The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Beclowns Itself (Again)
Latest inductees confirm everything wrong with Cleveland-based institution
Willie Nelson got an odd gift for his 90th birthday.
The country music legend learned he finally made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame cut.
Huh?
Is there any sane argument against the singer/songwriter’s legendary status? Did the Hall’s voters need another year of Nelson above ground to finally say, “It’s time?” Did they miss his decades-worth of essential songs, tours and collaborations?
And, by the way, isn’t he a country singer, not a rock ‘n’ roller?
Absurd. All of it.
Then again, absurdity rules this Hall, which officially opened its doors in 1995. The institution is meant to honor rock legends, but through the years it’s welcomed acts whose songs soar beyond the “rock” category.
Think this year’s nominees, including Nelson, Missy Elliott, Chaka Khan and “Soul Train’s” Don Cornelius. Do any of those names scream, “rock” to anyone?
It gets worse.
Bon Jovi, the band that brought the song “Bad Medicine” into existence, is enshrined in the Hall but Iron Maiden isn’t. A more embarrassing case of exclusion comes via the so-called Pre-Fab Four.
The Monkees remain uninvited despite their outsized impact on pop music. The faux band became the real deal, reportedly outsold the Beatles at its musical peak and enjoyed musical rebirths in both the ’80s and mid-2010s.
Their wacky TV show built on the Beatles’ visual legacy and became a precursor to MTV.
And the songs! So many perfect pop moments – think “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Daydream Believer,” “Sometime in the Morning,” “I’m a Believer,” “Shades of Gray” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” Even the deep cuts count, and the band’s 2016 “Good Times” album delivered more essential tracks.
The same holds true for the Indigo Girls, a tireless duo with a string of killer tracks and albums. They’re one of the most beloved touring acts around, and yet they still stand outside the Cleveland Hall.
Warren Zevon, Soundgarden and Joy Division also await their induction, assuming it ever happens. Maybe Hall voters are waiting until they each turn 90, which hits Zevon the hardest since he passed in 2003 at the age of 56.
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Rock & Roll Hall of Fame chairman John Sykes accidentally summed up the institution’s irrelevance via this quote to Variety.
“Sometimes it takes a major moment like Willie’s 90th birthday or, in the case of Kate Bush, music being played in ‘Stranger Things’ to shine a light on them for a lot of younger people who didn’t know who she was in 1985; they probably weren’t even born yet.”
Good thing Nelson lived to be 90, otherwise his body of work might have gotten ignored.
Embarrassing.
The Baseball Hall of Fame is special, in large part, due to the brutal barrier to entry. Some of the best players of the modern era, including Curt Schilling and Don Mattingly, have yet to make the cut. The former’s political positions clearly play a role in his omission.
Other MLB giants excluded from the Hall include Lou Whitaker, Dale Murphy and Dwight Evans. That means getting a Hall pass means something significant to the culture and the sport.
The musicians who make the Hall cut? The honor means little in the long run. Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen inductee no-shows over the years, including three-fifths of Van Halen, Paul McCartney, Axl Rose and David Bowie.
To quote Bill Murray in the classic camp comedy “Meatballs” … it just doesn’t matter.
This author makes an excellent point, but shows his lack of rock and roll knowledge at the same time. Willie Nelson has been primarily country for years, yes. He was also on tour along with, occasionally played with, and was supposed to be on the plane that night with Buddy Holley. He was one of the first rock and rollers, and deserves his place. Still – no Iron Maiden? No Zevon? Yep – the Pop Music Hall of Relative Fame rears its ugly head again and once again screws the pooch.
You are mistaken, it was Waylon Jennings that lost a coin flip to be on that plane with Buddy Holly
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five did more to kill Rock & Roll than any band ever and they’re in the Rock Hall of Fame. Just that one induction proved to me the irrelevance of the Hall.
Call yourself a “Rock and Roll” hall of fame and don’t have Paul Rodgers but do have Missy Elliott? That’s strictly clown-world stuff.
I love Willie, and Dolly…See no reason why there can’t be a country hall of fame. It’s not rock. As for heavy metal it sure is rock…From the Beatles to Led Zep to Black Sabbath…It rockn roll ! I am not a huge thrash metal fan…I was playing in a heavy metal cover band in the Early 80’s….van Halen, Sabbath, Deep purple, Dio, Malmsteen, Ozzy,Aerosmith, Rush, Boston,Triumph…That was considered heavy metal. Then Mettalica hit the scean , Slayer, Megadeath, and the whole description changed…Metal is rock n roll…just heavier…Not my taste, but the hall is right for them…As for alot of the pop and hip hop artist I say no. They deserve their own Hall…Same for country music..
Let’s not forget Paul Revere & The Raiders, a great American garage-rock band from the 60’s, Alvin Lee & Ten Years Years After, Johnny Winter and Robin Trower.
Whoever wrote this article 1 needs to learn how to spell and take an English grammar course! But being a “journalist” does not involve being a disrespectful prick!!!
Yea, they are a joke
Have been for years
The fact that it took Yes and the Moody Blues
Years to be inducted, years after they’d moved onto
acts of later decades only shows their lack of any sense of historic responsibility.
The criteria of being inducted should have nothing to do with whether or not the people in charge there like that particular band or not.
The greatest hall of fame moment was when Steve Miller came up to the podium to except his induction award for the Steve Miller Band and ripped them all a new one right there live on stage
Calling them all a bunch of A**holes
Man that was fantastic!
Amen brother!!
The Amazing Blue Oyster Cult?
Deep catalog, revolutionary live act. Phenomenal guitarist. Awesome lead man.
Every time I drive the Seaford Blue Oyster Cult Expressway it makes my Soft White Underbelly itch just thinking about them.
Go Long Island!
RRHOF is a joke.
What about Alan Parsons, Supertramp, Peter Frampton, Bryan Adams? No, but let’s induct The Go Go’s and Roxy Music.
How on Earth is Missy in before Wu-Tang?! What a joke.
Why is Jethro Tull not in the HOF, one of the very best bands ever, Ian Anderson is a MASTER. I was at their concert in Las Vegas when the Eagle’s were the warm up band.
Kate Bush was inducted into HOF….. name me 2 songs of Kate Bush. That’s right. You can’t . Yet Toto, Boston, Foreigner and Styx have been excluded. What a joke!!!!
Aren’t there an immense amount of rock acts who should be members and shamefully are not
without resorting to inducting non-rock acts time and time again? Get your act together so-called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
Where the hell is Jethro Tull and Kansas?
Last time I checked, Joan Jett is not in the Hip Hop HOF, and Led Zeppelin is not in the Jazz HOF. The list of musicians enshrined in the Rock Hall include too too many that don’t belong there. It’s a joke.
I really can’t believe Zevon isn’t in the HOF with all the hits he has. The Monkeys did play and sing and write their songs! They have a load of hits also. Salesman, Door into Summer and many more are great songs. HOF needs to go by how many hits and albums the bands and solo singers has.