For anyone who still cares, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its nominees for next year’s induction. Here’s my thoughts on who should and shouldn’t make it.
Madonna – Mortal Lock – She will make it and deserves to. Blaming Britney Spears et al on her would be akin to blaming Eddie Van Halen for Yngwie Malmsteen. Longevity, video pioneer, redefining what a female pop star could be (even if you don’t like what that was), an easy choice.
The Beastie Boys – Deserve to be in if only for the Sabatage video. Acquiring a social conscious cinches it.
Donna Summer – She was basically the face of disco so she’ll make it, and I don’t have a huge problem with that.
Chic – They probably, get a lot of points for impact and the later production work of Nile Rodgers, but I wouldn’t vote for them.
John Mellencamp – I’m on the fence about him. I think he falls a little short, but Hall of Fame type people love his pseudo-Springsteen reawakening and his Farm Aid cause so I expect him to get in
Ventures – The Ventures, are well, the Ventures. They don’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
Leonard Cohen – Critics love him. Hardly anyone else listens to him. If you can make zero commercial impact and still make the Hall of Fame, he belongs. Personally, I’m not a huge fan so I’d leave him out.
Afrika Bambaataa – Critics seem to love him so he’ll make it. The only record of his I own is World Destruction with John Lydon. Last year’s induction of Grandmaster Flash shows that you can only have one or two hits if you’re influential. I wouldn’t vote for him, but as with Cohen I wouldn’t be proud telling people about it.
Dave Clark Five – Whoever nominated them has been sniffing a ton of glue.
Then again if the Ronettes deserved induction last year, everyone but Barry Manilow does.
On a side note: Induct the Monkees you idiots.
The Monkees deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they aren’t because people think of them as prefabricated. The truth is that their fakeness was pretty up front, compared to some other groups. I don’t think half of the Beach Boys played on a majority of their albums. Really, what’s the difference between The Monkees and The Temptations? They are both vocal groups who had a bunch of hits that were chosen for them by producers who molded them to be popular. If they can put Eric Clapton into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twelve times, they can at least let the Monkees come to a dinner or two.
Others who deserve entry:
The Specials
The Jam
Madness
The Replacements
The New York Dolls
I agree with 99% of this but Bambaataa is a lock for sure. If you can pin point one single person for the birth of hip-hop it is him bar none.
And knocking the Beach Boys? The Beatles called them their only real competition. Pet Sounds revolutionized the recording industry and inspired Sgt. Pepper. And the core Beach Boy voices are on every album Brian Wilson just stopped touring with them to write and record and be a recluse genius. He would record most of the album then when the boys came off the tour they would lay down the vocal tracks.
As far as the deserving list you are dead on, but I could leave off Madness and give that nod to Selector over them. I like Madness just don’t know if they were that special. And no Ska band should be inducted until Desmond Dekker earns his rightful place in the hall.