Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees 2022

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No polling, just arguing. Seventeen nominees this year:

A Tribe Called Quest
Pat Benatar
Beck
Kate Bush
Devo
Duran Duran
Eminem
Eurythmics
Judas Priest
Fela Kuti
MC5
New York Dolls
Dolly Parton
Rage Against The Machine
Lionel Richie
Carly Simon
Dionne Warwick

but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 13:33 (three years ago)

Grimly looking forward to another Lucy-and-the-football year for the MC5

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 13:38 (three years ago)

I'll be voting for Devo, Judas Priest, and Fela (and two more TBD), none of whom will be inducted.

but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 13:43 (three years ago)

Benatar definitely getting in before Kate Bush.

Chris L, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 14:23 (three years ago)

I wish I could vote in this one.

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 14:25 (three years ago)

Objectively: New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, Beck, Dolly Parton, Eminem. Subjectively: first three, replace the last two with A Tribe Called Quest and the MC5. I have a Fela Kuti best-of since the last induction, but still an arm's-length appreciation at best; if someone else says he needs to go in, I wouldn't argue.

clemenza, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 14:37 (three years ago)

Wait, how is Dolly not in yet? Today I learned there are only 11 artists in both the rock hall and country hall of fames, but I'm still shocked they could not find a way to shoehorn her in before this.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 14:37 (three years ago)

I'll reiterate what I said last year - nominate songs or maybe albums instead of artists. This is just a rock wax museum.

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 16:09 (three years ago)

I hate RATM so much, hope they never get in (or DO get in, whichever irks them more)

False Pretenses Lad (morrisp), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 16:32 (three years ago)

Morello is on the nominating committee, and while he, like Grohl, is surely too savvy to openly lobby, his position as such and the band's identity as a multi-million selling G/B/D act that housebroke hip-hop, hardcore and metal into major label alt rock and also agitated for leftist causes in ways that Jon Landau and his ilk would approve of, not to mention the more quotidian electorate, will prove irresistible. But then I woulda thought it was irresistible this past year.

veronica moser, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 16:46 (three years ago)

Wait, how is Dolly not in yet? Today I learned there are only 11 artists in both the rock hall and country hall of fames, but I'm still shocked they could not find a way to shoehorn her in before this.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, February 2, 2022 8:37 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

The R&RHOF has never been *just* about rock music, but it seems like it's only been within the last few years (probably starting with induction of Madonna and Grandmaster Flash in late 2000s) that the Hall has been more deliberate about looking beyond (certain kinds of) rock music. Plus, people have obviously liked Dolly Parton for a long time, but her elevation to the level of National Icon and Symbol of Unity is also fairly recent.

jaymc, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 17:00 (three years ago)

I'd definitely vote for Dolly, but Jesus, she's had records since the mid-'60s - it's pretty late in the game and it kind of sucks that they have to put in her direct competition with so many others who are long overdue for an induction.

I can see the New York Dolls and MC5 getting shafted and put in as "early influencers" which would be a cop out.

No way in hell should Lionel Richie or Carly Simon be in. I imagine there's more support for Duran Duran and Pat Benatar, but no way should they be in.

Really surprised and disappointed that OutKast and Lucinda Williams have yet to be nominated.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 17:38 (three years ago)

Let's say, just for the purposes of this discussion, that the "rock era" went from Sgt Pepper's to 2000, which is more or less the last time "rock music," specifically Linkin Park/RATM/LInkin park/Nickelback, was a truly mass market concern. During that 33 year period, a person who was engaged with rock music, loved the notion of rock music, valued going to shows, made a point to possess physical music in a collection, etc, would have at the every least an opinion of or had heard one or more songs by every one of those artists…and yet, there is no reason to think that anyone other than record collectors/rock nerds would have ever heard the music of the Dolls or the MC5, as well as Fela. Even Kate Bush has one song "Running up the hill" that the average lumpen american rock fan (there is no reason to talk about any other kind of music person here other than american seeing as it's only the US that gives a plugged nickel re: the RRhoF) who at least was paying marginal attention in 1986 know.

veronica moser, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:04 (three years ago)

Has Cher ever been on the ballot? Seriously, I think she should be in--from a commercial standpoint at least. She's the only person to have #1 singles on Billboard (not always the pop chart) for six decades.

