Some may say “who are Starz and Angel?”- my point exactly.
I don’t understand how you could add Madonna to this. How is she rock and roll? She is pop. Is there a definition as to what is considered rock? How did MJ get in? Isn’t “Beat It” his only rock song? Seems like it should just be the Pop Music Hall of Fame. At least KISS is rock.
Well if cultural impact is the only criteria then the Macarena is one of the greatest songs in history.
:dubious:
Logan:
Good question. I don’t think there’s a real distinction, historically, between “pop” and “rock.” Most Beatles and Beach Boys songs would certainly be “pop” rather than “rock” if you were to divide the two the way you seem to be. Has “rock” come to mean only “hard rock”?
From the RRHOF web site:
Given that, I don’t see how you could NOT have KISS in the HoF.
Honestly, no offense to the man, but Clyde McPhatter is in and even his HoF bio admits:
So an “undernoticed” 1950’s era artist gets in, but the single most noticed group of the late 70’s doesn’t?
Damn it, I’m bad lately. “On and off stage”. Jeebus Cripes, I have a problem.
Yeah - what he said about Warren Zevon! 
VCNJ~
If I get a vote, I vote “No.” All flash, no substance.
I want to print this on a banner.
I don’t think “rock” should just mean “hard rock”, however when I think of “rock” I don’t think of Madonna, nor do I think of folk music, soul, jazz or dance/hiphop. I can appreciate how all these genres can influence each other and give rise to new forms/hybrids, but I can’t see the BeeGees, Miles Davis or Simon and Garfunkel as “rock”. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy any of these artists. In fact I like most of the artists that have been inducted, I just don’t consider some of them to be “rock”. I think of “pop” as a larger catagory that can include rock acts, disco, folk, what have you. Isn’t “pop” short for popular music? I personally consider the Beatles and the Beach Boys to be both rock and pop. I see King Crimson as “rock” but not “pop”. Take Billy Joel (please! nyuk, nyuk) for example. I don’t consider “Piano Man” a rock song, but I would say “Pressure” is and fittingly, so is “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me”.
Anyway, still think KISS should be in, they had cool lunch boxes!
And yes zoid, that means Shaun Cassidy, The Bionic Woman and the Munsters should be in there as well. 
Forgive me my ignorance and any potential heresy, but isn’t Warren Zevon best known for a song that repeats the exact same piano riff over and over and over and over and over, with no variation whatsoever, whilst the vocals go “Ah-oooooooooo” repeatedly?
I remember hearing that song for the first time, and thinking, “This is the genius I’ve heard so much about?”
Anyway, when Rush can’t get elected to the R&R HoF, nobody deserves to get in. I’ll second whoever suggested that kissing the critics’ collective ass is the primary criteria for entry.
Warren Zevon is one of the best and most respected singer/songwriters of the rock era. He’s a legend among his peers, and has a fanatical following. The man was classically trained (taught by Igor Stravinsky, no less). He was the musical director for the Everly Brothers. As a solo artist, he was utterly unique, and hugely influential with other artists. His last album won several Grammy awards.
One of the saddest things about his career is that to many, he’s only known as “The guy who did that werewolf song.” It’s probably the least sophisticated song he wrote - which is probably why it’s also his biggest hit. And it’s not even among his top 20 best songs.
Randy Newman suffers from the same problem - one of the most gifted songwriters in the last 30 years, and yet many people remember him as “The guy who wrote that song about short people”. Or now, maybe as the guy who wrote the song in Toy Story.
If all you know Zevon from is “Werewolves of London”, do youself a favor and get “Warren Zevon”, his eponymous album, or “Excitable Boy” (the one Werewolves on it), or maybe “Genius”, one of his greatest hits collections. Give the guy a chance, and you won’t be sorry.
Cool - ignorance fought. I’ll check out some of his other material. I read a glowing article about him shortly after he died, and having never heard of him, I wondered what the big deal was about. Hearing nothing but “Werewolf in London” over and over on classic rock radio didn’t help.
And the Archies. Kiss was fun and even had some decent songs, but the Hall of Fame? Seriously?
I don’t care that much, but… NO.
Sales aren’t everything.
Fucking word UP, man.
Scratch one hell of a lot of critical darling bands (from metal to alt to pop) and you find performers who started out wanting to play the chords to Tom Sawyer. Hell, Smashing Pumpkins used to quote Limelight on stage.
Mind you, I suspect Lee, Lifeson and Peart don’t care.
Really, Rush isn’t in there? Then it IS a popularity contest, really, with a decent dose of racial politics, to make sure that the early “rock” groups get in.
On the other hand, that attitude didn’t seem to help Buck O’Neil, who needs to be in the MLB HOF on the basis of his retirement alone.
Look at the way the whole thing works. It’s a joke. It;s not like the baseball HOF. The same critices just nbominate the same bands until thet get in. In 2006 Black Sabbath made it on their 8th try, *Lynyrd Skynyrd * on their 7th, the Sex Pistols * on their 5th. Other nominees included 5th timers the Stooges, J.Geils Band, Chic, * Cat Stevens, and the *Sir Douglas Quintet *.
Still never nominated are Rush, Van Halen, Yes, Genesis, ELO, Alice Cooper, Duran Duran.
Look at the way the whole thing works. It’s a joke. It’s not like the baseball HOF. The same critics just nominate the same bands until they get in. In 2006 Black Sabbath made it on their 8th try, *Lynyrd Skynyrd * on their 7th, the Sex Pistols * on their 5th. Other nominees included 5th timers the Stooges, J.Geils Band, Chic, * Cat Stevens, and the *Sir Douglas Quintet *.
Still never nominated are Rush, Van Halen, Yes, Genesis, ELO, Alice Cooper, Duran Duran.
Van Halen has never been nominated? I always figured they were a shoe-in for launching a new genre.
I knew about the disdain for Rush and figured it was the same for Yes and Genesis, but I figured ELO would be in there too. They seem like a critics-style band. Maybe the 1000 voters are older than I thought.