2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees POLL

how many years has it been for Chic not getting in?

Voted for Chic, although with the passing of Chris Squire it's likely that Yes will get in.

Cheap Trick. So overdue. Where are The Moody Blues?

In any case, I've always thought the R'n'R HOF was a load of bollocks.

The actual inductees are so clearly going to be:

The Cars
Cheap Trick
Deep Purple
N.W.A
The Smiths
Yes

Still unsure about Chicago's chances.

With the passing of Morrissey's literary career the Smiths might get in.

this has gotta be NWA's year

I've voted for Chic every year in this poll so now I'm switching it up for Cheap Trick

I can't imagine The Smiths ever getting in, so to see someone proclaim them as a lock is kind of ridiculous.

either janet or chaka

So does Roxy ever get in or what?

Thin Lizzy

oh nm

xxxp I dunno, I just picked the artists that mean the least to me and assumed they'd be locks

Do you think you've made the right decision this time?

So does Roxy ever get in or what?

― Iago Galdston

oh god no

I have a better chance.

Voting for the one that was so good a world-dominating genre was spawned by the urge to listen to them on indefinite loop.

i imagine dave marsh will do his best to keep the smiths from making it

That would be nice.

write-in vote for Blue Oyster Cult

Eric's heard of The Smiths?

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mst3k/images/8/83/MST3k_City_Limits-_MN_as_Morrissey.jpg

Deep Purple

the JBs

JBs def

I mean I like a lot of the acts on here, but at least 5 of 'em owe their existence to the JBs rhythm section

I would be cool with any of these getting in except Chicago, but even they'd be a better pick than green day or RHCP.

Voted for The Cars. Crazy to me that they aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame already considering the staying power of their first album on Rock radio

A typical bullshit list. The Hall caters to baby boomers, and will pick the artists that will generate the most revenue from said demographic.

Seymous Stein is friends with Morrissey, so this could be their year. It WOULD be interesting to see Rourke, Joyce and Marr play with some guest vocalists (Sandie Shaw?)

When does Wire get in?

Were we voting for our favourite or the one most likely to get in? I voted for Yes, assuming the former. If it's the latter, The Cars.

Voted for Yes. Would be happy to see the Cars, Deep Purple, or the J.B.'s get in. (I don't like Chic or the Smiths, and there are only four really good songs on Straight Outta Compton.)

Is it like a requirement now for them to pick one real turd (or two) of an FM act among the nominees each year? I mean, voters rightly said "Hell no" to Bon Jovi a couple years ago, but Kiss actually made it in. Don't know what that says about Chicago's chances, but I mean, barf.

Fuck Chic

Hey fuck you man

I mean: No, fuck YOU.

Really though, "Disco Sucks" was 36 years ago, though we may yet see a "Death to EDM" groundswell

i honestly don't believe you people who dislike The Smiths are from the '80s

Well, my local TV news - I know, so inane - just blurbed Janet Jackson getting nominated. Ugh. I voted Cheap Trick, but damn it's such a crime Chic, Deep Purple, Spinners aren't in already.

Voted in this poll for Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles (y Vashon Island)

Voted officially for Chic and the JB's as well

No way should Steve Miller get in. He's just a non-playing motherfucker with only one or two sorry-ass albums out.

Well, my local TV news - I know, so inane - just blurbed Janet Jackson getting nominated. Ugh.

Someone remind me again how to killfile?

No way should Steve Miller get in. He's just a non-playing motherfucker with only one or two sorry-ass albums out.

Sorry-ass cat didn't have his shit going for him.

steve miller will definitely get in at some point, people fucking love this dork

Only one of these bands currently has one of my college friends in it, so that's what I'm voting.

They should get Paul Simon to induct Los Lobos.

The Cars are one of my favorite bands ever, so them. I love Chic for all the obvious reasons, but their songs consistently suffer from lazy writing in the verses.

Good round table discussion with Ryan Gibbs, Jon Winkler, Matt Rice, Kevin Montes & Joey Daniewicz on the 2015 nominees

http://theyoungfolks.com/music/tyf-discusses-the-2016-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-nominees/65110.

Jon Winkler: Despite disco not being rock and roll, I’ll make Chic an exception.

Matt Rice: Chic is the group I’m most hoping gets in, and disco is totally rock and roll.

Ryan Gibbs: This is their record-tying 10th nomination. Only other artist to get that many nominations was Solomon Burke, and he got in there. It is stupid that they’re not in yet. And agreed, disco come out of funk and r&b. How is it not rock?

Matt: What’s more rock and roll than pissing off white guys so much they crush a bunch of your records?

Nice.

Ryan: First off alphabetically, we have The Cars.
Kevin: I’ve honestly never heard any of their music.

Click.

ffs, Solomon Burke was nominated 10 times before he got in?!

Also, still no Link Wray.

Deep Purple, Yes, Cheap Trick, The Smiths, The J.B.'s. I like The Cars but Cheap Trick beats 'em out. I like most of the artists, and even Chicago had some good jams on their first few albums. But yeah, would rather they not win one of the slots. Be sure to vote here, as your vote can actually count!

http://rockhall.com/voting/2016-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-nominees-vote/

The "popular vote" only counts for one of the 600 ballots, but it's better than nothing, and I think other voters pay attention to it, so it's influence goes beyond the one vote. For example, Rush and Kiss made it in the last few years, which would have seemed very unlikely otherwise. Especially Kiss, lol. Not that I'm complaining -- even though 80% of their songs are turds, they add some colorful, populist fun to the Hall.

Competition is fierce, yesterday Chicago was leading with 17.06% over Yes' 16.58% and Deep Purple 16.42%. Then last night I saw that Janet Jackson leapt to the lead with 28% and a couple million votes. Now Chicago is back in the lead with 18% and 4.7 million votes! Yes has 4.6 mil, The Cars 4.6, Deep Purple 4.6, Steve Miller 4.5.

