The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is showing its age, I’m afraid.
There really aren’t many new nominees to consider, so sooner or later everybody even remotely eligible is going to be nominated, and everyone nominated is going to be elected.
I love rock and roll, so this is sad, and it makes me feel like a relic.
I like Def Leppard, but Priest and Maiden should get in first. They’ll get the fan vote. Also, Radiohead, Rage, Todd Rundgren, John Prine, and either LL or Janet.
Seconded. We can argue about who started that computer-generated-like sound (I would say Isao Tomita) but they were the ones to really put it on the map and before the general public.
Not a great list. Good acts, but nothing that really stands out as “Damn, of course, they should be in.” Even Devo or the Zombies – the ones that was easiest for me – don’t have very strong cases to be there.
Yeah, there are a lot of examples of that already in the Hall.
Take the Zombies, because I like the Zombies. But they had, what, three hit singles? And they were not one of those groups who had a career of great albums but few or no top-40 hits. And dozens of contemporaneous bands were more influential. The Zombies shouldn’t even be on the ballot.
Kraftwerk : Enormous influence, distinctive sound and really catchy songs. They definitely should be in although calling them “rock” is a stretch.
Radiohead : If there’s only one '90s band to remember, it’s them. Musically ambitious which is something that is not frequent in rock, and highly successful at it, too. The Clash were “the only band that matters”, Radiohead is the last one that mattered as far as I’m concerned. They definitely should be in.
The Cure : If you had told me in the '80s that the only band from that era to still be huge 30 years later was U2, I’d have had a good laugh. The Cure seemed so much more important, then. At least until 1988. Again, a very distinctive soundworld and style, some far-ranging influence and tons of great songs including over half a dozen major hits. They definitely should be in.
Roxy Music : I’m not a big fan but they deserve some recognition.
Stevie Nicks : Is Fleetwood Mac in ? If yes, I’m not sure her solo career is strong enough for a personal recognition. Still, she is a great frontwoman with charisma and a distinctive voice. Not a great singing voice but she uses it extremely well. If not, let her in, now.
Typically five to seven from the annual “performers” list of nominees; I believe that nominees which are selected on more than 50% of the total ballots get inducted.
I love the Zombies. But what I really mean by that is that those three hit singles are wonderful, play-'em-over-and-over-again are aural liquid gold. That’s not a Hall of Fame career.
