The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Sucks at This
It's Like the RockHall Doesn't Know What Rock Is.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced it’s Class of 2023 this morning, and well, it’s not good.
It’s a veritable “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” of inductions. Let’s start with the Good.
The Good
In the performers category, we have a few well deserving rock contributors.1 You couldn’t listen to any radio station in the 90s without hearing Sheryl Crow and many of her songs are standards and often played today. George Michael was one of the best and most notable singers of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Rage Against the Machine was one of the most technically innovative and energetic acts of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. I’m OK with Kate Bush as I know a lot of people really like her and she’s a prototype of the ‘80s chanteuse that led to singers like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan.2 I’m kind of shocked that Bernie Taupin isn’t already in seeing how many of Elton John’s classic songs he penned the lyrics to. Chaka Kahn certainly deserves the nod, and given she has been denied as a performer for the past several years, including her as a “musical excellence” I am fine with.3
The Bad (or in the least, the “Not so good”)
I like Willie Nelson. He’s a character. He’s done a lot for farmers through his “Farm Aid” concerts. He’s popular with potheads given his taste for the weed. He’s one of the greatest country musicians of all time. You know what? He’s never written or played a rock song ever. Just like Dolly Parton last year, who openly ADMITTED she didn’t write rock music and tried having her nomination withdrawn,4 Willie is not a rock act. This gets into the extremely bad habit of the Rock Hall to induct musicians who don’t play rock music at the expense of acts who are squarely within the rock mainstream and should be honored.
The other extremely bad habit is the Rock Hall’s addiction to honoring producers, club owners, record label presidents and peripheral characters. The Ahmet Ertugun Award, named after a former head of Atlantic Records himself demonstrating this problem, is a perfect example. Don Cornelius is a great character. He opened the doors for many acts and gave a spotlight to many African-American bands and singers into mainstream audiences on his nationally syndicated show, “Soul Train.” He was cool as fuck! Yet, he shouldn’t be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the same reason Dick Clark (inducted in 1993) shouldn’t be in the Hall; he never played a single instrument or note, and this seems more like a pat on the back from industry insiders than it is a recognition of the music. It’s honoring Marv Albert as an MVP instead of Michael Jordan.
Missy Elliot is another that is promoted more for her production than her music, which is squarely within Hip Hop more than Rock. As a guideline, if the music isn’t played on a Classic Rock station, I’m not sure it should get into the Rock Hall. After all, isn’t that what the Rock Hall is supposed to give tribute to?
Lastly, the Spinners were a better than average Temptations clone that had a few decent hits but are being reconsidered because one of their songs (“The Rubberband Man”) was featured in a Marvel movie. Their impact was minimal at best, and largely ignored for 40 years. This isn’t a Hall of Fame resume, and this isn’t the “Hall of the Just OK.”
The Ugly
If you were like me, you had to look up who the hell Link Wray, DJ Kool Herc and Al Kooper are.
Al Kooper is a songwriter, producer and founder of the ‘60s group Blood, Sweat and Tears. He played backup music on many songs he produced as well. So here we have another producer and otherwise musical mediocrity.
Link Wray was a guitarist from the ‘50s through the ‘70s. He had some notable riffs. Most people have never heard of him.
DJ Kool Herc is considered the father of HIP HOP, again not Rock. Not to mention DJs aren’t musicians, they’re functionally producers. Again, the Rock Hall selects someone for an influence award whose influence on rock itself seems minimal at best. If it were the Hip Hop Hall of Fame, he’d be first ballot or near the top; unfortunately, it’s not.
The Downright Offensive
Worse than the decision on some of the people getting into the Hall, is when you consider who was left out, either snubbed as nominees on this year’s ballots or never considered in the first place.
Soundgarden was one of the “big five” grunge bands of the early ‘90s.5 That this was their first nomination is offensive. That they didn't get in is practically criminal. But Rock Hall voters seem to have a considerable blindspot when it comes to rock music after 1985.
Joy Division/New Order. More innovative than any of the Music Influence people chosen, and ground zero for techno laden rock music.
Iron Maiden. Ask anyone familiar with hard rock/heavy metal who the two most influential bands were for it and they would say Judas Priest (inducted last year after a long wait) and Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden is THE root for heavy metal music.
Warren Zevon. While I was on the fence about whether he should make it into the Hall this year, he’s better than more than half of the people who did.
The White Stripes. See what was said about Warren Zevon.
If you want to be really offended, check out this list of acts that should be in the Hall of Fame, many of which were NEVER EVEN NOMINATED. The list is long and distinguished.
https://futurerocklegends.com/The_Snub_List/
To sum up, I am just going to post the T-Shirt Jeff Ament wore when Pearl Jam was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Some on this list have been inducted since then, but if the Rock Hall wants to start somewhere on who they should induct going forward, looking at this list and seeing who isn’t in yet (especially if they’ve never been nominated) seems like a good place to start.
Outstanding Tweet
This one is for the fans…
Not really a fan of Rolling Stone, but on this, they nailed it on the head.
Footnotes and Parting Thoughts
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Although I would have chosen other ones mostly.
Never been a fan of Kate Bush, but I get it.
Which let’s be honest, the category seems like a safety net for performers that fail to get enough support for the main performers category.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame refused to allow her to withdraw her nomination. When she was then inducted, she said “I guess I’m going to have to put out a rock album now.”
The others being Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots
I did a double take when you mentioned Iron Maiden because I could have sworn they were already in. They’re the first rock band I ever listened to, the kind of band you’d give to someone to ease them into metal, or atleast if Dio had never lived. How on earth do you not have them inducted by now?
Rock and rap are so different they can’t be judged fairly together. It’s like comparing an opera actor to a Mongolian throat singer, they require entirely unique skill sets. Having a rapper inducted should have been a sign it was going nowhere.
Wasn't sure what I was getting into when I clicked on this, but damn, you brought the fire.
Iron Maiden needs to be inducted.
Never been a fan of the Grunge bands, but I know they were hugely influential in the 90's so I will grant you Soundgarden, but it is criminal that 30ish years later they are just nominated for the first time.
Warren Zevon was someone that I knew from Werewolf in London, but after he passed, I got acquainted with more of his catalog, and he is clearly worthy of induction.
The rap and Hip-Hop stuff? GTFO.