The biggest story in Music News yesterday was the announcement of this year's sixteen candidates for induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
A few of the artists who made our Deserving And Denied List nearly twenty years ago are finally getting their shot.
These include The Doobie Brothers, Pat Benatar and Todd Rundgren, all of whom are receiving their long overdue nominations. (This is the first time on the ballot for The Doobies and Benatar ... Rundgren made the list last year but fell short of the necessary votes to gain induction.) Other repeat nominees include Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, MC5, Nine Inch Nails, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, while other newcomers include The Dave Matthews Band, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, The Notorious B.I.G., Soundgarden, Whitney Houston and T. Rex.
Fans can vote once a day for up to five nominees until January 10th here ...
https://www.google.com/search?q=Rock+Hall+Fan+Vote
We're seeing a bit more diversity on this year's ballot ... probably the biggest surprise for me would have to be Whitney Houston.
I'm just not sure it's a "fit" ...
Whitney Houston ... Rock and Roll?
Even allowing for the ever-present "sex, drugs and rock and roll" label, I'm not convinced it works.
Best Female Vocalist of All Time? (check)
Most amazing voice ever? (sure, why not!)
Best concert performance? (could be)
Most famous stuck poop? (unfortunately, probably so!)
ALL of those labels work ... but Whitney never recorded ANYTHING that even REMOTELY hinted at rock and roll. (To the best of my knowledge fellow diva Mariah Carey has never been nominated ... nor would one expect her to be ... so why Whitney?)
Don't get me wrong ... Whitney Houston deserves any number of accolades for her incredible track record (and her incredible voice) ... but I don't think Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction really belongs on her resume. If anything, she transcends rock and roll music. It just doesn't work for me.
As for the others, casting three of my five eligible votes is easy ... The Doobie Brothers, Pat Benatar, Todd Rundgren have been ignored for FAR too long ... all three of these artists have earned their place in The Rock Hall ... and it's time that they finally be honored.
My other two votes aren't quite as concrete. I think The Dave Matthews Band is a likely candidate to gain induction on their very first ballot. The Notorious B.I.G. may earn a spot just to get another rap act on the list. I'm sure their fans will also make a strong case as to the worthiness of Judas Priest who, I feel, are another strong candidate. I never really listened to the music of Soundgarden, Motorhead or Nine Inch Nails ... and I'm not sure just how wide an audience these acts appealed to. Thin Lizzy seems to me to be more of a One Hit Wonder than anything else ... what is it that they did exactly to further the growth and development of rock and roll? Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk almost seem like "novelty" suggestions at this point. (And is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just going to continue to nominate MC5 every year until they finally get in?!?! If they haven't earned a spot by now, please take them off the list and make room for some of the dozens of OTHER acts you've continued to ignore over the years!)
That leaves me with T. Rex (who had an incredible cult following back in the day ... and were one of the pioneers of Glam Rock, which actually DID take rock and roll music in a new direction) and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, a sentimental favorite because they hail from Chicago ... and Chaka Khan can sing the HELL out of a good R&B tune ... certainly in more of a rock vein than, say, Whitney Houston.
Your thoughts?
And who jumps to the top of the Ignored, Deserving and Denied List now? (My immediate answer to that one is The Guess Who ... it's downright insulting that these guys continually get passed over!) Who else? (In all fairness, dozens of artists that made our original Deserving And Denied List eighteen years ago have since been inducted ... so I guess there's still hope yet for some of the others! But should it REALLY have taken this long to do so?)
Let us hear from you ... and we'll put together our OWN list of "favorite candidates." (kk)
How did the brand new nominees fare on our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME List?
If that was the only criteria, here's how they'd finish:
THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (17 tracks)
PAT BENATAR (11 tracks)
TODD RUNDGREN (9 tracks)
T. REX (3 tracks)
JUDAS PRIEST (3 tracks)
RUFUS (3 tracks)
THIN LIZZY (2 tracks)
MC5 (1 track)
KRAFTWORK (1 track)
SOUNDGARDEN (1 track)
all other artists had zero songs make the final countdown
(Be sure to check the daily posts as we continue to count 'em down!)
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/