clemenza, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:33 (three years ago)

Per @alshipley, women (or woman-fronted acts) never *nominated* for the R&RHOF:

Cher
Alanis Morrisette
Bjork
The Carpenters
Tori Amos
Mariah Carey
Cyndi Lauper
Big Mama Thornton
The B-52’s
No Doubt
Garbage
The Bangles
Hole
The Runaways
Sleater-Kinneyhttps://t.co/mvyDEYLXCN

— John M. Cunningham (@jmcunning) February 2, 2022

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:44 (three years ago)

jaymc OTM

jaymc, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:48 (three years ago)

Good list...missing the Shangri-Las? I can't seem to find out if they've at least been nominated. And not even to get into the likes of X-Ray Spex, Liliput, the Adverts, and other non-American artists.

clemenza, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:50 (three years ago)

Looks like they have not been.

jaymc, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 18:58 (three years ago)

Ha! Didn't realize that was a jaymc tweet (which I poached off Ned, and contains a link to a some dude byline).

The big missing female BritPunk name is Siouxsie & The Banshees.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 19:03 (three years ago)

mariah and bjork seem like they will definitely make it in at some point

bangles and s-k would make my personal hall of fame, but it would take a lot for them to get in

b-52s seem to be very underrated by the public at large, they should already be in.

roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 19:05 (three years ago)

There's a B-52's doc in the works, so if it can rise above music doc saturation, yeah they've got an increased chance.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 19:10 (three years ago)

Siouxsie & the Banshees if you place more weight on general fame and (I'm guessing) record sales, but I'd put X-Ray Spex and Liliput comfortably ahead of them in artistic achievement; influence, I don't know.

clemenza, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 19:11 (three years ago)

Souixsie will never get in
sucks but never

B52s have a few songs most ppl in America know so they have a shot

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 19:14 (three years ago)

Siouxsie & the Banshees if you place more weight on general fame and (I'm guessing) record sales, but I'd put X-Ray Spex and Liliput comfortably ahead of them in artistic achievement; influence, I don't know.

― clemenza, Wednesday, February 2, 2022 2:11 PM (eight hours ago)

This statement has thrown me for a loop, and I can't let it pass. If it were a contest between Siouxsie & the Banshees' first album and X-Ray Spex's first album I would favor the latter, which is my favorite punk LP of all time - yes, I think it's better than the Sex Pistols' and The Clash's debuts.

However, Siouxsie & the Banshees went on to make 10 more wildly innovative albums, while X-Ray Spex made zero more. So to me it's not even close. Siouxsie & the Banshees are a Hall of Fame-type act whereas X-Ray Spex were a brilliant flash in the pan.

Josefa, Thursday, 3 February 2022 03:39 (three years ago)

I'll defer to your familiarity with their work--no personal interest after "Hong Kong Garden"--but is that the general view, 10 wildly innovative albums? I used to keep up reasonably well, and just don't don't remember them being written about much through the '80s and '90s. (And Poly Styrene herself, of course, went on to make more music; in inducting X-Ray Spex, you'd really be inducting her.)

Anyway, my Cher comment notwithstanding, I tend to favor brilliant flashes in the pan. It's the old peak vs. career value argument.

clemenza, Thursday, 3 February 2022 03:53 (three years ago)

I'm personally all for brilliant flash-in-the-pans too. X-Ray Spex, the original Modern Lovers (with Jerry Harrison, Chris Robinson and Ernie Brooks), etc...like the Sex Pistols, I'd trade their one real album over every scrap recorded by quite a few HOF inductees.

I'm glad the HOF is making a push to include more women, but they've done a wildly uneven job of it. I'm glad that the Go-Go's got in and that Carole King was recognized as a recording artist, but Stevie Nicks? She was already in (deservingly so), she doesn't need another artist induction for her solo career (which is mostly awful). And now we have mediocrities like Pat Benatar (nominated yet again) and Carly Simon.

Sleater-Kinney, PJ Harvey, Björk, Lucinda Williams, the Shangri-Las, Liz Phair, the B-52's and X-Ray Spex all should have been in there by now, and they have ZERO nominations between them.

It's tougher to make the argument for the never-nominated Cyndi Lauper, the Bangles (I much prefer the earlier stuff) and Hole but I'd vote them in.