Yes and Deep Purple should definitely have a shot. I found it interesting that back in 2004, Traffic were inducted. I love the band and their psych prog mix, but didn't think they were all that popular. Would Free, Procol Harum, King Crimson, Family, Spooky Tooth, and Arthur Brown have a shot? Perhaps Free and Procol, but the rest probably not. And if the Kiss army can make it happen, the large fanbases behind Judas Priest and Iron Maiden should also be able to make an impact.

I voted for Cars, Chic, Cheap Trick, Janet and Los Lobos.

Hell, Weezer probably wouldn’t have a career without them

this is the most convincing reason to not vote for the Cars

Deep Purple, Yes, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest should already be in the damn thing.

The JB's should have gotten to go in with James Brown.

Screw that knick knack shop anyway.

tbf, Weezer's debut sounds really great and Ocasek produced it.

Chic should already be in too...

In my dream world, the Dance Music Hall of Fame didn't fold after the second year, and everyone at this point long ago stopped caring about the RnR HoF and were now planning trips around visiting the dance one's HQ in the reconstructed Loft.

Who knows why anyone gets in? I remember a discussion I had the year George Harrison was inducted as a solo artist about whether or not he deserved the honor. Even however many years later, I'm still on the fence. Last year, though, RINGO got in as a solo artist. Why not just induct any musician who's ever put out a record if the bar is that fucking low?

I naively thought Ornette Coleman had an outside chance at being nominated this year (possibly in the "early influence" category).

Ringo didn't get in as a solo artist; his induction category was the "Award for Musical Excellence":

This award honors musicians, songwriters and producers who have spent their life creating important and memorable music. Their originality, impact and influence have changed the course of music history. These artists have achieved the highest level of distinction that transcends time.

John, Paul, and George got in as Performers; Ringo got in for his drumming (deservedly so), but not for his solo catalog.

xp

Ringo's solo catalog contains some jams, saddened by all this anti-Ringo sentiment

Ryan: First off alphabetically, we have The Cars.
Kevin: I’ve honestly never heard any of their music.

Click.

― campreverb

I know a couple of the kids – they're young!

Ringo got in for his drumming (deservedly so), but not for his solo catalog.

Ah, okay. That makes me feel slightly better.

Ringo's solo catalog contains some jams

No argument there, but he's not HoF-level good (whatever that means).

Yeah, it's obviously a silly exercise in the sense of, who cares what the actual Hall of Fame means, but the Hall of Fames in our heads presumably have some kinda standards tougher than "did indeed cut a number of fine tracks and even some hits sometime in the 1970s." And I speak as a Ringo admirer.

there are only four really good songs on Straight Outta Compton

The first three + which other?

I'll give 'em "Express Yourself."

"did indeed cut a number of fine tracks and even some hits sometime in the 1970s."

Not just "some" hits, but by 1975 he'd had as many top 10 hits in the US as Paul, and more than John and George combined.

the Hall of Fames in our heads presumably have some kinda standards tougher than "did indeed cut a number of fine tracks and even some hits sometime in the 1970s."

idk, I think the Hall of Fames in my head is a bit more loosey goosey, maybe

I know a couple of the kids – they're young!

out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct.

I know a couple of the kids – they're young!

yet they apparently know the Los Lobos catalogue front to back!

fwiw "La Bamba" is the only Los Lobos song I've ever heard

sucks to be you

yeah i mean ringo had some good hits! No doubt! I like him! I like his stuff! just thinking that at a certain point, the hypothetical list of Hall of Famers beomes congruent with the list of basically everybody who had and kept a record deal. Nice to honor them all but it sort of undermines the idea of a Hall of Fame.

The Eagles were the first real "waitwaitwait...NO" band to be inducted.

As their $100 tickets ushered in the era of bullshit prices for shows, so it was that their induction into the HoF led to a sustained period of casual shrugging by the nominating committee.

yet they apparently know the Los Lobos catalogue front to back!

― welltris (crüt), Friday, October 9, 2015 1:

NPR parents, dude.

^ haunting

To qualify for the HoF in my head, an artist has to meet at least two of these three benchmarks: sustained success, influence and innovation.

If you're innovative and influential but have done shit numbers sales-wise, cool. You might get in. If you've been massively popular, but you're, say, Michael Bolton and completely uninfluential and not in the least bit innovative, you likely won't. However, I won't feel too badly for you, because you sleep on a pile of money.

i know a couple of the kids – they're young!

out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct.

Ha ha. I left a comment, but they tend to get deleted so,

Re yr Deep Purple comments: "I just don’t know what separates them from some of the other 70s rock giants that aren’t in yet....Outside of your first lessons and the denizens of your local Guitar Center, do they really seem worthy of any Hall of Fame?"

What separates Deep Purple is the fact that they are HUGELY influential in the development of metal, just after Black Sabbath and more so than Led Zep. In the early 70s they were massively popular, outselling Sabbath, who did quite well, by about a factor of six. In Rock (1970) is quintessential proto-metal sandwiched between the first two Sabbath albums, and just a timeless hard rock album, as is Machine Head. Without Deep Purple there would have been no Judas Priest, no Iron Maiden, and while heavy metal would exist thanks to Sabbath, it wouldn't be what it is today. They are significantly more influential than Motorhead (who are also great and deserve an eventual nom). Plenty of other great but less influential bands have been inducted in the past. A good example is Traffic, who navigated the path between psych and prog with style. Of course Deep Purple belong in the Hall. They are worthy, and you are not.

All right, Phil, I'll bite: what do you dislike about Chic?

Just don't like the songs. I like the idea of Chic - small-group disco-funk - but the execution just doesn't do it for me. I've tried; I've got this 2CD best-of around here somewhere, but I never, ever feel like listening to it.

nine inch nails, cuz it'd be really funny to watch someone win a lifetime achievement award and then go sing a nine inch nails song right after.

