The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame announced their nominations for the Class of
2014 yesterday ... and I couldn't be happier to report that THREE of the
artists who regularly show up on our TOP 40 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME DESERVING
AND DENIED LIST have FINALLY made the ballot this year.
Heartiest congratulations go out to DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES, LINDA
RONSTADT and YES, ALL of whom are now eligible for Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Induction. Incredibly, this is the first nomination ever for all three of these
mega acts, proving again just how skewed things have been over at The Rock And
Roll Hall Of Fame. (When one considers that all three of these artists, all of
whom have had STELLAR careers in music, have been eligible for induction since
the 1990's, it almost makes your head spin.)
Actually, it looks like The Rock Hall dipped back into the vaults a little
bit this year ... also being considered are THE ZOMBIES (who we just saw a
couple of weeks ago at The Arcada Theatre ... first time nomination for them,
too), CHIC (their 8th nomination!), KISS (up for the second time ... they may
need to touch up their make-up before accepting, however, since it's been
a four-year wait between nominations), DEEP PURPLE (always a fan favorite that
makes our "Deserving And Denied" list), CAT STEVENS (now there's an unlikely
candidate ... Cat Stevens ... but still not Chicago???), THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD
BLUES BAND (an interesting choice), L.L. COOL JAY, PETER GABRIEL (as a solo
artist ... he's already been inducted as a member of Genesis ... yet even HE
gets a second nomination before the likes of Chicago, The Moody Blues or The
Guess Who!), THE METERS, N.W.A. (for the second year in a row ... and kind of a
controversial choice last year as well ... seriously ... Niggaz With
Attitude?!?!? What the hell does THAT have to do with Rock And Roll?!?!?), LINK
WRAY (that was a nice nod to the cult hero!) and THE REPLACEMENTS.
The nostalgic look back was primarily due to the fact that only ONE
first-time eligible made their way to the ballot this year. (Artists become
eligible 25 years after their first recording is released.) As such, the
solely-selected NIRVANNA is probably the closest thing there is to a shoe-in on
the list. And, as a result of the limited "new competition", several overlooked
and neglected artists are finally getting their due. (Hmm ... maybe they need
to do this more often!!!)
The nomination for YES is considered a major step forward ... other than
the induction of Genesis, "progressive rock" has not really been acknowledged as
a rock and roll form by The Hall, leaving out artists like Yes, The Moody Blues
and Emerson, Lake and Palmer in the past. (Why consider Yes, The Moody Blues or
Emerson, Lake and Palmer when you can honor Niggaz With Attitude instead?!?!? Seriously, how many of THEIR songs are playing in your head right now?!?!)
The omission of Hall and Oates, the biggest selling duo in the history of rock and roll and Linda Ronstadt (back in the public eye of late due to her recent announcement of having Parkinson's Disease ... and a brand new biography to promote) has been nothing short of sacrilege in the past two decades ... hopefully The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame will FINALLY right these wrongs this year.
In all, five artists from this list will be inducted in 2014, voted on by
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Voting Committee, consisting of approximately 600
"in the know" music experts who in the past, quite frankly, have seemed more
focused on helping founder Jann Wenner realize HIS vision of what The Rock Hall
should be rather than electing those artists most deserving of such an honor.
Fan votes WILL be collected again this year (for the second year in a row), with
the combination ballot of top five artists as voted on by the fans comprising
one SINGLE ballot of the 600 collected in order to determine the Class of 2014.
(Fans can vote anytime between now and December 10th at rollingstone.com.) Read more at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/vote-for-the-2014-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-inductees-20131016#ixzz2hyhOREdd
*****
And check out this line-up of Songwriters Hall Of Fame Nominees this year
... also announced this past week. A VERY impressive list indeed!
Split into two categories (performers and non-performers) the 2014 list
includes:
Harry Wayne Casey (of KC and the Sunshine Band), writer of such hits as Get
Down Tonight, That's The Way (I Like It) and I'm Your Boogie Man; Ray Davies (of
The Kinks) - You Really Got Me, Sunny Afternoon and Lola; Donovan (Sunshine
Superman, Season of the Witch and Mellow Yellow), Country Superstar Vince Gill
(Whenever I Call Your Name, I Still Believe in You), Cyndi Lauper (Time After
Time and Change of Heart), Madonna (Like a Prayer, Vogue), John Mellencamp (Jack
& Diane, Hurts So Good and Small Town), Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led
Zeppelin (Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven), Linda Perry
(Get the Party Started and Beautiful, hits for Pink and Christina Aguilera ... shouldn't she be nominated in the non-performer category???)), Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (Le
Freak and We Are Family ... and also nominated for their work with Chic in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame again this year), Sade (Smooth Operator, The Sweetest Taboo), Cat
Stevens (jeez, Yusuf Islam is earning ALL kinds of nominations this week!) -
Peace Train, Wild World; and Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (Magic Man,
Never)
The nominees in the Non-Performing Songwriter category are Bill Anderson
(Still), Bobby Braddock (who wrote two country classics, D-I-V-O-R-C-E and He Stopped Loving Her Today), Graham
Gouldman (For Your Love, Bus Stop, I'm Not in Love), Hugo (Creatore) &
Luigi (Peretti) - Can't Help Falling in Love and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Mark
James - Hooked on a Feeling, Suspicious Minds and Always on My Mind, Sandy
Linzer & Denny Randell - A Lover's Concerto, Let's Hang On and Working My
Way Back to You; Tony MacAulay - Build Me Up Buttercup, (Last Night) I Didn't
Get to Sleep and Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes); Dan Penn & Spooner
Oldham - I'm Your Puppet, Sweet Inspiration and Cry Like a Baby; Don Robertson
- I Really Don't Want to Know; William "Mickey" Stevenson - Dancing in the
Street, Devil With the Blue Dress On and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted and
Jim Weatherly - Midnight Train to Georgia, Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the
First to Say Goodbye) and Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me
*****
And this just in from Bob Lind,
who is being inducted into The Colorado Music Hall Of Fame next
month!
To my Denver
friends and fans -- and friends / fans who might happen to be in Denver in early
November (one never knows):
As some of you
may have heard, I'm being inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame on the
8th, along with Judy Collins and others (see below).
Here are
the details.
Friday, Nov. 8 at the Paramount Theater
5 - 7 p.m. – VIP cocktail reception on the mezzanine
level of the Paramount. A chance to meet inductees, get a first glimpse at
their CMHOF exhibits, eat some excellent food.
8 p.m. – CMHOF induction event
• Tribute video feting Judy Collins, the Serendipity
Singers, Bob Lind and Chris Daniels and their place in the Denver folk scene of
the '50s, '60s and '70s.
• Induction of Chris Daniels
• Induction of Bob Lind *
• Induction of the Serendipity Singers
• Induction of Judy Collins and full concert
**
* Host G. Brown of CMHOF will introduce Harry Tuft of
the Denver Folklore Center, who will give Bob's induction speech. Bob will
accept and then perform two songs, "Elusive Butterfly" and a selection of his
choice from his latest "Finding You Again."
For more info go to www.cmhof.org
I wish the tix were cheaper but it's out of my hands.
Nonetheless, it will be great to see you if you can get there.
GO HERE AND CLICK "VIP Offer" BUY
TICKETS:
or call (866) 461-6556
Love to all of you,
Bob