Repeat nominees Kate Bush, the Marvelettes, Dionne Warwick and Rufus (with Chaka Khan - her best work was with them) should all be in there too.

birdistheword, Thursday, 3 February 2022 03:58 (three years ago)

(Forgot the original Flying Burrito Brothers - I'd induct the ones who did The Gilded Palace of Sin)

birdistheword, Thursday, 3 February 2022 03:59 (three years ago)

x-posts You're claiming no personal interest after "Hong Kong Garden," which is their debut single from 1978. So that writes off all the rest of their career.

Although I think their first album is great - and their second less great (though it has its fans, especially here on ILM) - I'd say they really hit their stride with Kaleidoscope in 1980, where the rhythmic side of the band got much more interesting. And then they kept innovating with every album, at least through 1988. It's a massive body of work, and their performing career spans the earliest days of punk to the first Lollapalooza tour.

Josefa, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:06 (three years ago)

You can't hear everything by everybody, right? You make judgements based on what information you have. I wasn't completely oblivious to them after 1978--I'd hear stray songs here and there--but nothing that made me want to investigate more. I used to keep up with record reviews pretty well, and some publications and reviewers could induce me to buy something I normally wouldn't, and I'm pretty sure I would have bought more if I'd read reviews that shared your enthusiasm. I guess I just heard the wrong songs and missed the great reviews.

clemenza, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:25 (three years ago)

It is surprising that the Shangri-Las have never even been nominated; they seem to check all the boxes… (or maybe I’m overestimating their regard amongst the rock-canon set)

False Pretenses Lad (morrisp), Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:36 (three years ago)

Yeah. I get all that. And I realize not everyone thinks as highly of Siouxsie & the Banshees. I think they’re quite underestimated in terms of artistic influence, but that’s one dog’s opinion.

The Shangri-Las should definitely be in the Hall, and from the ballot, Devo and the NY Dolls, I mean why is there even a question about those two groups.

Josefa, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:42 (three years ago)

(xpost)

Josefa, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:43 (three years ago)

I need to explore Siouxsie & the Banshees a bit more, but here's someone else making the case for them as well:

"Lead vocalist-songwriter Siouxsie Sioux befriended the Pistols and other punk rockers during punk’s initial boom in the mid-70s. She even appeared as one of the subjects during the Sex Pistols’ infamous television interview on The Bill Grundy Show in 1976. During this time, she was slowly kickstarting her own band and somehow survived when most of punk’s originators fizzled. Her band The Banshees adopted more art-rock elements that would ultimately serve as one of the earliest examples of modern alternative rock. Their two-decade run made them one of alternative rock’s longest-tenured bands. The band went through several lineup changes and Sioux and Steve Severin are the only two constants in the band’s history. It’s worth noting The Cure’s Robert Smith and Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious both served tenures in the Banshees’ lineup at some point too...They influenced an array of subgenres including goth rock, new wave, synth-pop and shoegazing. Traces of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ influence can heard in the music of Joy Division, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey, Smashing Pumpkins and Arcade Fire. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke once said he decided to become a musician after seeing a Banshees concert in the mid-1980s."

birdistheword, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:44 (three years ago)

This is a start at least:

POLL: Siouxsie & The Banshees albums

Josefa, Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:57 (three years ago)

xxxp Yeah I’m also really surprised the Dolls aren’t in already (and sadly only one member is living now)

False Pretenses Lad (morrisp), Thursday, 3 February 2022 04:57 (three years ago)

I hope every single one of them makes it!!

frogbs, Thursday, 3 February 2022 05:02 (three years ago)

(xposts) Yeah, I looked at their Wikipedia entry, and their influence appears to be much greater than I thought--lots of quotes from other musicians. Also checked Pazz & Jop, and they didn't place an album through the '80s and '90s, but that's just the Top 40 via Christgau's site, so maybe they had a few in the 40-100 range. Not much attention from Christgau or Rolling Stone; maybe they get more in the Spin guide or on Pitchfork lists, I don't know.

