Maybe we should just wrap it up, as we’ve just inducted The Only Band That Matters. Yes, The Clash, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and The Police have been honored this week! Water could not be reached for comment.
This week we welcome the numerous class of 2004 nominees, plus five holdovers. Jefferson Airplane return for their ninth bite at the apple, with previous vote percentages of 15, 16, 18, 25, 34, 32, 37, and 33. Let’s party like it’s 2004!
I voted when the latest poll was posted but never got around to explaining my choices, specifically one questionable choice.
First, the easy one: if I had to pick the top three from all years, not just one year, Prince would be in the list. The number of artists who got their start because of him, the number who had hit songs written by him, all the artists who are compared to him…it’s mindboggling. Rolling Stone ranks him the 14th greatest guitarist of all time, the 16th greatest singer, and the 18th greatest songwriter – all in one person. Let’s acknowledge both that these lists are arbitrary, but also that you don’t end up in the top 20 of every category if you aren’t amazing.
And then there’s Bob Seger. I don’t actually think he’s deserving, but there were no other must-choose artists for me so I threw him a vote just to raise awareness. Live Bullet was one of my growing-up albums so I have a soft spot for him. He’s unfortunately maligned for “Like a Rock” (rightly so) which is all most people know about him (along with Tom Cruise dancing), but his other work was really good. And he’s a genuinely good guy, supporting progressive causes and putting a lot of money into supporting music and his Michigan community. Check out his stuff if you haven’t listened to him for a long time.
U2 is the only legitimate pick for me. It’s too bad they seem to have become more of a punchline in recent years, but their first three albums (Boy, October, and especially War) were all seminal works, and The Unforgettable Fire was huge even if it was a little bit of a sell-out. They could create equally good blistering rock, catchy pop, and wave-your-lighter anthems, often with a political bent.
One the fence: Elvis Costello, although each round I’m less excited about him. The Pretenders? I might vote for them on the strength of their first album alone, which was a huge influence on New Wave and alternative music in the 80s. I can see the case for Traffic, but it’s another I’m not excited about.
Percy Sledge was elected based on a single song, which isn’t enough for this poll. I’m tempted by The O’Jays and their “Philadelphia Soul”, but I’m not enough of a connoisseur to understand what makes that different from other R&B.
I was trying to figure out who’s been elected to date, and couldn’t find any recent summary, so here is one I came up with (and it took long enough because I started out relying on the links in the OP )
To balance the extra effort I had to expend, I’m going to add a snarky comment:
This a true R&R HoF, you can tell because the Hall carries on the great tradition in R&R of ripping off great Blues players without acknowledging them: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Sister Rosetta Tharp, John Lee Hooker, and the King Family (Freddie, B.B., and Albert) among others.
1
Chuck Berry
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly
2
Aretha Franklin
Little Richard
James Brown
3
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys
4
The Rolling Stones
Stevie Wonder
The Supremes
5
The Who
The Kinks
Marvin Gaye
6
The Byrds
Ike & Tina Turner
Simon & Garfunkel
7
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Johnny Cash
Otis Redding
8
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cream
The Doors
9
Bob Marley
The Grateful Dead
Elton John
10
Led Zeppelin
Frank Zappa
Neil Young
11
Pink Floyd
David Bowie
Sly and the Family Stone
12
The Velvet Underground
Crosby, Stills & Nash
The Allman Brothers
13
Fleetwood Mac
Santana
The Eagles
14
Bruce Springsteen
Janis Joplin
Joni Mitchell
15
Parliament/Funkadelic
The Band
Eric Clapton
16
Queen
The Yardbirds
Michael Jackson
17
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
The Ramones
The Talking Heads
18
The Clash
Earth, Wind, and Fire
The Police
19
Prince
AC/DC
Jefferson Airplane
Thanks Peccavi! And speaking of blues guys, Buddy Guy is on the ballot this week. If I didn’t vote for him I might as well start putting ketchup on hot dogs.
Probably. Although I’m trying to be objective I just…don’t much like U2. So I’m reserving a vote.
I’m still enthusiastic to vote for Elvis Costello and I’ll circle back to Steely Dan. I’m mulling Traffic - voted then retracted, but I might give them some love. I think they are sort of niche important, in much the same way I think Steely Dan are. I do like The Pretenders a fair bit, but I just don’t think they’re all that important.
Yeah…maybeeee. Thing is I think Robert Johnson should be in. I think Muddy Waters should probably be in. I’m inclined to think John Lee Hooker should be in. I absolutely think Willie Dixon should be in. Buddy Guy is a close maybe for me, because talented as he is and sorta iconic as he is, I think he is just a hair less seminal and iconic than the other aforementioned artists.
Absolutely all three should be in. We’ve got tons of acts in here that blatantly ripped them off, often without acknowledgement (coughLed Zeppelincough).
Is there an Eric Clapton without Muddy Waters or Buddy Guy? Hell no.
Hello folks, Sunday is the new Friday! Congratulations to U2, Steely Dan, and Billy Joel!
This seems like a good spot to introduce a new rule; earlier, I’d said that anyone who drops off the ballot can be re-nominated 25 years later, but I think it’s simpler to just make that automatic. Hence, any act that received at least 15% of the vote on its first ballot appearance, but didn’t ultimately get in, will automatically re-appear on the ballot 25 years after its first appearance. The first beneficiary of this policy will be Ray Charles, who will return to the 2011 ballot in a few weeks. I imagine this should work to the benefit of some of the artists Tamerlane mentioned (personally, I like Buddy Guy better than any of those folks, but I’m aware this is an outlier position).
For this week, we have the 2006 class, plus last week’s holdovers. Vote for three.
Black Sabbath
Blondie
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Miles Davis
Buddy Guy
Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Pretenders
The Sex Pistols
Traffic
ZZ Top
0voters
(BTW, until I started doing this poll I had always thought that “ZZ Topp” was spelled with two P’s. Anyone else ever think that, or was it just me?)
Miles Davis is the tough call for me here…unquestionably great, unquestionably not rock. I’m going to leave him off.
I know we have a thread on “mismatched musical double bills” going on…sadly neither Miles Davis nor the Sex Pistols actually performed at their 2006 induction. That could have been a memorable jam session.
Not me, but I saw them in concert twice and have their first 6 albums (well CDs) and 2 from the 80s.
As to Buddy Guy, I do think he is the last of the Great old Blues musicians and it was great seeing him in Sinners (2025) but I think his cred for the reduced Hall of Fame is iffy. He helped make the Chicago West Side Sound, but I don’t think he was even the most important for this narrow part of the blues. He’s a great guitarist, but not top 10 or even top 20. I did see Rolling Stone placed him 27th. So maybe. He did influence Hendrix & Clapton so points for that, but they had other influences also.
I lean against him being in the reduced Hall of Fame, I fully support him being in the full Rock & Roll Hall.
He’s a giant and arguably kick-started jazz fusion with Bitches Brew. But…yeah. He’s such a jazz guy he kinda falls into the Dolly Parton category for me. Massive talent who I can’t quite shoehorn into rock and roll, even with the fusion nod. Just for funsies I present of my favorite punk bands, NoMeansNo, doing their version of Bitches Brew (which I imagined baffled some fans). It’s still very fusiony but they deconstructed it into an actual rock song by adding lyrics among other things:
I don’t like The Sex Pistols much, but I feel they can’t be denied. I do like Blondie and they’re just too huge and influential in the New Wave scene to ignore. Black Sabbath are the true creators of heavy metal.
)
