Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The 2012 Nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

If you have not heard,( and until yesterday while plowing through a third Advil, I had not), the 2012 nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced. To be eligible, an artist must have either released their first album no sooner than 1987, been on the masthead at Rolling Stone or have been consistently passed over for people like Percy Sledge and Madonna. Let the teet suckling begin......

Here are the 15 Nominees with my comments following in Bold Type.

The Beastie Boys: No. See the nominees for Hip Hop Hall of Fame..right after Russell Simmons establishes it and names it after himself.

The Cure: The influence is there, as Mr. Smith inspired a "look" that got lifted and used by everyone from Ed Scissorhands to Ledger's Joker...but that's not in the music category...that's in the Slightly chubby ambiguous goth boy Hall of Fame category.... besides Love Song or even Love Cats...whaddaya got?

Donovan: Great choice, as far as folkies with a slight lisp and a penchant for smoking banana peels go, but methinks he'll get passed over. 

Erik B. and Rakim- See number one, then add my rule. Nobody with One letter for a surname gets in. Ever. This includes titans like Kenny G, Jay Z, Ice-T, and Sheila E.

Guns N Roses- Yes. A no brainer. Even with only 4 albums and the one Mr. Rose blew a 13 million dollar wad on, they made hard rock, top hats and bloated videos with wind and white pianos cool again in the 80s. Besides, I'd like to see Izzy Stradlin have to leave the house for something. And Hey show producers! When you send Axl the invite, tell him the show tapes at 4, so when he shows up at 8, he'll be right on time.


Heart-Absolutely. An unstoppable female force, a shitload of hits, and the unmistakeable one of a kind voice of Ann Wilson. They always had a fantastic band. Just listen to the drums on Barracuda, that shit still holds up. Ok, so we'll let the aqua net schlock like" Alone and Never" slide, but they're in for being two bad ass babes bigger than just their boobs. I'm crazy on 'em.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Hmmm. You want to induct Joan Jett and the Blackhearts before you induct the Runaways? Or even Suzi Quatro? Yeah, Joan was in both, but there's no "Blackhearts" without the all female, completely groundbreaking Runaways. Joan's biggest hit is a cover...Joan should get in, but if they give this to her and the Blackhearts(whose line up has changed a fuck of a lot since 1981)...i feel the Runaways will not get their due.

Freddie King- A monumental blues picker and fantastic showman, I say yes. But he'll get in as the token "old, lost in the shuffle" category.

Laura Nyro- Well, I'll be the first one to admit I know very little about Laura Nyro. So I have no opinion. I should offer her fans an idea. Enlist someone(in the music biz) with a high profile who really really gives a shit about her. Have that person gush over her in concert and in interviews.....it worked for Kid Rock having a hard on for Bob Seger and it will most likely work for Elton and his current raging one for Leon Russell.


Red Hot Chili Peppers- No.The Chilis are an amalgam of their influences..Fishbone, Funkadelic, Fear...but I don't think they've influenced anyone who didn't want to play anywhere but in a Fraternity basement in the Northeast.  I think the high points of their legacy will include many references to socks, heroin and tattoos. Not much beyond Under the Bridge and Give it Away, really. Sure they've sold millions and have one of the best rhythm sections in modern rock history(when Flea isn't doing all of that white boy slapping). Sure they've stumbled onto a smattering of genius in the Frusciante years, I just don't think its time yet.


Rufus with Chaka Khan-Tell me something good besides "Tell Me Something Good".

The Small Faces/The Faces-Yes. Ron Wood. Ian Maclagan. Kenny Jones and fucking Steve Marriott. ....errr, and Rod Stewart. The Faces are responsible for everybody else that the Stones weren't responsible for. Immense influence and great hair that that pesky tool Liam Gallagher has been plucking for years. Steve Marriott is never going to get in on his own or with Humble Pie. Tragic. Steve Marriott is in the top five rock singers of all time. Steve Marriott makes Rod "soccer sperm and standards" look like a rank amateur. Plus he probably died passing out with a lit cigarette in his mouth and a guitar in his hand. That's hall of fame material right there. This is his one and only chance. For all of you idiot dreamers who keep thinking that those rock actors Kiss are ever going to make it in...put your energy here.


The Spinners-  From the desk of Jann Wenner: Guys, who's left in the well dressed, uniformed soul groups with choreographed dance moves from the 70s category.?   The Spinners.   Ok lets put them in. Then we're done with that and we can finally start getting all of those festering prog rock fans off my back.

Donna Summer-No. Bad Girl. Bad Music. Bad choice. Don't Love to Love You Baby.

War-" What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again ."


So Five Will get in. I say The Faces, Heart, Freddy King, G and R, and The Spinners.