I don't really get why the Stooges went in and the Dolls haven't. Their timeline, influence, critical acclaim, degree of solo success, etc. seem comparable.

clemenza, Thursday, 3 February 2022 05:31 (three years ago)

xpost this is how i feel. who fuckin' cares? put 'em all in there. everyone on that list made a lot of music and a lot of people happy for a long time. that's hard to do!

alpine static, Thursday, 3 February 2022 05:44 (three years ago)

Okay, but not Lydia Lunch. She just made people miserable, and she did it on purpose.

clemenza, Thursday, 3 February 2022 05:50 (three years ago)

Stooges getting in meant Iggy got in, and that wasn't happening with him as a solo artist.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 3 February 2022 06:08 (three years ago)

If critics like Robert Christgau and Greil Marcus hadn't turned down their invitations to join the original board for the Hall of Fame (when the voting pool was much, much smaller), I'm sure bands they've championed like the New York Dolls, Pere Ubu, the Replacements, Hüsker Dü et al would've had a fairly decent shot at getting in. At the time they opposed the idea of a Hall of Fame, which is why they flat out declined, but since then they've complained about who was getting in and who wasn't every single year.

birdistheword, Thursday, 3 February 2022 08:41 (three years ago)

i think the stooges got in largely because iggy had essentially been campaigning for it for the last two decades. the nydolls had to be goaded into reuniting, never exerted any promotional muscle, and publicly expressed mixed feelings about the hall (mixed meaning syl wanted in and david couldn't be bothered).
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/david-johansen-sylvain-sylvain-1115612/

Thus Sang Freud, Thursday, 3 February 2022 10:20 (three years ago)

Right up until Lalapalooza and the alternative floodgates opening, I feel like Siouxsie didn’t have any cachet as a pop band in the States. They were a goth subculture band with a large following but still only sporadically available in record stores outside of urban hipster neighborhoods and nothing crossover for MTV, like the Cure or Love and Rockets. I did get Once Upon a Time in a mall record shop but it was probably in the “S” section not their own bin.

That mid-eighties party scene in Stranger Things with a girl in perfect Siouxsie make up one one of those false notes like rural kids knowing about the Smiths in 1983.

bendy, Thursday, 3 February 2022 12:41 (three years ago)

A Tribe Called Quest
Kate Bush
Devo
Fela Kuti
Dolly Parton
Dionne Warwick

Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Thursday, 3 February 2022 13:51 (three years ago)

xpost - at least as a kid who'd read about each band for a long time before I heard them, the Stooges still feel way more modern and heavy than the Dolls, who I now love but just kinda seemed like a lower horsepower version of 70s Aerosmith when I first heard them, sounded old fashioned and rock n roll

whereas the "Search and Destroy" I was like oh shit this rules, this is exciting

Iggy's post Stooges status as a cool punk icon, his association with Bowie and Lou Reed as a cool trinity thing is really big too, tons of people who don't even know his music that well know of Iggy

I really don't think the Doll's cultural footprint is even close to Iggy's

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 February 2022 14:54 (three years ago)

I could go either way on the Dolls but I think you could make the case that in addition to lighting the fuse specifically w/r/t NY punk, that Kiss, the Sex Pistols, Aerosmith themselves and all those 80s poodle hair-metal bands all have a pretty direct debt to them

And I think their sloppy, debauched, femme/tough presentation is almost as transformative as Iggy's

All their songs are 35 seconds too long though

chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 February 2022 15:51 (three years ago)

they should totally be in as should all these bands if our standard is "are they better/more important than the paul butterfield blues band?"

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 February 2022 15:56 (three years ago)

Well...yeah

chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 February 2022 15:58 (three years ago)

That's right: every rock fan knows who Iggy is, and "Lust for Life" is by far his best known song cuz of Trainspotting; probly the same amount or more know who Buster Poindexter (likely regarding the Buster act as '80s cornpone) but will go through their lives never hearing a single Dolls tune, which is also to say that those selfsame 80s hair metal acts, barring like Hanoi Rocks, never ever heard the Dolls… and that goes triple for the MC5; "Kick out the Jams" is not terribly well known…

veronica moser, Thursday, 3 February 2022 15:59 (three years ago)

What is the distinction between receiving a Musical Excellence Award and being inducted as an artist? The descriptions of those categories are almost identical. Does this mean Judas Priest are recognized for songwriting as well as performing?

