…and ended in 1974. It’s a scientific fact.
I frankly don’t get the Carl Perkins argument. The guy had ONE big hit, and he didn’t even do the best version of it. We already have Elvis and Buddy Holly representing rockabilly, with Johnny Cash set to hit the ballot shortly, and Carl Perkins isn’t close to being in their class.
Still, it does seem reasonable to say that it’s unfair that these early classes offer much tougher competition than the later ones will, so I am considering a rules change to say that candidates who fall off the ballot will become eligible to be re-nominated as write-ins 25 years later. Then maybe we can see how Carl Perkins stacks up against Cheap Trick and NWA.
There is an argument to be made that Perkins influenced The Beatles (who influenced EVERYBODY after 1964) more than the other three combined. There’s arguments to be made for anything as broadly and disparately defined as Rock and Roll in this thread (and the R&R Hall of Fame).
Well, let the arguments continue! Congratulations to our second class: Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, and James Brown!
I’m happy to see that people seem to be voting strategically to keep deserving candidates on the ballot. BB King, Bill Haley, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Smokey Robinson, and Bo Diddley all come back for another bite at the apple.
The competition doesn’t get any easier, though! Here’s the ballot for the class of 1988 (artists debuting in 1963 or earlier). It has some recognizable names.
As always, vote for your top THREE choices.
- The Beach Boys
- The Beatles
- Ray Charles
- Bo Diddley
- The Drifters
- Bob Dylan
- Marvin Gaye
- Bill Haley
- B.B. King
- Roy Orbison
- Smokey Robinson
- The Supremes
0
voters
So the Beach Boys and Beatles are obviously the shoe-ins. Bob Dylan is probably almost as obvious. Do I take the easy choices or use strategy? No one told me there’d be math.
I’m finding that tough, too. I was OK with not voting for Elvis and trusting that others would make sure he got in, but I don’t really want to not vote for the Beatles or Dylan, even if the votes are “wasted”.
I settled on the same thing. If there’s one band that deserves a unanimous vote, it’s the Beatles.
I voted for the Great Song Writer that can barely sing.
Those lads from Liverpool who have to be in and another try to help B.B. be where he should be.
I voted for those three shoo-ins but I will change my votes later to push Haley or Bo Diddley into the next round.
The only way I see that we can get around this is to break the HOF into different wings. We could have an “Early Years” wing, a “British Invasion” wing, “Progressive” wing, disco, punk, metal, etc. Because, clearly, putting The Beatles, Beach Boys and Dylan on the same ballot at the same time not only isn’t fair to the other seven, but has already locked out (checking RRHOF actual list of inductees) actual inductees Otis Redding, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder, to name just three)
The large majority of actual RRHOF inductees are going to be locked out of our Hall, that’s kind of the idea. (Also, I think you’re looking at the wrong year; Redding, Wonder and the Temptations will all appear for the first time on next week’s ballot)
And then we could all argue about what qualifies as “Progressive”, “Disco”, “Punk”, and Metal".
The problem is we are locking out artists that could easily beat the best in subsequent lists. The logical (though much more unwieldy) way to do this is to add all of the losing artists into all of the subsequent polls.
I’m not being at all snarky here — I agree that would be better, and if you want to volunteer to post polls with what would soon be hundreds of options every week, I will gladly step aside and thank you for doing so.
Well, I have no interest in trying to navigate a poll with 100+ choices. I think the 15% rule is great.
Shit, I’m now the only person so far to vote for the great Ray Charles, who sits at 4%. He’s probably toast.
I also voted for Marvin Gaye to push him to 20% and Smokey Robinson, currently in relegation danger at 12.
Obviously The Beatles and The Beach Boys will get in. I love both those bands. They’re both first-ballot Hall of Famers.
Oh, hell no! I’m much too lazy (and much too inclined toward unhelpful advice -sorry.)
I just pulled a vote off and moved it to Ray. Probably won’t be enough unless others do as well.
Just to give some perspective, when Rolling Stone (I know, I know) did their 100 greatest Rock and Roll artist list, Ray Charles was top 10. And he’s likely to not make the SDMB HOF.
I don’t think of any of my votes as being wasted. I’m not interested in strategy. I’m just going to vote for those that I personally would want to be in. For instance, I can understand the importance of The Beach Boys. I’ve heard other acts say how important they are. Personally, I hate them. They don’t get my vote.
One day to go, and the obvious three are safe. Currently The Supremes look likely to make it to next week at 20%, and Marvin Gaye is barely hanging on at 16%. Below the fold are Bo Diddley (13%), B.B. King (10%), and Smokey Robinson (10%).
Just in case anyone wants to switch things around (as long as it doesn’t include pulling a vote from Marvin).