By now, I should know that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would announce their nominees at a moment when I least expect it. Naturally, today was a perfect moment for this announcement as its been a ten days since the Grammys and a few days after the Super Bowl and the perplexing arguments happening after Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance (Why must white people have to complain all the time about a black person expressing their lives through their perspectives that may contradict a white person’s? Hell, their collective history in this country generally began with their ancestors being forced to come here, as opposed to my ancestors wanting to come to America to hopefully begin a better life for them and their progeny.). Is it so difficult to understand? To me, humans are human. Our appearances are part of our genetic gifts. And we cannot control the gene pool from which we came.
By now, many of you have heard the list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. For those who are still uninformed, here is the list: classic rock supergroup Bad Company, southern boogie band The Black Crowes, pop chanteuse and Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey, early-Sixties pop singer Chubby Checker, Woodstock blues sensation Joe Cocker, punk-turned-new wave dance-metal icon Billy Idol, Gothic progenitors-cum-synth dance sensations Joy Division/New Order, Eighties MTV pop girl power pioneer Cyndi Lauper, Mexican pop gods Maná, Britpop gods Oasis, hip hop innovators OutKast, Nineties jamband originators Phish, the third of Grunge’s Big Four Soundgarden, and early-21st century garage band with a minimalist blues sound The White Stripes. Out of the fourteen artists nominated for the Hall, I had earlier picked five of these artists in MY sixteen nominees for the Class of 2025. I had picked Mariah, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, OutKast and Soundgarden.
Let me just state that I would have NEVER had bet on Chubby Checker or Maná to be on the list of nominees. I felt that Checker would be inducted through Musical Influence or Excellence, not specifically as a performer. I simply felt that his peers had been inducted and the Nomination Committee had moved on. On the other hand, I know absolutely nothing about Maná. I just read a little bit about them and discovered that they are held in very high esteem in their native Mexico following 40+ years of commercial success. I understand the Hall’s desire to recognized artists throughout the world (Hence, the recent nominations of Nigerian funkateer Fela Kuti.). Yet, I think the Hispanics here in the U.S. might have been happier with either funk band War, Eighties pop sensation Gloria Estefan, my personal favorites Los Lobos or Tex-Mex hitmaker Selena on the list; however, I am a white man, so what do I know what my Hispanic friends want. Once again, I feel like this band may be destined for Musical Influence or Excellence as well.
What I do NOT understand is the lack of metal and punk artists on the list. Just from those two genres, I can name several artists who need to be inducted. Artists like Iron Maiden, Motörhead, The Jam, The Damned, Dead Boys, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Bad Brains, New York Dolls, Mötley Crüe, Suicide and Thin Lizzy all should have minimally multiple nominations by now. Then again, you can simply read my previous post on this topic for all of those deserving artists.
The other dozen artists are all listed in my countdown. This is a list of the nominees’ ranking on my list of importance: OutKast (2), Mariah Carey (3), Joy Division/New Order (4), Oasis (11), Cyndi Lauper (15), Soundgarden (16), Phish (50), Bad Company (62), The White Stripes (70), Joe Cocker (85), Billy Idol (115) and The Black Crowes (124). While I do believe this is basically a good list of nominees and that all deserve eventual induction one way or another. But, I remain adamant that we have several other artists we should be inducted before some of these artists.
On a personal note, I am so glad that the Black Crowes, Billy Idol and Phish had been forgotten by those on the Nominating Committee. Hopefully, we will actually have OutKast, Lauper, Carey, Joy Division/New Order and Soundgarden will all get an inductee trophy. Additionally, watch for Phish to win the voter’s count. The band’s fans will be out in force, much like the Dave Matthews Band’s fans had done during their two nominations.
As my older son has always said, “Only time will tell.” (I will blog about my inductees later
If My Records Could Talk 