― And liberty she pirouette (Sund4r), Wednesday, May 4, 2022 9:12 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I *think* -- and I'm not positive about this -- that Musical Excellence was awarded mainly to session musicians, who wouldn't have been inducted as part of a band. So, think members of the Funk Brothers and the Wrecking Crew (Jamerson, King Curtis, Blaine, etc.). But the E Street Band got in on that category because they weren't part of Bruce's induction. And Ringo got in on Musical Excellence mainly because the other solo Beatles had been inducted, but he couldn't reasonably get in on his solo records, so they had to throw him a Musically Excellent bone.

That said, it doesn't make any sense that Priest would get in under Musical Excellence, unless that category is somehow being redefined as "we don't really want to induct you, but...you can hang out here if you want."

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:06 (three years ago)

Ask for an early MTV class of inductees, settle for an early VH1 class.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:09 (three years ago)

I'd bet most Americans have never heard of Fela Kuti.

i would venture that the # of 2022 Americans who could correctly answer the question "who are Eurythmics" is not dramatically higher

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:16 (three years ago)

JFC, they inducted the absolute worst nominees who had no business even being nominated.

― birdistheword, Wednesday, May 4, 2022 10:05 AM (nine minutes ago)

dis Jran Jran and I send the dogs after you

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:17 (three years ago)

We have this conversation every year. Fela, I suppose, is "better" than Eurythmics, but the Hall doesn't reward mere aesthetic merit.

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:18 (three years ago)

Eminem has neither aesthetic nor social importance.

Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:24 (three years ago)

Now that Duran Duran are in, perhaps David Sylvian can join Robert Johnson and Skip James in the Hall as an "early influence". Imagine trying to teach the history of rock music into the 80s and 90s with only the inductees as examples!

Beloved rock pioneer Francisco Tàrrega left out again.

He'll have to get in line behind Mike Oldfield:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AckUPng8yvk

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:25 (three years ago)

I'd bet most Americans have never heard of Fela Kuti.

i would venture that the # of 2022 Americans who could correctly answer the question "who are Eurythmics" is not dramatically higher

Nah, they are a staple of '80s throwback radio and playlists.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:34 (three years ago)

what did Don 'n' Glenn think?

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:36 (three years ago)

I'm not a big Eminem fan, I think his records have aged poorly partly because the lyrics are virtually time-stamped to the day they were written, but others have made strong arguments for his work so I have no problem with his induction.

I don't hate Duran Duran, they're fine lads, but even their best singles felt pretty bloodless to me.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:39 (three years ago)

Eurythmics are classic rock now. I agree they are much more widely known in the US than Fela.

o. nate, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:39 (three years ago)

Definitely. I was familiar with them and even Annie Lennox's own solo work before I even knew who they were by name. Fela was someone I had to find myself.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:43 (three years ago)

Both Eurythmics and Carly Simon are mainly known for one massive song (Sweet Dreams and You’re So Vain).

o. nate, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:45 (three years ago)

I don't buy the effectiveness of no-one-knows-their-name. Teens and college students hear stuff in the ether, but I know they recognize tunes even if they don't know the artist. Besides, if they don't know a name, they can google it.

Sidenote: at an e-board meeting of the student paper I advise, the incoming editor in chief strummed -- get this -- Bowie's "Criminal World." When, flabbergasted, I asked how she knew this obscurity, she goes, "It came up on a Bowie playlist when I was looking for 'Life on Mars.'"

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:51 (three years ago)

Eminem is the biggest artist of the 21st century, of course he gets in immediately, I don’t see why that’s controversial.

Siegbran, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:52 (three years ago)

Because he's the Eric Clapton of hip-hop?

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:56 (three years ago)

(Setting aside where ol' Slowhand has ended up with virus nonsense: white dude who is 'technically accomplished' getting in before, oh, I dunno, Tribe? Yeah that figures.)

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 14:57 (three years ago)

Eminem is Elvis/Beatles level famous, Clapton or Tribe are poor comparisons.

Siegbran, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:06 (three years ago)

I don't think Clapton is less famous?

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:08 (three years ago)

Eminem’s induction before Tribe (or Outkast, Salt n Pepa, Eric B and Rakim, Wu Tang, Queen Latifah, etc etc etc) is very much in keeping with the long history of canon building in American music. It goes way back before Elvis and the RRHOF - think Gershwin over Ellington and Armstrong. Think Stephen Foster.

thewufs, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:09 (three years ago)

Run DMC, Tupac, Jay-Z, Grandmaster Flash & TF5, LL Cool J, Biggie, NWA and Public Enemy are all in, and Eminem is definitely more famous than a few of those (but obv, younger).