Not as funny as when it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

no it will be way funnier

have you ever heard a nine inch nails song

All-Star jam on "Closer"! Steve Miller sings the naughty part!

trent doesn't even have the "fuck the hall of fame" real-rock-doesn't-belong-in-a-museum option. you can't accept an oscar and then do that.

most badass thing he could do if he gets in would be have the band dress like kraftwerk and cover "cars"

"alright you fuckers, welcome to the stage robert smith, martin gore and thomas dolby!!!!!"

haha

that would be legit great, the stuntcasted 'statement' performances are the best trend in HOF induction ceremonies, lady-fronted Nirvana and Stooges doing Madonna were awesome.

reprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4p7VIE9jQk

I mean I like a lot of the acts on here, but at least 5 of 'em owe their existence to the JBs rhythm section

― Οὖτις, Thursday, October 8, 2015 4:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol NWA somewhat literally

haha alfred my adding dolby was totally in ref to that

lady-fronted Nirvana and Stooges doing Madonna were awesome.

i love how those were both legit subversive, not just middle-fingers - most pop inductee ever brings out a group (at the time) too non-pop to be inducted to pay tribute, nirvana dignifying its "moved rock forward" status by reaffirming its anti-machohood.

some good comments on that Synthesizer Showdown video

Xyshom Avazax 1 year ago
Sad to see these legends pantomiming so.

Stevie Wonder is the only one of those four to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thus far

obviously yes

can't remember the last time the rnrhof actually meant something

Be sure to vote here, as your vote can actually count!

http://rockhall.com/voting/2016-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-nominees-vote/

Voted Yes, Smiths, Deep Purple, J. B.'s, and NIN here. (Sorry Cars.)

I don't mind writing about the HOF. The only thing is, like the baseball HOF, people are very protective about who they think they should go in. So I don't enjoy how the arguments can touch nerves.

The only absolute yes for me is again the Spinners.
Subjectively yes, objectively I'm not sure: Cheap Trick.
Put them in--they deserve it, plus everyone will stop complaining: Chic.
There's a case: Janet Jackson.
One guy for sure, maybe two, not so sure about the whole group: NWA. (If influence was all that mattered, yes.)
Beyond old-guy nostalgia for the first four or five hits (and nothing past about 1974), no real case: Chicago.
For just the pop hits, no, if you include a couple of early albums, maybe: Steve Miller.
In a British HOF, probably, but not this one: the Smiths.
Don't really see a case: Chaka Khan, Los Lobos.
Did the JB's have non-James Brown hits? I honestly don't know.
For me, the worst kind of inductee, and they'll probably go in: the Cars.
Silly: Nine Inch Nails.

what makes the Cars the worst kind of inductee? They got the hits, the acclaim, the influence.

i doubt the smiths will get in but man if they did its gotta be cuz of johnny marr, lotta bigger Beloved By Wimps And Nerds 80s bands not in yet, but the smiths might have the most prominent guitarist

(xpost) I have a very subjective hatred of middling '80s new wave bands.

curious about how the move from Fuse to HBO has influenced the induction choices (if at all) - 2012 was the first one on HBO and had the beasties and peppers get in after previously being passed, g'n'r getting in their first year. 2013 didn't have any big gen-x arena-friendly headliners but none were nominated. 2014 had nirvana get in after being nominated for the first time, and older big acts like kiss and hall & oates get in without having ever been nominated before.

if this year features NWA, Cheap Trick, The Cars and Nine Inch Nails, feels like they're potentially setting a template.

oh - and speaking of gen-x friendly arena headliners - Green Day got in last year.

2017 belongs to pearl jam, obv

wait wait wait i just realized pearl jam was eligible THIS year...i can't believe they're making them wait one

and nine inch nails was eligible last year. maybe they're spacing them out.

this guy who's been writing a regular column in my local free weekly since like 1980 has done at least two columns in my lifetime dedicated to complaining that chicago isn't in the R&RHOF

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/danehy/Content?oid=3436903

Bands are eligible after 25 years...or 6 to 4 decades

Very little discussion of Yes in this thread. Is the assumption that they're gonna make it?

I would have never assumed that.

Maybe the low level of discussion has to do with that they're the sort of band that a lot of people love and a lot of people hate and neither side wants to argue with the other?

i feel like Yes's odds are good because they seem to like these things to have eventful timing, so things like Squire's death, NWA's movie and Janet's comeback made a lot of people go 'well, this is their year.' and now that Rush is finally in, the prog stigma presumed to be a big factor against Yes's induction has softened.

i'm usually the one in these threads arguing that whatever alt-rock critical touchstone probably won't get in, but i think The Smiths could do it. they never crossed over in the US and sold a ton of records like The Cure or Depeche Mode but at this point it feels like they might as well have.

Now The Cars are in the lead with 13.5 million votes over Chicago, and Yes and Deep Purple aren't far behind with 13.3 and 13.2 mil. That's a lotta votes.

I like to check the stats once in a while to remind me of how massive The Cars were: the debut and most famous jukebox comp are 6 x platinum, Candy-O and Heartbeat City at 4, the rest at least platinum except for Door to Door.

Candy is 4xplat? Not shocked by debut and heartbeat but daamn

They were hugely important in terms of aor/new wave crossover but didn't think they'd have THAT many multiplatinums

In a British HOF, probably, but not this one: the Smiths.

Yeah, if there was a UK equivalent to this nonsense, The Smiths would probably get in no questions asked. On the flipside, The Cars and Cheap Trick wouldn't stand a chance.

Though apparently the first four foreigner albums are at at least 5x platinum so it matches up in terms of scale

And they ain't even nominated

"alright you fuckers, welcome to the stage robert smith, martin gore and thomas dolby!!!!!"

― da croupier, Friday, October 9, 2015 8:48 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This would just be the best thing!

I like to check the stats once in a while to remind me of how massive The Cars were: the debut and most famous jukebox comp are 6 x platinum, Candy-O and Heartbeat City at 4, the rest at least platinum except for Door to Door.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, October 10, 2015 5:02 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

None of their albums made the Top 20 here, the highest charting was Heartbeat City, which made it to #25. Only two of their singles made the Top 10: 'My Best Friend's Girl' (#3) and 'Drive' (#4) - only three other singles charted: 'Just What I Needed' (#17), 'Let's Go' (#51) and 'Since You're Gone' (#37) ... they really were not a big deal here, so I always find the huge amounts of praise for The Cars on here a bit weird, if understandable: they were clearly an American thing.

