Van Halen
REM
Patti Smith
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5
the Ronettes
special tribute to Ahmet Ertegun
This was referenced in a previous thread about Eddie Van Halen’s appearance, but the “who made it” aspect of the article wasn’t discussed and I think is worth a discussion by Dopers…
Your thoughts? I am fine with the choices - coulda done without the Ronettes, but am pleased that Grandmaster Flash made it in - sure, it’s rap/hip-hop, but it grew out of rock and he is the original master of two turntables and a microphone - and since the RnRHOF has inducted folks from other genres before, this one makes sense to me…
I saw the part with Van Halen. They made some good music, didn’t they? They’re not in “my era”, but my kids played their stuff and we watched the MTV videos. So much energy, and Eddie – is anyone better on the guitar?
I fucking hate the chopped up version they show on VH1. I would have enjoyed seeing the full ceremony, specifically the entire speeches by R.E.M., Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, and Van Halen. Oh, wait. Only one founding member of VH made it out! Michael Anthony and Hagar looked pretty good though. I know Eddie is in rehab, but shit, Alex couldn’t make it out? And what the hell went down between them that they can’t patch it up for a night?
It was awesome seeing R.E.M. with Bill Berry doing “Gardening At Night.”
Anyway, would be nice to see the whole thing unedited, maybe at 3 am on a Saturday night.
I love REM, and they definitely deserve to be included. Best band of the past 20 years, IMO.
Patti Smith is awesome too.
The only Ronettes I’ve heard is on the Phil Spector Christmas album.
Don’t care much about Van Halen.
Grandmaster Flash, wasn’t he in the Sugarhill Gang? He deserves to be in for that. Never heard of the Furious Five.
The ultimate 1960’s garage band has been neglected once again - Paul Revere and the Raiders. This is surprising because one of their songs (“Just Like Me”) is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Top 500 songs.
Perhaps the voters have a negative view of them because of their uniforms, their wacky antics, etc. Truth be told, they were serious musicians and one of the few groups at the time that really played on their recordings. :eek: Yes, even groups such as the much celebrated “Beach Boys” used studio musicians and ahem … “additional” musicians (for live appearances).
I have no problem with any of the selections except Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. [Grumpy Old Man] That ain’t rock and roll. That’s not the music they played in my day.[/Grumpy Old Man]
**TK ** - Grandmaster Flash literally *invented * “two turntables and a microphone” - i.e., setting up two turntables, queuing up two versions of the same LP and scratching back to the break - the good, instrumental bit of a song that was the most fun to dance to - and alternating between each LP to keep the break going. Of course that led to swapping in a new LP on one side to transition to a new break beat, and of course, talking over the instrumental part to get the party going. DJ Kool Herc is known for doing that - “toasting” before it evolved into “rapping” - but Flash is the one who extended the break beats…
And with the Furious Five, they released The Message, the first popular socially-conscious rap song, along with other big hits.