Siegbran, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:19 (three years ago)

They take way too long inducting a lot of people, so the unfairness of inducting one before the other doesn't have as much weight anymore. I wouldn't delay someone else just because they failed to induct Tribe after seven years of eligibility.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:20 (three years ago)

Tribe never had a big mainstream hit. Their appeal has always been a bit college/alternative niche.

o. nate, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:24 (three years ago)

Probably. Going by charts and sales, "Can I Kick It?" was definitely a hit, but not a massive one. I didn't know anyone who listened to Tribe as a kid, I had to seek them out later when I wanted to stray further from what was playing on Top 40 radio.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 15:31 (three years ago)

the nominating committee now uses the musical excellence category the way they use early influences as a backdoor: the dopey rockist RRHoF electorate (think of now 60-70something former critics for midwestern daily newspapers, the little Hilburns) still dislike metal, so Priest wouldn't get in conventionally, so we can chalk this up to Tom Morello (possibly with the help of Grohl), who also clearly pushed through Randy Rhoades in an identical manner, as others did for LL, Nile and Ringo (because every individual Beatle has to be in). But in this case, this is a band being shoehorned in, whereas previous entrants (except for LL) getting in the back door as such fit easily into the sideman/studio dude category…

similarly, Kraftwerk and Gil Scott were pushed in via "early influences," and just as Priest doesn't at all fit in with the studio cats the category is intended for, those two acts don't fit in with the likes of Patton, Belafonte and Tharpe. So Jon Landau and probly a few other people on the committee keep nominating MC5 and the Dolls; I don't see why Landau and those people can't push through MC5 and the Dolls as an early influence… because what separates the Dolls and the Five from almost every single inductee after 1988 is that the average "rock" fan, white person music devotee or RRHoF voter can name at least one song by each inductee: they know "Hit me with your best Shot," "Sweet Dreams," or "We Got the beat." But those selfsame white rock fans can go though their whole lives without hearing "Kick out the Jams" or "personality Crisis" You have to have at least some relationships to punk culture or rock nerd-dom to know those songs…

Devo? Every RRhoF voter knows "Whip it," but like metal, the voters don't like Devo. Dave Marsh strongly disliked them for their sneering lack of earnest sincerity, and I think this is also true of RRHoF voters.

veronica moser, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:02 (three years ago)

the little Hilburns

i.e. the long-awaited sequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:06 (three years ago)

Eurythmics are classic rock now. I agree they are much more widely known in the US than Fela.

Definitely. I was familiar with them and even Annie Lennox's own solo work before I even knew who they were by name.

splitting hairs but while "Sweet Dreams" is widely known in the US as a classic rock radio staple, idk, i feel like if I told my normie 2022 American coworkers "I'm going to see Eurythmics tonight - you know, the group that does 'Take On Me' and 'Mexican Radio'" a huge percentage would respond "Oh yeah I love those songs, great band! Dont forget your piano key necktie!" Not saying that makes them less known than Fela, but ime they definitely stand out on the list as being less of a household name today than the other inductees (at least in the states), obviously just being inducted on the strength of one song.

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:19 (three years ago)

Are classic rock stations really playing "Sweet Dreams"? Not around here, unless you're counting 'adult hits'/'JACK FM' type stations.

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:24 (three years ago)

I think of "Here Comes the Rain Again" as the Eurythmics song I'm most likely to hear on the radio (when skies are grey).
I've heard three of their albums and like several songs, but I give them extra points for packing it in an an entity soon after they peaked.

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:39 (three years ago)

"as an entity"

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:40 (three years ago)

Also think Annie Lennox would have more name recognition with some "normie Americans" even today than Stan Ridgway and, uh, the A-ha guy.

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:43 (three years ago)

Even Dave Stewart!