Whatever New Wave means as sub-genre and marketing decision, The Cars fit it.

what makes the Cars the worst kind of inductee? They got the hits, the acclaim, the influence.

I can't think of bands influenced by the Cars.

Whatever New Wave means as sub-genre and marketing decision, The Cars fit it.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, October 10, 2015 5:29 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They do, if a certain strand of it.

I can't think of bands influenced by the Cars.

― timellison, Saturday, October 10, 2015 5:29 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's Weezer, I guess. I certainly can't think of any British bands influenced by 'em.

Whenever people do the are they/aren't they influential thing on ilx we start really looking for imitations rather than influence. So while I can't off the top of my head name a band clearly imitating the cars, they were a big deal in giving aor bands a road map into the 80s

I was gonna say: The Cars were responsible for more DX-7 purchases by .38 Special and ZZ Top than any magazine ad.

That's actually what I was thinking, that moves by older bands toward contemporary production and pop-rock composition structure might well have been Cars-influenced.

DX-7s were first made in '83, btw Alfred. Hawkes used a Prophet-5 according to Wikipedia.

As Chuck Eddy described the scene (from a piece I wrote but I think this line was at least partly his) - "Queen and Rush tightening up for a world of Cars and Police."

The main thing that's always bugged me about the Cars - especially the ubiquitous debut - is how the slicked-up, facile production hits you over the head with the band's formula - "see, we're just good-old-time rock and roll band - don't worry about the synthesizers" - and at the same time renders those tried-and-true usages essentially vacuous. They're like Bob Seger or some other cornball's idea of "quirky." I suspect this is what aesthetes from Christgau to S0to love about them. But it's fucking annoying. Their impact in the US was massive (who would've thought that same debut would become the definitive AOR album of all time? Don't believe me, check out the "most played" list from which that FiveThirtyEight article a year back was drawn), I enjoy about half their radio staples plenty, and I don't begrudge them their eventual place in the RNRHOF. But every time I listen to their greatest hits I get less than I bargained for.

"aesthete"!

I don't love them actually! I don't care for any hit after 1980 except "Tonight She Comes."

Christgau's not a fan either iirc

thewufs, you two have lots in common, get a beer:

Greatest Hits [Elektra, 1985]
In retrospect, it seems fairly incredible that this was once the stuff of cause célèbre--that the battle was joined over pop product so sleekly affectless. But of course, once upon a time affectlessness was progress; once upon a time a pop fan couldn't count on the radio to push his or her buttons. Those for whom struggle is all will claim that the sparer and supposedly fresher debut remains definitive, but they're just hyping their own dashed hopes. Fleet, efficient, essentially meaningless, this is the Cars' gift to history--seven seamless years of it. A

I remember reading something describing them as the US Roxy Music, I like that as an idea

they're the American Roxy Music if all they ever listened to was "Virginia Plain."

how the slicked-up, facile production hits you over the head with the band's formula

I could never get past those horrible Roy Thomas Baker stacked backing vocals.

And then they ditched him for Mutt "every snare hit should be the loudest thing that has happened" Lange.

Bryan Ferry is genuinely weird, Ric Ocasek is genuinely ugly.

"Love" was overstating it to make a point - wouldn't have written that the way I did if Xgau's review above weren't already burned into my consciousness. What I get from that review is that, for him at least, sleek affectlessness is the most interesting thing about the band. "Aesthete" is another favorite Xgau term - god, I can't get the motherfucker out of my head when I'm writing on ILM.

XXXP

I could never get past those horrible Roy Thomas Baker stacked backing vocals.

Bingo, exactly what I'm talking about.

They recorded one good album, half of another, a few singles. I like a couple tracks on Ocasek's first two solo joints.

once upon a time affectlessness was progress

I'm struggling with this one! I wonder what he was comparing them to.

Should be obvious, but "love about them" and "love them" mean two different things. Substitute "like most about them" if you want.

I'm rereading The Wings of the Dove, so I guess you're right about "aesthete."

Haha

wait wait wait i just realized pearl jam was eligible THIS year...i can't believe they're making them wait one

― da croupier, Friday, October 9, 2015 5:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm pretty surprised by this, seems like the HOF would be super-eager to get Pearl Jam in. Pumpkins were eligible too but not nominated.

I think you're right that they're spacing them out, knowing there are a handful of alt-rock HOF locks with debuts 1989-1995, followed by a fairly barren period for potential "hall-of-famers" at least by their standards.

Almost positive the rule is at least 25 years from first commercial recording to nomination year, not induction year. Looking at past shoo-ins and when they got in seems to bear this out.

The debut is pretty much perfect, front to back; the follow-up and Shake It Up are great singles and very good filler; Panorama is the weirdo art-project album with no hits that everybody forgets about. Heartbeat City and Door to Door I don't like as much, but I have almost no complaints about the first four.

It will be interesting to see if Radiohead gets in during their first year of eligibility.

according to futurerocklegends.com, next year's list of eligibles is as follows:

2Pac, Alanis Morissette, Antestor, Aphex Twin, At the Gates, Bikini Kill, Boyz II Men, Brooks and Dunn, Catherine Wheel, Color Me Badd, Cornershop, The Cranberries, Crash Test Dummies, Crystal Waters, Curtis Stigers, Cypress Hill, Deceased, DJ Quik, Earth, EMF, The Frames, Frankie Knuckles, GZA, Helmet, Joan Osbourne, Kyuss, Letters to Cleo, LFO, Lisa Germano, Live, Marc Cohn, Marilyn McCoo, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Mercury Rev, Meshuggah, Moe., Moose, My Dying Bride, Naughty By Nature, Paul Gilbert, Paul Weller, Pearl Jam, PJ Harvey, PM Dawn, The Prodigy, Ricky Martin, Right Said Fred, Rocket from the Crypt, Saigon Kick, Seal, Skyclad, Sleep, Spin Doctors, Stereolab, Tara Kemp, Teddybears, Temple of the Dog, Therion, Tori Amos, Type O Negative, Ugly Kid Joe, Wayne Kramer

super psyched for moe.

and the following year:

4 Non Blondes, Ace of Base, Anathema, Annie Lennox, Arc Angels, Arrested Development, Beck, Black 47, Blind Melon, Body Count, The Bottle Rockets, Brian McKnight, Buckethead, Buju Banton, Common, Cracker, David Gray, Dixie Chicks, Dr. Dre, Eva Cassidy, Fear Factory, Free Kitten, The Gathering, The Heights, Hootie & The Blowfish, House of Pain, Insane Clown Posse, Jade, Jamiroquai, Jeremy Jordan, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Juliana Hatfield, Kris Kross, Lagwagon, Lambchop, Lifetime, Luna, Martha Wash, Mary J. Blige, Morphine, Moxy Früvous, No Doubt, The Pharcyde, Pragha Khan, Praxis, R. Kelly, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Red House Painters, Reverend Horton Heat, Shadow Gallery, Shawn Mullins, Sophie B. Hawkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Sublime, Suede, Sugar, The Supersuckers, SWV, Tasmin Archer, Tim McGraw, TLC, Tool, Vanessa Daou, Vertical Horizon, The Verve, The Verve Pipe, Wallflowers

Panorama is the weirdo art-project album with no hits that everybody forgets about.

I know it wasn't a huge hit, but "Touch and Go" is possibly my favorite Cars single.

Former Beatle John Lennon mentioned the song in his final interview on 8 December 1980, praising it for its fifties sound and comparing it with his current record at the time, "(Just Like) Starting Over." He said, "I think The Cars’ 'Touch and Go' is right out of the fifties ‘Oh, oh… ‘ A lot of it is fifties stuff. But with eighties styling, but, but… and that’s what I think 'Starting Over' is; it’s a fifties song made with an eighties approach."

Almost positive the rule is at least 25 years from first commercial recording to nomination year, not induction year. Looking at past shoo-ins and when they got in seems to bear this out.

― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Saturday, October 10, 2015 12:02 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think that's true, Nirvana was a 2014 inductee, Bleach came out in 89

gonna lol when the verve thinks their name is being called but the guy then says 'pipe'

Prince:
First commercial release - 1978; induction year - 2004

U2:
First commercial release - 1979 (U2:3 EP); induction year - 2005

Bruce Springsteen:
First commercial release - 1973; induction year - 1999

Led Zeppelin:
First commercial release - 1969; induction year - 1995

Guns N' Roses:
First commercial release - 1986 (Live - Like a Suicide EP); induction year - 2012

Nirvana:
First commercial release ("Love Buzz" single) - 1988; induction year - 2014

Etc.

Per above, Nirvana released a single in 1988.

{Panorama is the weirdo art-project album with no hits that everybody forgets about.}

I know it wasn't a huge hit, but "Touch and Go" is possibly my favorite Cars single.

― timellison, Saturday, October 10, 2015 2:06 PM (3 minutes ago)

otm -- my favorite by them by a wide margin

haha, yeah, just realized that and was about to post the same about my mistake

Actually, after posting that above, I'm dead certain it's 25 years to nomination, not induction. I was under the impression it was the latter for years until I did the math.

I mean, Springsteen? The HOF would have inducted him in 1988 if they could.

Induction happens the same year as nomination, right? It's just the ceremony itself that's pushed into the following year.

fwiw "La Bamba" is the only Los Lobos song I've ever heard

― welltris (crüt), Friday, October 9, 2015 1:52 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not a Los Lobos song

but you will accept that they have performed it

Induction happens the same year as nomination, right? It's just the ceremony itself that's pushed into the following year.

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, October 10, 2015 3:38 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no. "induction" occurs at the ceremony. selection occurs later in the year of nomination.

not that this isn't all meaningless drivel.

god, i really want to believe there's a smug los lobos fan out there who has no idea they covered la bamba and went to #1 with it

the only nazareth song i've heard is love hurts.

not a nazareth song!

"Don't really see a case: Chaka Khan, Los Lobos."

Quoth Xgau...

"Second Toughest in the Infants [Wax Trax, 1996]
Americans enticed by talk of "rock"-dance fusion should bear in mind the cultural deprivation of our siblings across the sea. Befuddled by the useless "rock"-"pop" distinction, they believe "rock" is something that happened in the '70s. The more inquisitive among them are aware of Pearl Jam and Nirvana, but if they've ever heard of Los Lobos or Husker Du they probably think they're "pop."..."

and, in longer form...

"while it's philistine to pretend that the music has no formal attractions of its own, that it doesn't produce works that impinge unaided upon those who know the language, it's evasive if not effete to make too much of the microcosm those works create.

Basically, this dilemma was the ground of the "rockism" debate that raged through the U.K. music press in the early '80s. Rockism wasn't just liking Yes and the Allman Brothers--it was liking London Calling. It was taking the music seriously, investing any belief at all not just in its self-sufficiency, which is always worth challenging, but in its capacity to change lives or express truth. One result of this debate was that as the '80s ended, the hippest and most fruitful rockcrit fashion pumped functional pop that fetishizes its own status as aural construct over rock that just goes ahead and means. This schema was convenient in a couple of ways. For one thing, the blanker music is the more you can project on it--the more listeners, especially professional interpreters, can bend it to their own whimsies, fantasies, needs. And rarely has it been noted how blatantly the rockism debate that produced the fashion favored the growing nationalism/anti-Americanism of U.K. taste.

I mean, really--British rock has always been "pop." Irony, distance, and the pose have been its secret since the Beatles and the Stones, partly because that's the European way and partly because rock wasn't originally British music--having absorbed it secondhand, Brits who made too much of their authenticity generally looked like fools. This polarity was reversed briefly around 1976--American punk was an unbashed art pose, while the British variant carried the banner of class struggle. But when the Sex Pistols failed to usher in the millennium, lifelong skeptics who'd let their guard down for a historical moment vowed that they wouldn't get fooled again. Ergo, Rock Against Rockism.

