs… and get a gig playing at the hottest new club. Then get an offer to put a band together and play every night!
Not to mention get album deals where they stick a microphone in his face and pick up all the crowd noises. But they’re Whiskey-A-Go-Go noises, so it’s a blast. And worthy of any Hall O’ Fame.