But the Chili Peppers have been on the cover of the rolling stone at least five times and will bump the Faces or Freddy King. Blood Sucking Suck Magnet.

Glaring omissions:   Yes...cmon already. Cheap Trick..sure.  The Smiths...hate them, but immensely influential. Thin Lizzy ...for the twin lead guitar harmonies alone. Gram Parsons.This guy was in the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Bros. and Keith Richards invited him everywhere. Oh yeah.. he was pretty much single-handedly responsible for country rock. All before his druggy death at AGE 26! Devo-massive influence and great hats.  and Jethro Tull- because bringing the flute to rock and roll is an outstanding achievement.







11 comments:

  1. another great post and for the most part i agree with everything except your opinion of war. they came to fame with eric burden but managed to carry on with even more hits without him. they were very influential in my music world back in the day. thanks seano for your opinions. i really appreciate them.

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  2. Ditto here for the most part. Athough I don't care too much for them either, I get the feeling RHCP will end up in the Hall of Fame.

    One question still remains though, why the hell Rush isn't in?

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  3. Steve Marriott was untouchable. It's a goddamn crime that Madonna bought her way in to the temple and he has been passed over so many times.
    I am a sucker for the big Philly soul production jobs that were tailor made for the early 70s version of the Spinners. Heart-should have been there a few years ago, though the 80s were not their finest hour in terms of "rock".
    No mention of Rush? Again, very sad.
    Gram Parsons was a talented guy, and I dig all of the music he made, but as a human being, he fucked up every opportunity that was put in front of him. Damn shame.

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  4. Nicely done, Sean. Disagree with ya on The Cure and Donovan, but hey. Those glaring omissions are glaring. Whose responsible for the nominations anyway...

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  5. Totally agree about Steve Marriott - and his death was such a horrible way to go...

    I love reading your yearly comments on this. I agree with it all. The Wilsons are two of my all time faves for many reasons. I admit to a soft spot for RHCP because Anthony is a recovered heroin addict.

    And I LOVE Donovan. I was a kid listening to all that groovy stuff and had a poster of him on my bedroom wall. If he gets in I'll smoke a banana peel with you!

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  6. I honestly don't give a cats ass about the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. I feel like arguing it's entrants is like arguing what paraphernalia gets put into the Hard Rock Cafe.

    The only good thing it does is spark music conversation, but it's all so vanilla and boring. Plus having it located in Cleveland with the inductions elsewhere make no sense. That's like putting a plaque in Cooperstown but inducting people in Florida. But having it in Cleveland in the first place makes no sense either so par for the course I guess.

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  7. Anonymous4:58 PM

    Here are the top 25 vote-getters (year 2011) on the "Deserving of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" list at:
    http://www.rateitall.com/t-2529-deserving-of-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.aspx

    The 2012 nominees for the R&R HoF are (# indicates where they were on my list at the time of their nomination): Red Hot Chili Peppers (#19), Guns n' Roses (#25), Joan Jett (#60), The Beastie Boys (#168), Heart (#12), Freddie King (#181), Laura Nyro (#191), Rufus with Chaka Khan (#421), Donna Summer (#212), The Faces/Small Faces (#232), The Spinners (#82), Donovan (#30), The Cure (#43), Eric B. & Rakim (#949), War (#64)

    1) Rush

    2) Chicago

    3) Yes

    4) Deep Purple

    5) Doobie Brothers

    6) Moody Blues

    7) Dire Straits

    8) The Cars

    9) Electric Light Orchestra

    10) Jethro Tull

    11) Pete Townshend (solo)

    12) Heart

    13) Journey

    14) Steve Miller

    15) Carole King

    16) Styx

    17) Kiss

    18) Peter Gabriel (solo)

    19) Red Hot Chili Peppers

    20) Squeeze

    21) Stevie Ray Vaughan

    22) Jim Croce

    23) The Guess Who

    24) Foreigner

    25) Guns N' Roses

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  8. Question on GnR... Who gets in? as in which line-up?

    Original:
    Axl
    Slash
    Duff
    Izzy
    Steven Adler

    Or the Use Your Illusion era:
    Axl
    Slash
    Duff
    Dizzy Reed
    Matt Sorum

    I'm not even going to waste any time with the Chinese Democracy line-up... that's a joke.

    Or do they all get in?

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  9. WAR are AWESOME. you need to listen to them man.

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  10. Love this post and agree on almost all counts, and yeah - Rush needs to get in there stat, if there is any credibility to be found in the Hall, which honestly is just a boys club anyway.

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  11. How did I forget Rush? and Perplexio ...the original 5 gunners get in. They'll just need a ramp for Stephen Adler.

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