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About Those Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominations
If this morning’s nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2016 are any indication, rock isn’t quite dead. Not yet, anyway. But it does appear to be resting.
We could — and probably will — argue about whether the existence of such an institution is in itself a nullification of the spirit of rock’n’roll. I await your comments.
In the meantime, here — though precisely no one asked for it — is my take on each of the nominees.
- Chicago. I’m pretty sure that Chicago deserves this, but I feel sort of dirty for saying so. For me, their horn-heavy super hits of the ’70s were sort of overshadowed by their soft-rock turn in the ’80s (and Peter Cetera’s gloppish solo career), but okay. Chicago goes in.
- Cheap Trick. Not a top-tier rock band by any stretch. We could sink a lot of beers debating the relative merits of their two (or three) well-known songs, but this is a big stretch. Cheap Trick is a no.
- Deep Purple. Heavy metal hall of fame, yes. Rock and roll hall of fame, no. I ain’t turning off “Smoke on the Water” or “My Woman from Tokyo” if they come on the radio, but I could say the same about “Last Train to Clarksville.”
- The Cars. I can support this nomination unreservedly. The Cars were/are a solid band that sold a lot of records and broke through to a wide audience during the early days of MTV. Their well-crafted pop songs are still in heavy rotation on the radio and their influence on several generations of crafty rock tunesmiths is both real and ongoing.
- Chaka Khan. I don’t think I know enough about the Queen of Funk to judge for certain whether she belongs in the Hall. My gut says no. If you really think otherwise, I feel for you.
- Chic. Um, disco sucks. What are we talking about?
- The J.B.’s. James Brown’s original band has got to be the funkiest thing I can think of, but is it a rock and roll outfit? Naw — maybe — I guess so — I don’t know. Whatever. This is the kind of thing that makes record store geeks feel good about the world, so let them have it.
- Janet Jackson. This is a crime against three chords and the truth. What has become of us?
- Los Lobos. I know I’m supposed to like Los Lobos, but I don’t know how. Probably there is some desire among the powers-that-be to get some diversity in the hall, but this seems like a big stretch.
- Steve Miller. Yeah, okay. Since there’s no separate Folk Rock Hall of Fame, I guess the Gangster of Love goes in.
- N.W.A. Seriously, what are we doing here? As the kids say these days: I. Can’t. Even.
- Nine Inch Nails. Anything made mostly with computers shouldn’t be in the Hall. Period.
- The Smiths. This is a yes. Make that a hell yes. Influential. Successful. Poetic. Unique. Funny (at times — in a dark way). Guitar-driven. Maybe not for everyone, but The Smiths definitely belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- The Spinners. Sure. Why not?
- Yes. I expect there to be some serious discussion on this. I’m not myself a fan of proggy noodling, but groups like Yes are a big deal to some. It’s a “no” from me, but I’m willing to hear your case.
Come at me, bros.
Published in Entertainment
Agree with your analysis on 4 and 8 completely. 9 is just as baffling to me. The only thing Los Lobos are really known for that I can think of is a movie sound track of someone else probably already in the hall. If we simply must have a Hispanic band, then why not wait a few year and put Los Lonely Boys (who created their own style of Texican rock) in for something other than being Mexican. 14. Weren’t the Smiths New Wave or something? Follow them with Depeche Mode next year?
Where are the Moody Blues? Should have been in years ago.
No, because Depeche Mode is made with computers. See No. 12.
Shaka Khan was the bane of my mid-80’s existence. Her music was so played out I dreamt it, and I wasn’t fan.
Glad to see Steve Miller, The Cars and Smiths get the nod. College wouldn’t have been the same without them (great concerts too).
Cheap Trick is arguable. But Mike Damone makes some good points.
Still not buying the Smiths as rock. Good alternative/new wave, but not rock.
Chicago: I agree, but, yecccch.
Cheap Trick: Positively, absolutely must be in. They popularized Power Pop which influenced many of my favorite bands.
The Cars, The J.B.’s, Steve Miller: Agreed.
The Smiths: No brainer; they are in.
Yes: Must be included. They advanced rock in their own way, even if they lost cool points once Punk blew the progs out of the water.
—
Sidenote: Computers or no… Kraftwerk should be in.
The rock hall nominations seem geared more towards who they can have play at the party in the springtime than on the merits, to the extent that artistic merits can be canonized after only 25 years.
There is certainly an aspect to which “rock and roll” is a misnomer. “Rock and roll” is a reference to a style of music that hasn’t been current since the mid-1960s, having being replaced by rock. Not a sin, but something that an organization dedicated to preserving the history of that form of music would be a little more aware of.
Now that Rush is in, Yes is my choice for most puzzling snub. “Noodling” best describes aimless musicianship and that in no way can be used to describe the complex but still structurally sound pieces found on Yes’s work from 1970-75. And I’d argue that the power pop on 90125 probably extended the “classic rock” heyday by another 5 years.
The problem with the Hall of Fame is that it is not a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at all but rather a Hall of Fame of Popular Music Since the Beginning of the Rock and Roll Era. To call it the Pop Hall of Fame would be considerably more accurate and honest.
I like all of the artists being inducted except for N.W.A. and N.I.N. Maybe I would feel different about the latter if I were more familiar with their music. Regarding the former, I fear that greater familiarity would breed greater contempt on my part.
