I believe if you are reading this blog, you know how easily it can be to pull others into arguments. Usually, the best way to start what could be conceived as a small holy war are topics such as politics and religion, and, if you are a Hoosier, then either bring up high school class basketball (Indiana had a single-class system until the 1997-98 season, which was perfect for the rare occurrence of an underdog going all the way to the championship game. Some here in Indiana hate change, since the class system took away natural close-by rivalries, the kind that small schools celebrated while defeating the dominating big school.) or Indiana University versus Purdue University basketball (Me? I think “Go Ball State!” [Cue the laugh track]).
What I have noticed recently within the ranks of music fans around the world is the school of thought that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is an inclusive institution allowing for all genres of music to be represented as acknowledgement of how diverse rock & roll truly is or that rock & roll is the stuff created mainly by white males during the late-Sixties, Seventies and into the Nineties. The former group has no bias against hip hop, pop, soul, funk, R&B, country, jazz, novelty, disco, etc., while the latter would limit who can get inducted to those artists played consistently on rock, alt-rock and classic rock radio stations.
If you haven’t gathered by now, I am of the ilk that rock & roll transcends genre. Let’s face it, we could not have had Rage Against the Machine without the sounds of Black Sabbath being married to the hip hop of Public Enemy in a shotgun ceremony. Likewise, The Byrds would never have hit the airwaves if they had not stumbled upon an amalgamation of The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Chic would not have existed if guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards had not been as well-versed in jazz, funk and disco to combine with a tincture of Roxy Music. And what rock artist has NOT been influenced by jazz by the likes of John Coltrane or Miles Davis, the country sounds of Dolly, Willie, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and the R&B sounds of Phil Spector, Motown and Stax. Therefore, my predictions will never be limited by any definitions of rock and roll. I try to be an inclusive person throughout my life.
Plus, I have been influenced by the words of such rock journalists like Lester Bangs, Cameron Crowe, Lisa Robinson, Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus, Ben Fong-Torres, Legs McNeil, Jaan Uhelski, Dave Marsh, among many others, all of whom flew flags of diversity from one extent to another whenever it concerned rock music in the pages of Rolling Stone, Creem, Spin, Hit Parader, Circus, Crawdaddy and the like. Perhaps, the biggest influence upon my catholic taste in music came in the form of a book printed in 1981 entitled The Book of Rock Lists by Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein. I learned so very much from that book in which I purchased on Fall Break during my freshman year at Ball State. If you can find the original printing of that book, get it by all means! It’s just a terrific resource. Additionally, Marsh has released a few different editions of his Book of Lists…, but I continue to find the original to be the most satisfying especially because Marsh and Stein attempt to list their Top 40 favorite albums from the beginning of the rock era in 1954 to 1980. When I discovered that many of my more poppier and/or disco albums were in this list, I finally shed my embarrassment while making purchases at the local record shop.
So, who do I think will get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees List? To be perfectly honest, I have NO idea! It is a crapshoot this year. Really, anything could happen. If you think the last two years have had some crazy inductions (Dolly Parton, Missy Elliott, The Go-Go’s, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, and so on,) over the past couple of years, then hold your horses because there is no real shoo-in eligible this year. And since the Nominating Committee, whoever is on it (it’s confidential) tends to be fairly conservative. Therefore, I believe we will see many names getting rehashed as nominees again this year.
Since there is such an open field for the Nomination List, I shall provide you, my readers, two lists. The first one will be my actual predictions list, reflecting whom I believe the committee will nominate. Then, as a special added feature, I will be presenting my wish list of nominees. Maybe between the two lists, we may have many names. Or, like usual, I get very few rare.
Here’s my actual prediction for the Nominees for the Class of 2024. I am sticking with 16 acts, since that has been the total of nominees presented the past few years.
A Tribe Called Quest – These hip hop pioneers made the connection of jazz and hip hop more obvious with their sound. ATCQ has been nominated before.
Alanis Morissette – Alanis captured a female zeitgeist with her feminist stance against all pricks in the world. This would be her first nomination.