For all the hybrids and exceptions, American rock really is more sincere, even today. Or anyway, American rockers act more sincere--they're so uncomfortable with the performer's role that they strive to minimize it. Often their modus operandi is a conscious, and rather joyless, fakery. But sometimes--and here's where the schema becomes a lie--they end up inhabiting amazing simulations of their real selves, whatever exactly those are. The early '80s proved an especially rich time for this aesthetic, especially in L.A., where singer-songwriter sincerity had been perfected a decade before. So roots-conscious postpunk Amerindies X, Los Lobos, and the Blasters, together with two Twin Cities bands, the virtuosically posthardcore Hüsker Dü and the roots/junk-inflected quasihardcore Replacements, were spearheading a U.S. rockism revival just as the New Pop was dwarfing a U.K. indie scene symbolized by Joy Division-styled gloom merchants.

Antirockism had no way of accounting for these bands, and now in effect claims that they never happened. After all, who did they reach? Sloppy American college boys and similar pretentious punters--not real people (or classy ones, either). I'm exaggerating, of course, although I do recall a U.K. Los Lobos review that took offense at their flannel-covered bellies. And certainly it's true that Amerindie garage orthodoxy, which is at least as narrow-minded as any more wittingly trendy musical ethos, seems close to the end of its rope. But Wild Gift and How Will the Wolf Survive? and Hard Line and Metal Circus and Let It Be remain. They impinged on me then, and they impinge on me now--I know, because I replayed every one while making this a book I can vouch for. For me, they hold up, stand the test of time, reveal new shades of meaning--all that stuff good art was supposed to do back in the modernist era. Rock lives."

soo...the case is that xgau thinks british people are ignorant about los lobos?

I love Los Lobos, but fail to see their impact reverberating much past late 80's "roots rock." Though maybe you could make the case for them as the definitive roots rockers. I dunno.

Voted JBs, N.W.A, Chic, Janet, Spinners. All richly deserving, even - maybe especially - the group with the maddeningly frontloaded debut and wildly problematic legacy.

Only two total duds on the list are Chicago and Steve Miller. Fuck that shit.

los lobos would be kind of an arty choice really - not unlike tom waits

los lobos were part of that whole mitchell froom moods explosion that for better or worse definitely in some way defines something about the nineties

I saw Los Lobos once in 1987. They did an interminable solo-heavy "jam" at the end, which segued into "La Bamba," a few months before its release (and, I was told, the first time they'd played it onstage; dunno if that's true).

But I mostly remember the opener, Otis Rush. Not only did he absolutely kill, but the audience demanded an encore. To this day, he's the only opening act I've ever seen who played an encore.

i enjoy chicago far far more than i should - there's at least a cd's worth of music by them i straight up love and it spans many years - but i worry that inducting them would open the door to blood, sweat, and tears somehow getting in down the road and that simply can't happen

steve miller's ubiquity and popularity is something i suspect brits can't begin to suspect or understand. i'm not sure there was a time he was ever wildly popular, if he was ever popular enough that critics had to have an opinion like w/ grand funk or three dog night or whatever, lots of acts w/ similar rep had a similar number of hits but gradually they got whittled down on oldies and classic rock playlists so that they're now only known for one or two songs while his hits just somehow never went away.

I even enjoy half a dozen Chicago songs, but a RRHOF with Peter fucking Cetera? Gotta draw the line somewhere...

Also -

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/features/robert-lamm-records/robert-lamm-keytar-650-80.jpg

No. Just no.

i think dave marsh might kill himself trying to figure out WHICH chicago line-ups to acknowledge

And Steve Miller is just such a nothing artist. A non-playing motherfucker, if you will.

I imagine Dave Marsh will delegate that agonizing decision to someone else.

Induct that Chicago/EWF combo that toured a few years back. Make up for Chicago by inducting Earth Wind and Fire twice!

i'm more surprised at the chicago nomination than the steve miller, that dude's tight w/ mccartney so i could imagine he just has enough friends in the room deciding the nominees

man i actually forgot how little chicago's line-up actually changed despite the sonic "evolution" of the band (kool & the gang is pretty similar in that respect). induct the original line-up and only people like bill "i sang look away" champlin could be too aggrieved.

yeah steve is like tom petty, johnny cougar and darryl hall where even if some olds with long memories could remember they were corporate hacks once they seem like "when music was real" folks now. chicago, despite that early album avant shit, can't really go there

and just so some petty fan doesn't choke on their food i'm using "corporate hack" as VERY reductive shorthand here

I'm not surprised at any classic rock leftovers getting nommed at this point - in that category at least, these choads will never recognize when they've reached the bottom of the barrel. And I say that as somebody who loves a shitload of 70s rock.

i'd like to assume the hall straight-up forgot dire straits happened

Don't bet on it! One mega-album aside, though, weren't they always more of a UK/Europe phenomenon?

first album's double platinum here, the other non-brothers albums gold or platinum. not the biggest band but well loved in the 80s by the kinda people presumably voting today. if mark put even a modicum of effort into brand awareness over the last twenty years they'd get in before los lobos

steve miller's ubiquity and popularity is something i suspect brits can't begin to suspect or understand. i'm not sure there was a time he was ever wildly popular, if he was ever popular enough that critics had to have an opinion like w/ grand funk or three dog night or whatever, lots of acts w/ similar rep had a similar number of hits but gradually they got whittled down on oldies and classic rock playlists so that they're now only known for one or two songs while his hits just somehow never went away.

― balls, Saturday, October 10, 2015 9:26 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, Steve Miller's biggest hit in the UK was 'The Joker', but that was in 1990 after it had featured in a jeans advert here years after its original release. He had a #2 hit with 'Abracadabra' in '82 and 'Rock 'n Me' which made it to #11 in '76, but he only manged to hit the UK Top 40 with these three singles. 'Keeps Me Wondering Why' made it to #52, none of his other singles charted.

i hope there's been at least three times jann wenner's run into knopfler and said "wait, you're not in yet? i gotta DO something about that!" in the last decade

xpost:

'Fly Like An Eagle' only charted here when Seal covered it!

I can handle Christgau thinking British people are ignorant about Los Lobos, because lord knows how much I don't give a shit about Christgau.

I can think of one nominating committee member other than Wenner whom I have no doubt has strongly advocated for Dire Straits every single year they have been eligible. His name is Bill Flanagan.