While I like many of Steve Miller’s dopey songs, I have to acknowledge that he is perhaps the worst lyric writer in rock – and that’s saying something. “Abra-abra-cadabra/I wanna reach out and grab ya.” That makes me want to reach out, grab Steve Miller by the shoulders, and give him a good violent shake – in an attempt to shake some talent into him.
Amen!
Deep Purple is the most influential band of the late 60’s and 70’s.
Every single major rock band of the 70’s and 80’s count Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ritchie Blackmore as their central motivating factor in getting serious with music.
No Deep Purple, no NWOBHM.
This is not even counting the influence of David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.
That wasn’t a Steve Miller album. A friend’s cousins chiropractors barber said that the record company confused the labels with Christopher Cross, but since it got radio play and sold records, Miller didn’t fix it. Chris Cross was somewhere on a schooner.
Millers 70’s work was masterful.
The Rock Hall is a joke. It’s Jan Wenner’s favorite bands plus a few he was forced to accept when they started letting fans have a voice. It’s closer to being the Pop Music Hall of Fame than anything.
I’ll just say, I like it when I bump in to other Smiths fans.
Steve Miller’s the worst lyricist?
“Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas
You know he knows just exactly what the facts is”
Contra the poet Townshend:
“When you sing through the verse and you end in a scream
And you swear and you curse ’cause the rhyming ain’t clean”
I believe this is the first invocation of NWOBHM on Ricochet. Well done, sir.
Re: Cheap Trick. A good band, but not a GREAT band. C’mon.
Deep Purple, in.
Cars, in.
Yes, in (mostly on the strength of Roundabout).
Los Lobos, out*.
*I like Los Lobos. They are talented and distinctive with some strong work via soundtracks. (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) BUT, I saw them at the Alaska State Fair about six years back. They played half a set of their tunes before being coaxed by the crowd to play Grateful Dead covers for the rest of the time. (Not Rock & Roll!)
It’s not that I’m not a fan, it’s just that their music isn’t rock.
Chicago. I’m pretty sure that Chicago deserves this, but I feel sort of dirty for saying so. Agreed. It’s like the 70’s Oakland Raiders. Sure, they were good, but….
Cheap Trick. Cheap Trick is a no. You could not be any more wrong. Buying a copy of “Live at the Budokan” was part of the rite of passage into manhood during the 70’s.
Deep Purple. On the bubble. Very influential, but so is Yo La Tengo, and they ain’t never getting into the hall of fame.
The Cars. Deserve it.
Chaka Khan. No. Like her stuff, but it’s not rock n roll.
Chic. No. It’s good disco (which is like saying “good vegetarian bacon”), but no.
The J.B.’s. No. Again, ROCK, not funk.
Janet Jackson. “Rhythm Nation” was a great dance album. Again I say, DANCE album.
Los Lobos. Groundbreaking Latino rock. Listen to “Will The Wolf Survive?” off their first album. Deserve it, but barely.
Steve Miller. Solid history of putting out hit after hit. Put him in.
N.W.A. Groumdbreaking, earth-shattering HIP HOP group. Wrong place for them.
Nine Inch Nails. On the bubble. Lots of keyboards, but definitely have a rock n roll attitude.
The Smiths. Agreed. They were to the U.K. in the 80’s what Husker Dü or R.E.M. were to the U.S.
The Spinners. Great stuff. Not sure if HoF material.
Yes. Good prog rock (see vegetarian bacon comment above) but rock nevertheless. Put them in as a warning to others.
Yes. In. About time.
Cheap Trick. Meh. A few good songs. A lot of my friends were big fans because they were from Rockford too. Not enough really good stuff to get into the Hall.
Chicago. See Yes. The later stuff was treacle, but the earlier stuff still holds up. And I like horns.
The Cars. I haven’t been paying attention, because I thought they were in already.
The Smiths. I really haven’t been paying attention.
Deep Purple. Even more meh than Cheap Trick. One guitar lick does not a Hall of Fame rock band make. Even if it is the best lick ever. Not in.
Steve Miller. There was a guy on my dorm floor that absolutely could not remain in the room if Book of Dreams was on the turntable; thus, the most useful album I had, if not the most interesting. Not in the Hall, though.
The rest either don’t make it because (IMHO) they don’t rate, or because they weren’t playing rock.
They should rename it The Pop Music Hall of Fame.
What is the level of accomplishment you think should be required to get into the Hall? There are people on this list that I like, but I am not sure they are Hall of Famers in the same sense that The Beatles or The Who or Ray Charles are Hall of Famers.
I think you’re probably right. The whole business jumped the shark with Green Day last year, IMO, but it’s a fun debate.
Deep Purple has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.
To say they have “one lick” is just plain ignorance.
Deep Purple was as big, if not bigger, than Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the early 70”s.
No Bon Jovi nomination?
New Jersey frowns on this shenanigans.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shall remain a travesty so long as Warren Zevon is not in it.
And if we had to have one prog-rock band, I think I would have picked Supertramp over Yes.
Los Lobos did produce at least one brilliant album: 1992’s Kiko. I am not particularly familiar with the rest of their work, but I can highly recommend that one. (Whether that qualifies them for the HoF I can’t say, because I have no idea what the criteria are supposed to be.)
I agree with the choices; I agree with the rationale! (Kraftwerk, too!)