Cyndi Lauper – Last year, Cyndi seemed poised to be inducted, but, for some unknown reason, the Hall felt it was more important to rush induct Sheryl Crow and Missy Elliott BEFORE Ms. Lauper. Yeah, I don’t get it either. Cyndi has been previously nominated.
Devo – Yet, another group that deserves induction while waiting year after year for their name to be called. This band, formed on the Kent State campus shortly after the killings of four students in front of much of the student population by the Ohio National Guard, has been nominated previously.
Dionne Warwick – As the smooth singer of R&B in the 60s and 70s, Warwick teamed with Burt Bacharach (someone else who deserves induction) to create a sound that was as smooth as warm bourbon on a cold night. Warwick paved the way for the careers of Sade and Anita Baker to name a few. Her cousin Whitney Houston is in for crying out loud!
Iron Maiden – Much Judas Priest before them, this is just getting ridiculous for a Hall of Fame to have one of it’s best and most influential heavy metal bands on the outside. No wonder people get pissed about the Hall inductees list every year knowing that Maiden is still on the outside.
Jane’s Addiction – This L.A. band represents something of a forerunner to the 90s grunge scene, except Jane’s had a guitarist who could give any traditional metal guitarist or those found on Sunset Boulevard. This would NOT be the band’s first nomination.
Joy Division/New Order – Using both Parliament/Funkadelic and Small Faces/Faces as precedent, last year the committee had the balls to nominate these two intertwined bands together. A quick history lesson: Joy Division ended with the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. From those ashes, New Order arose with an expansion on the dreary sound of Joy Division by adding synthesizers and dance rhythms to evolve into New Order.
Motörhead – Lemmy and the boys have been here a few times. So, it would so nice to finally induct this truly great and influential hard rock band.
Oasis – To paraphrase Will Ferrell’s SNL character who as a member of Parliament kept asking what they (Parliament) were going to do about the impending breaking of Britain’s greatest rock band, Oasis. Once again, it is long over due for their induction. They may not resonate as strongly here in the States, but they are GODS in the UK, and that accounts for something.
OutKast – During the pre-Kanye days of the mid-Nineties to the early-Aughts, the duo of Andre 3K and Big Boi in the form of OutKast may have been the most innovative hip hop group. They reached their apex in 2003/2004 with their Grammy winning album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the first hip hop artists to accomplish this. Plain and simple, they may have been the best that hip hop has to offer, so they should get inducted soon. Any more delay is just a laughable crime.
Smashing Pumpkins – You read that correctly Cubbie! The Pumpkins are still on the outside looking in as more and more of their lesser contemporaries are inducted. This is yet another reason why the public is cynical about the Hall.
Soundgarden – Big Fours of any genre are facing resistance by the Hall. In the case of Soundgarden, one the Big Four of Grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains being the others, with AiC never nominated.) deserves induction. For Chrissakes, just induct them already!
The B-52’s – The Athens, Georgia rock scene of the early-80s not only gave us inductee R.E.M., but also this new wave party band whose early music filled the dancefloors at my fraternity and in my dorm room. These pioneers needed the honor long ago.
The Smiths. The UK gets screwed time and time again for their terrifically influential bands that make little dent in the US market place. It’s BS that The Jam has not been inducted yet, but it’s a moral outrage that The Smiths keep looking in. I get it! Morrissey’s a loon these days. But, that alone should never keep an artist from being inducted. The 80s would have never been the same for me if I didn’t have R.E.M. and The Smiths to listen to.
Warren Zevon – After seeing a solo George Harrison posthumously inducted right after his death in the early 2000s, I thought the same thing would have to the acerbic-witted Zevon after his 2003 death. Yet, here we are two decades later, and Warren is still awaiting his call.
All of those artists are very deserving of nominating AND induction. However, I have a slew of artists who would make my day if they were inducted. Here is my wish list.
Big Star – Power pop gods Big Star are the Velvet Underground of the constantly slighted power pop genre. Please stream these guys now and join me on this bandwagon.