Ben Ratliff's Kurt Vile/War on Drugs thing today mentions '80s Dylan and Senor Well Yeah as major influences. Yet I do not remember anyone mentioning that the big songs by WOD I've heard on the radio are hugely redolent of Dire straits.

voted YES. should already be in there, but jann wenner hates them and prog in general, no?

idgaf about the bullshit rrhof but the cars rule u philistines

They recorded one good album, half of another, a few singles. I like a couple tracks on Ocasek's first two solo joints.

people keep saying this, and i agree that overall candy-o is lesser babka to the s/t album, but what's the half that's not good? it's a whole album of that thing you like, if you like that kind of thing.

fwiw "La Bamba" is the only Los Lobos song I've ever heard

― welltris (crüt), Friday, October 9, 2015 1:52 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not a Los Lobos song

― it's not a tuomas (benbbag), Saturday, October 10, 2015 3:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes I know

people keep saying this, and i agree that overall candy-o is lesser babka to the s/t album, but what's the half that's not good? it's a whole album of that thing you like, if you like that kind of thing.

Ha -- I was referring to the debut as the half good one. I prefer Candy-O.

the cars are great, and deserve to be in there (not that it's a big deal either way). as for why YES, who's been around since the late 1960s, isn't in there, i'm with zizek: "I think that we humans are masters in how to sabotage our happiness. We want to be maybe almost happy, but not really happy. We don’t really want what we desire."

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/11/slavoj_zizek_on_obama_bernie_sex_and_democracy_thats_the_reality_of_global_capitalism_everyone_is_violating_the_rules/

perhaps as a nation and even a species we might begin to heal if we stop resisting how awesome YES is and how happy their best music can make us feel. get down, sure, but get up, too

Dick Dale.

Chicago now has 35.5 million votes over Yes' 23.8.

Psych Prog in the Hall Of Fame

chicago fans are worse than tool fans

Ruh roh, Tool are eligible next year! I could see another Eddie Trunk-lead bitchfest campaign resulting in the nomination of Thin Lizzy or UFO. I'd get behind that, or ELO!

http://futurerocklegends.com/blog_files/Dave_Marsh_Opens_Up.html

It’s kind of heartbreaking because… one of the things that happens is simple. People die. Darlene [Love] could have died without getting in the Hall of Fame. This has been such a holocaustal year for great musicians dying, that’s really foremost in my mind. Everybody is getting older. It’s not just those early British invasion bands who have turned 70, hell, the early British invasion bands are worrying about 80! It’s a few years off, but it’s going to happen. If you were born in ‘38 or ‘39 it’s gonna happen. Sam Moore will be 80 this year. So you’re going to start losing people that you shouldn’t lose without honoring them while they’re alive. And the longer you wait, the fewer people who actually remember how great something was.

And I’ll just use, because they’re on the ballot, and because it’s been an ongoing conversation, and because it’s the strangest area where the Hall of Fame’s inductees are weak… is hard rock bands. And the bution that Deep Purple [Ed. Note: keyboardist Jon Lord died in 2012], who are a great band by any definition of rock and roll. They made record after record. I know I took them for granted for way too long. And there’s a bunch of people like that, whether it’s somebody whose style is pretty much forgotten and discarded, like Marc Bolan, who is not on the ballot, and to the best of my knowledge has never been on the ballot, but who was the spirit of rock and roll. I would say in historical terms, one of the luckiest things that ever happened to David Bowie was Marc Bolan’s car crash. I don’t mean that to say anything mean about David exactly, but Marc was just something extraordinarily special. And when you’ve got a process that won’t even let you get around to that fact, because there are other even bigger problems that have to be addressed... It’s frustrating. Not because anybody wants it to be frustrating.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Most people like awards, but no matter how much they'd like being inducted, I doubt, "But I haven't been inducted in the Hall yet!" has occupied the dying thoughts of any musician...with the possible exception of anyone who died with massive amounts of cocaine in their system...

Keeping in mind the big picture and the lack of importance of the R&R Hall of Fame I think would help a lot of people not be so uptight about it and enjoy it more!

Keep that in mind and don't freak out, but Chicago has locked down the popular poll, with voting capping out at 37.5 million the past few weeks. So yeah, pretty likely they will be inducted. The Cars in 2nd with 27.8 mil, Yes just 4,394 votes behind in 3rd, Steve Miller & Deep Purple make up the top 5. Voting in the popular poll is still open, I think up until shortly before the official announcement in a few weeks!

http://rockhall.com/voting/2016-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-nominees-vote/

The winner of the popular poll doesn't automatically get inducted.

Yes, it only makes up one of about 600 ballots. HOWEVER, winners of all three previous popular vote ballots, Kiss, Rush and Stevie Ray Vaughan were indeed inducted. I think other voters paid attention and it made much more impact than just the one ballot.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

yeah that'll happen

B-fuckin-oo.

lol @ the three googlers who voted for chicago

People who voted for The Cars ahead of Deep Purple, you make me sick to my stomach

The Cars getting that many votes
LOL

They like the nite-life babeh

Interestingly, The Smiths are second to last in the HOF popular vote, at 0.28% (453,639 votes) over Los Lobos, just behind Nine Inch Nails & N.W.A. It's really strange to see them that low -- I thought everyone revered them at least on the level of The Cure, New Order & R.E.M. Has the lack of a reunion and Morrissey's prickliness hurt their chances?

popular vote > ILM vote

not american and sold almost no records here, nobody but college saddos ever knew who they were. wiki reports that their peak of success was strangeways hitting #55 on the albums chart. "how soon is now" at #36 on the US Dance chart. despite a great rep with the kind of people who become music critics, they are effectively nobodies.

yeah Smiths are v much a cult thing in the US

Definitely not on par with REM

yeah that the smiths are even nominated (esp w/ dave marsh on the nominating committee) is kinda amazing. consider that roxy music and t rex have never been nominated.

their cult was just really starting to reach that size where mtv/radio might take notice when they broke up, i'm not sure they could've broke as big as the cure or depeche mode (those bands just wanted it more) but i wouldn't rule it out. they could have been as big as new order at least. '80's blocks on '90's alt radio were kind of revisionist so that 'how soon is now' and 'girlfriend in a coma' have a profile.

