Day: July 24, 2020

Random Friday MusingsRandom Friday Musings

0 Comments 8:08 pm


Here’s another writer expounding on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while not seeming to know very much about rock & roll, or how halls of fame actually work.

This dude drops this nugget on the reader:

“Eligible this year for the first time are many artists who are good, bad, or eh. Those include Sheryl Crow, Weezer, Wilco, Notorious BIG, Daft Punk, Oasis, Keb Mo, and Marilyn Manson. But do any of them really belong in the Hall of Fame with the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Temptations, Aretha Franklin, and Sam & Dave? Think hard on that question.”

You’re asking the wrong question. If you’re trying to put anyone in the Beatles / Dylan / Franklin / Stones stratosphere, almost everyone is going to fall short.

Are Sheryl Crow, Oasis, or Daft Punk worthy of being in a Hall of Fame with Paul Butterfield, Cheap Trick, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, Richie Valens, and The Mamas & The Papas?

You don’t judge a Hall of Fame by the top of the list, but the bottom of the list, because that’s where you’ve set the bar.

If you’re setting the bar at Beatles / Dylan / Franklin / Stones / Springsteen, then there’s a good 25-40 acts already in there that need the boot.

And if you’re going to come back in the same article trying to list your snubs…

Those include Nile Rodgers & Chic, Carole King (she’s in only as a songwriter) and Sting (in with the Police only, and not for his 25 year solo career) each as artists, Chubby Checker, Tommy James and the Shondells, as well as Rufus and Carla Thomas, Barry White, Harry Nilsson, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, and — still most embarrassingly, The J Geils Band.
Any or all of those artists should have been inducted long ago. Also missing are Billy Preston, Motown’s Mary Wells, The Spinners, Steppenwolf, and the Doobie Brothers.

(only about 3 of which are *actually* worthy)

… but you’re leaving out Judas Priest, Paul Weller / The Jam, Iron Maiden, The Scorpions, Janes Addiction, and Rage Against the Machine? Yeah, this writer can pound sand.