Warren Zevon
I agree with all of these. Don’t know how I left off The Smiths and Alex Chilton/Big Star.
For some reason I thought the Pixies weren’t eligible yet. I guess I’m so old it doesn’t feel like it was over 25 years ago.
I loathe Chicago, but they should probably be in. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are deserving, as well.
Nick Cave
Dead Kennedys
The Saints
Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Either individually or as Rockpile.
When this subject comes uo, I feel compelled to explain that voting for the Rock Hall of Fame is not fair or transparent. And ultimately, the independence of the nominating committee is destroyed by Jann Wenners veto power over them. I have no doubt that isv what happened.
Stevie Ray Vaughn
I’m surprised he’s not in, especially since he went to the trouble of dying young.
It’s impossible to take the Hall seriously, especially since a lot of the inductees never played rock. Once you let in a novelty act like The Sex Pistols, all bets are off. You might as well induct The Barron Knights and Weird Al Yankovic.
If the Hall was truly for the elite, then Astorian’s analogy to Ron Santo and Gil Hodges would be apt. But the Hall might as well just be a history of rock music and it’s influences. So let in Journey, Kansas, Chicago, Boston, Bad Company etc. Any band that had an impact. Leave out bands like Creed.
Yes, they should damn well induct Weird Al!
He’s had a career that has outlasted most of the artists that he’s parodied, as musical styles have changed he’s managed to adapt, and some of his original “style parodies” are excellent examples of their genres.
Is that worthy of being in a Hall of Fame? Yes! He exemplifies the “novelty rock” genre in the same way that Stevie Ray Vaughn does Blues Rock, and he’s done it for more than 30 years.
Little Nemo beat me to it.
Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. I think individually, and then Rockpile as a group. Billy Bremner and Terry Williams were an integral part of that sound.
Lowe’s contribution re: Stiff Records and producing all that great stuff should not go unnoticed either.
But, alas, I’m afraid it will.
UT~
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
I’m gonna be the contrarian here and say, "Nobody - because there shouldn’t be any such thing as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s a ridiculously subjective thing and the list of “influential” or “groundbreaking” or “long-lasting” or “super popular” acts is HUGE. At some point why bother?
Absolutely, and whenever some critic takes pop music too seriously they get sent to the Weird Al wing of the museum.
Johnny Rivers.
There are lots of people who should be in (many of whom eventually will be), but the whole thing is a joke until they induct KISS. They were the biggest thing in the world for a long time, and their influence has been huge (such as pretty much the entirety of rock in the 80s). If there’s only one rock band your grandmother can reliably recognize, it’s probably KISS.
I’m not much of a fan of the band personally, and the last thing Gene Simmons needs is another ego stroke, but KISS should have been in the minute they were eligible.
Not defending the museum, but the Sex Pistols contribution to music amounted to less than a piss stain.
I’m not sure what Duckster’s point was; the Pistols are still in the HOF, despite being together only two years. They declined to appear. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to decline to be inducted. If it is, they didn’t.
Anyway, time to make fun of your opinion, Blank Slate.
Here’s allmusic.com on the Pistols:
Going to the Related tab, which lists bands considered to be similar to, influential on, or influenced by the artist in question, I see there’s 115 followers. Well, that’s nice (The Beatles have 163) but how’s the quality? Let’s see, we’ve got Souxie and the Banshees, Gang of Four, Nirvana, The Pogues, X, Misfits, Hüsker Dü, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, The Cure, U2, and INXS, to only list acts that hopefully you’ve heard of. Not bad, for a piss stain.
Yes, but how does that stack up against Hall and Oates, that Philly Soul duo with great tracks like Maneater? Surely they’ve had a huge impact on adult contemporary or some other groovy suburbanite genre, right? It’s not like catchy pop tunes are disposable. Plus, you think they should be in the HOF, so they must be pretty good.
Huh, 15 followers. Well, the quality must be awesome. OK, we’ve got Rick Astley (who should really count double because people still occasionally listen to his music, albeit unwittingly), Wham!, Bruce Hornsby (the coolest person on the list thus far, and you can really hear the echoes of “Private Eyes” in his work with the Grateful Dead), and… Michael Bolton. Oh. Damn, that’s got to suck. Messrs Hall and Oates must live with that knowledge every day of their lives. I feel terribly for them.
I honestly don’t care about things like TRRHOF, most of the punk rock bands are better off not in there, for instance. (And the day they induct Black Flag, society will have fallen.) But Dick Dale’s and Link Wray’s omission at least lets me know I’m justified in feeling this way. As long as they’re not in there, it’s an example of how clueless the place is.
How is Iron Maiden not in the Hall?
I hate Kiss, but I agree. By the same token, I love Rush, but I do not think they should have been inducted. At least not yet.
The way I look at it, the nomination criteria should be based on (in order of importance) influence, originality, and talent. Kiss was very influential and original, but had little talent, while Rush is extremely talented, but not influential.