Well, in the context of 1986-87, R.E.M. weren't selling that much more at the time, or storming any charts either. The Queen Is Dead got reviews in pretty mainstream publications, and by that point most everyone I knew in high school knew them, and that was in a lame small city in Iowa. I think their popularity was comparable to The Cure, R.E.M., New Order and Depeche Mode, but they broke up before they could take advantage of the whole alt rock thing getting big on mainstream radio stations a couple years later. But hard to know for sure.

REM? Yes they were.

REM hitting top forty album chart from the start, each album outselling the other. By 1986 LET shipped gold. Document platinum and top ten.

LET = LRP.

every rem album went at least gold on release, they were runnerup to thriller in pnj w/ their debut album and every album after finished pretty high in the pnj (contrast w/ how the smiths did), and 'fall on me' and 'superman' crossed over to aor.

rem made the cover of rolling stone w/ the hed 'america's best rnr band' in 87. they'd made a handful of spin and musician covers by then. the smiths never got a full feature in rolling stone, no mainstream mag covers either, moz doesn't get the cover of spin until viva hate.

Also, R.E.M. were regularly selling out 6,000-10,000-seat college basketball arenas in '86-'87, while the Smiths rarely played halls that big in the US (usually venues half that size).

The Smiths didn't get their three gold albums until they'd broken up.

On the other hand, I distinctly remember an article on the Smiths in People magazine at one point. Don't remember when, but it existed - I saw it.

also "the one i love" was a top ten hit (their first of four), a feat the cure managed only with "lovesong" and depeche with "enjoy the silence," both later. really no comparison, and no surprise high school kids in iowa knew who they were.

It was partly thanks to KUNI from University of Northern Iowa, which had transmitters all over the state, at least on the Eastern half. I'm not sure if other states lacking decent sized cities had something like that in the 80s or not. I did see R.E.M. in a 6,000-10,000 seat arena in '87, and just assumed The Smiths could have played the same had they toured that year instead of breaking up.

Balls is likely right for the most part though. Here's their '86 tour -- not sure of the size of all the places. Anyone get to see 'em?

Jul 30 - London (Canada), Centennial Hall
Jul 31 - Toronto (Canada), Kingswood Music Theatre
Aug 2 - Ottawa (Canada), Capital Congress Center
Aug 3 - Montreal (Canada), Centre Sportif de l'U. de Montréal
Aug 5 - Mansfield (MA), Great Woods Performing Arts Center
Aug 6 - New York (NY), Pier 84
Aug 8 - Washington (DC), Smith Center
Aug 11 - Cleveland (OH), Music Hall
Aug 12 - Pittsburgh (PA), Fulton Theater
Aug 14 - Detroit (MI), Fox Theater
Aug 15 - Chicago (IL), Aragon Ballroom
Aug 16 - Milwaukee (WI), Performing Arts Center
Aug 22 - Santa Barbara (CA), Arlington Theater
Aug 23 - Berkeley (CA), Greek Theater
Aug 25 - Los Angeles (CA), Universal Amphitheater
Aug 26 - Los Angeles (CA), Universal Amphitheater
Aug 28 - Laguna Hills (CA), Irvine Meadows
Aug 29 - San Diego (CA), Open Air Theater
Aug 31 - Phoenix (AZ), Mesa Amphitheater
Sep 3 - Boulder (CO), Events Center
Sep 5 - Houston (TX), Cullen Auditorium
Sep 6 - Dallas (TX), Bronco Bowl
Sep 8 - New Orleans (LO), McAlister Auditorium
Sep 10 - St. Petersburg (FL), Bayfront Arena

Can't believe I'm saying this--I used to make fun of the Smiths endlessly--but I was at that Toronto show. As George Costanza said: "Elaine, I once told a woman that I coined the phrase, 'Pardon my French.'"

I think that's from "Franky, Mr. Shankly."

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfkPC6kXIAAuR3W.jpg

Spoken like a true non-playing motherfucker with only one or two sorry-ass albums out.

Huh?. I think he made some good points, no matter what you think of him and his music.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/arts/music/after-his-induction-steve-miller-rips-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

used his onstage acceptance speech to tactfully allude to the Rock Hall’s opaque nomination process and poor track record on inducting women.

Backstage, he unleashed more of his feelings.

No, he definitely made good points; I just can't resist quoting Miles' autobio whenever Steve Miller is mentioned.

Oh...

Made the mistake of reading comments on the Gene Simmons comments on rap/NWA response at the HOF induction.

I can't believe there are still so many shitty people actively angry about the existence of rap.

So I guess Pearl Jam, Tupac, Journey, Steppenwolf, Bad Brains, Depeche Mode, ELO, Jane's Addiction and Joan Baez are this year's first timers added to the stand-by list? Awesome. Someone should devise a formula that determines the exact year in the future when every single act will have been admitted.

when jann wenner dies they'll team up with the lds and do a mass induction/baptism of everyone not yet in the hall

Smashing Pumpkins snubbed again

Will BOC ever get in?

Well, Twoism is from 95, so there's four years until they're eligible. Who knows?

hardy har har your music humor is as clever as your political analysis

Blue Oyster Cult getting snubbed is beyond stupid. Far better than so many bands in the HoF. Thing that's so odd to me is that they aren't like, for example, Can or some band like that who should be in but aren't that well known in mainstream circles, BOC has a handful of deathless FM classic rock hits that still get played to this day.

hardy har har your music humor is as clever as your political analysis

― Iago Galdston, 18. oktober 2016 21:24 (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Aw, thansk!

I'm just shocked that Dave Krusen and Matt Cameron are the only 2 Pearl Jam drummers deemed eligible for inclusion. They didn't play on their best albums!

the rock and roll hall of fame is a stupid idea. why isn't my favorite band in it?

the rock and roll hall of fame is a stupid idea.why isn't my favorite band in it?

Yeah! And the reason the best band isn't in it is because Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished is from 2000.

^ one of the best posts i've ever read on ilx