Boston – When I was a middle school student, I think every student was handed a copy of Boston’s debut band album which just happens to be one of the greatest debuts of all-time (Right up there with Guns N’ Roses, The Cars, Big Star and Jellyfish.).
Chic – The Hall cheated AND ripped us off with Nile Rodgers induction for Musical Excellence, as if partner Bernard Edwards was some hack! This band could play any style, it just so happens that their hits were disco songs. Keeping Chic out of the Hall is a bigoted decision.
Commodores – So the Hall is going to Chic the Commodores by inducting their leader for HIS solo career but ignore all the innovations this band threw down during their run.
Eric B. & Rakim – It’s B.S. that LL Cool J was inducted through Musical Excellence because he was so much more than an MC. Unfortunately, I am beginning to think that might end up finding their way into the Hall will be through Musical Excellence. That’s baloney since Rakim is still held on a pedestal as a rapper.
Foreigner – During my high school years, Foreigner may have arguably been the second most popular rock band (1977-1981). If nothing else is paid attention, that fact alone should be enough to put the band in the Hall.
KC & the Sunshine Band – Down in Miami, this group of studio musicians made that music scene sizzle in the heat. The multi-ethic band created some of the slickest and catchiest pop/dance hits of the Seventies.
Kool & the Gang – During the Seventies, Kool & the Gang were funkateers. Then, in the Eighties the guys became slick balladeers. Either way, they kept the hits rolling during that transition. Plus, they were the only American act invited to participate on the Band Aid charity song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Kurtis Blow – After the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” blew up, Kurtis Blow came to the forefront as the first popular solo rapper scoring hits like “The Breaks,” “Christmas Rapping” and “Basketball.”
Mariah Carey – With Chaka Khan’s induction last year, we now have some of the greatest female voices preserved for eternity in the Hall: Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Chaka, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, therefore it behooves us to induct Mariah (and Dionne Warwick) to keep the line growing.
Paul Revere & the Raiders – Ignore their dopey Revolutionary War uniforms, these guys played a rough, proto-punk that influenced all of the garage bands of the Sixties and the glam rockers and punks of the Seventies. These guys are underappreciated. Plus, according to my late-mother, this was the band that always made me dance in my playpen.
Paul Weller/The Jam/The Style Council – Yes, Weller is a god in the UK, and his other two bands are much beloved there as well. And, yes, none of his incarnations have attracted anything much more than a cult following (that includes me!). But, the man nearly singlehandedly created the whole Britpop phenomenon of the Nineties. Isn’t that enough?!?!
Styx – If Foreigner were the second most popular band during my high school years, then Styx may have been number one. Yes, they dropped a creative egg in the early-80s with “Mr. Roboto.” But, it was the early-80s and all of the rules hand been thrown out. Push that song aside, and you have a pretty solid resumé for induction. C’mon! They were big with the kids, who happen to be adults in their 50s and 60s now.
The Monkees – I’m sorry Boomers! If you were born in the Sixties, The Beatles were not normally your entry into the world of rock music. Back then it was either The Monkees or bubblegum music. And both sounds were created with crack musicians and first-class songwriters. And, The Monkees were the most successful of that prepackage rock & roll, so they deserve the honor.
The Replacements – Between The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Pixies, Black Flag and Dead Kennedys, you have five bands that collectively wrote the road map for 90s alternative bands to follow as to maintain their integrity while courting success. The cool thing about The Mats was also their Achille’s Heel: their need to sabotage their career at every turn. They had the songs and the sound and attitude and look to be big, but they lacked something in their DNA that kept the band from breaking wide open. But, when they were good, they were…
Tommy James & the Shondells – Tommy James & the Shondells were a hitmaking machine in the late-Sixties and early-Seventies. They had a dance rock quality that influenced everyone from Joan Jett and The Runaways to Billy Idol, Prince and teen mall idol Tiffany. Their hits were covered in the Eighties and were just as big with that generation as the previous one.
If only my wish would come true this year…
If My Records Could Talk 