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:44 (three years ago)

fair point Sund4r, yeah i kind of lazily catalog all that stuff under the same banner since (around me at least) theres tons of overlap, my local 'classic rock' station plays lots of synth-heavy 80s hits that also get played on jack fm

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:47 (three years ago)

Cannibal Corpse for HOF

Deez NFTs (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:47 (three years ago)

the nominating committee now uses the musical excellence category the way they use early influences as a backdoor: the dopey rockist RRHoF electorate (think of now 60-70something former critics for midwestern daily newspapers, the little Hilburns) still dislike metal, so Priest wouldn't get in conventionally, so we can chalk this up to Tom Morello (possibly with the help of Grohl), who also clearly pushed through Randy Rhoades in an identical manner, as others did for LL, Nile and Ringo (because every individual Beatle has to be in). But in this case, this is a band being shoehorned in, whereas previous entrants (except for LL) getting in the back door as such fit easily into the sideman/studio dude category…

From what I was told by [REDACTED], the only reason that Nile Rodgers got saddled with the weird First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence consolation prize is that "Jann never liked Chic." There was a push a few years back to get a bunch of young-ish metal writers on the nom committee (you know ... priorities), but it apparently wasn't enough to tip the scale for Maiden or Motorhead. I have no idea what's happening behind the scenes these days, but I imagine someone's thumb is still on the scale if we're still not getting the Monkees

I think the weird backdoor bullshit awards for black artists like LL Cool J and Nile Rodgers (not to mention LGBT artists like Judas Priest) is obviously a ripoff and hugely disrespectful not to mention fucking stupid, but that won't drive clickbait headlines as much as "fake award finally given to women" so no one cares. This whole thing is just for gawkers and HBO Max dads and the earnestness in which people argue about it is lame.

Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 17:02 (three years ago)

First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence

That's the first thing that came to mind when they first unveiled it while doing away with the "sidemen" category. I imagine more than a few snickered at the initial proposal and brought up how the generic name was close to a Simpsons joke.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 17:19 (three years ago)

Oh, Jann Wenner doesn't like Chic? I would be interested to know what black musical artists Jann Wenner does like…like legitimately likes, apart from who Mick Jagger or Billy Joel or Mick Jones told him he should like… RS was super super super uncomfortable with whatever black music was popular at any particular time and would only advocate as such when any innovation was in the rear view… maybe his decades younger husband, who very likely had a much more conventional gay life, which might not have involved trying to pass as straight as Wenner did for so long, has an understanding of black music that could help him… he was said to be really ill at ease around black people at RS and never hired any black staffers until Toure in the early 00s…

veronica moser, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 18:15 (three years ago)

Realizing Kraftwerk and Gil-Scott got booby-prizes too.

Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 18:26 (three years ago)

Because he's the Eric Clapton of hip-hop?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, May 4, 2022 9:56 AM

white artists ripping off black music? in the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME? unthinkable!

aegis philbin (crüt), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 18:31 (three years ago)

I forgot about the fan vote. Basically everyone who got at least 300,000 fan votes (all fans can vote once per day, FWIW) ended up getting inducted in some fashion. Everyone below that didn't make it. Fela Kuti was in last place by a large margin with 69,656 votes. (The MC5 was next with 93,666.)

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 23:40 (three years ago)

Rockin’ out to Carly Simon’s “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard it Should Be” in celebration. Next I’ll put on one of her standards albums.

Josefa, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 23:54 (three years ago)

934k Duran Duran fans can’t be wrong

Hops: Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe (morrisp), Thursday, 5 May 2022 00:29 (three years ago)

Duran Duran over Fela Kuti by a 40 to 3 ratio...again, I don't hate Duran Duran, but that feels pretty wrong.

birdistheword, Thursday, 5 May 2022 00:47 (three years ago)

It’s almost like people who have good taste in music don’t give a shit about this

Whiney G. Weingarten, Thursday, 5 May 2022 00:49 (three years ago)

And vice versa.

Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Thursday, 5 May 2022 01:43 (three years ago)

I told my son Eminem was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Eminem is one of the few artists he knows), and he said – “Eminem is rock and roll?”

Hops: Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe (morrisp), Thursday, 5 May 2022 01:50 (three years ago)

On first read I thought you were saying Eminem was your son

Deez NFTs (Neanderthal), Thursday, 5 May 2022 01:52 (three years ago)

my son, Eminem

Hops: Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe (morrisp), Thursday, 5 May 2022 02:09 (three years ago)

Eminem sonned in RRHOF beef

Hops: Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe (morrisp), Thursday, 5 May 2022 02:09 (three years ago)

Eminem is indeed morrisp’s son, but he talks in the third person.

birdistheword, Thursday, 5 May 2022 03:26 (three years ago)


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