After taking a brief look at the forces behind the nominating and voting procedures, as well as the criteria upon which the artists are judged, it seems that the only rule that's abided by 100% of the time, is that a group or artist can only be eligible 25 years after the release of their first record. The rest of their standards, seem to be left open to the interpretation of the nominator or voter, as the definition of words like "influence" and "innovation" seems to be unclear. What is also unclear is why statistics and numbers are so adamantly dismissed. And since the entire process is done behind closed doors with zero transparency, we actually have no idea what goes on. That was until a nominating committee member decided to talk.
Here's a look at who's been inducted: List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
Once you take a look at this list, it's quite apparent that chronology meant very little to these guys. The influenced are many times granted access before the influencer. Younger acts, fresh out of there 25 year "waiting period," have been granted access immediately while many older acts took years, and multiple ballots to attain the same honors. This tells me that there are a lot of politics involved in this process, though that is nothing new. Then I read an interesting article: Rock Hall of Fame Fallout: 'There Is Resentment Building Up'
Now granted, the article is from a decade ago, but it's very relevant today, especially since many of the same people are still in charge. An insider on the nominating committee had some very interesting things to say about the nominating process.
First, it was purported that many artists were snubbed based on the personal preferences of the board. The article sites the case of The Moody Blues, but I think we also clearly see this in the instance of Progressive Rock as a whole. There is virtually no representation of this genre. Let's take a look at Rush. Now I know that the Hall of Fame says stats don't matter, but that's just an excuse to give them free reign to control the nominees. So fuck them, I will take a look at the stats, because they say a lot more to me than the opinion of Jann-fucking-Wenner. 24 gold records. 14 platinum, 3 being multi-platinum. Behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Rush has the third most consecutive gold or platinum albums for a rock group. That's a hardcore base of fans. Metallica, Primus, The Smashing Pumpkins, Dream Theater, and Symphony X have all cited them as an influence. They were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and became eligible for the RRHOF in 1998. Rush has NEVER even been nominated. It's not even that they didn't get voted in, they've never even made it onto the ballot. The "board" of musical geniuses (many of which have never even been involved directly in the industry) didn't even think these guys should at least be given a shot? Why not send their name down to the 500 or so "Industry Professionals" to see what they thought? To see if they could garner the 50% of the vote needed to make the Hall of Fame? I'll tell you why, because it's been documented more times than you or I can count, that Jann Wenner hates Rush. And bands like Devo, ELO, ELP, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and YES have all shared similar fates.
Additionally, the source in the article points out another interesting reason that kept certain acts from making the cut. Susan Evans, Director of the RRHOF at the time, apparently had an interesting theory on what made an act good enough, musically of course, to gain entry onto the ballot:
At one point Suzan Evans lamented the choices being made because there weren't enough big names that would sell tickets to the dinner. That was quickly remedied by dropping one of the doo-wop groups being considered in favor of a 'name' artist.
If that is in fact true, I say tear the whole fucking building down. Or give it to the Salvation Army. And it doesn't stop there. There's allegations of Atlantic Records recording artists routinely being placed on the nomination list, as is there plenty of Atlantic Executive personel on the committee. They also religiously ignore fan petitions that are sent constantly, with thousands of signatures as in the case of again, Rush and The Moody Blues. Is that really smart? With all the other lying, cheating, and politics going on behind the scenes, would it be so hard for them to usher a band in that the public really wants to see inducted? Wouldn't that just be good business for them? No, actually it wouldn't. Because then it would mean that their basing the choices on something besides their own personal taste, or what might be profitable for them in the future.
So I looked at the list of those inducted, and compiled my own list of artsist that by all intensive purposes, have a pretty good argument for inclusion. I won't give them all to you, but I think you'll be pretty shocked by some of the names that have NOT made it into this prestigious association:
Chicago - They call themselves "the rock n roll band with horns," and that's great. But they were also the leading US singles charting group during the 70's, who have sold over 38 million units in the US alone, with 22 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. They've had 5x number-one albums and 21 top-ten singles. Give me a break, stats don't count.
Chic - The self proclaimed rock band of the disco movement. They've been nominated 7 times. Are you kidding me? They're also direct influences on many bands, some of which have used their songs directly (i.e. Sugar Hill Gang). RRHOF inductee Blondie not only sites them as a direct influence, but wrote a tribute to them in their #1 hit "Rapture."
Dick Dale - This guy rewrote the book on what a guitar could do. The Ventures made it into the Hall of Fame, so why not the guy who created the Surf Music style?
Kiss - I'm not a huge fan, but I know they should be in the Hall. Even after the height of their career, their '96-'97 reunion tour was the top-grossing act of those years. Relevant? These guys took the art of performing to the next level as well. Similarly snubbed are Deep Purple (cited by Rush as an early influence).
Hall and Oates - The 'Rock n Soul' duo. Billboard had them at #15 on their list of 100 greatest artists of all time, and ranked them the #1 duo. Though Billboard may be a bit too enamored with them, their sustained pop chart success in the late 70's and 80's was because of their ability to cross pollinate genres with some of the most memorable melodies and hooks of all time. They are still sampled to this day and they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. And they're still at it today.
Joy Division - I'll admit, maybe they're a stretch. But these guys are as much pioneers of rock as many of the more obvious ones. They were directly inspired by punk, and essentially became the innovators of the post-punk sound that took over the 80s. Though they only released 2 albums before the suicide of Ian Curtis, their influence is still seen today. U2, The Cure, Bloc Party, Interpol, Moby, and John Frusciante all cite them as influences, and Joy Division/New Order were inducted into the UK music Hall of Fame.
The Moody Blues - You may not like them, but enough people do that this discussion cannot be avoided. They were really the original rock band to blend classical music into their work. And think about all the groups that have come after them to follow in this trend. They have 14 platinum and gold albums, and they've sold over 70 million albums worldwide.
Cheap Trick - The Japanese think they're the "American Beatles," but influence alone should be enough to get these guys in the Hall. They are highly respected by their peers. They were one of Joey Ramone's all time favorites, and garnered acknowledgement from Gene Simmons, Joe Perry, and Angus Young. Kurt Cobain mentioned the band as an influence, as did the likes of Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, Gin Blossoms, Urge Overkill, Pearl Jam, Weezer, STP, Everclear, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, RHCP, Kings of Leon, and many more.
Heart - These ladies are the queens of endurance. They've had top 10 albums on the Billboard charts every decade since the 70's, with the exclusion of the 00's. That is a very unique accomplishment, and is a testament to their consistent relevance in rock. They also span a healthy array of genres, as they've been labeled as Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, and Hair Metal, while also being considered Easy Listening and Folk. They were on the list of inductees for this year into the RRHOF, but were not included in the end.
Carole King - As accomplished a writer as she is a singer (if not more so), she has wrote or co-wrote songs for the likes of Aretha Franklin and the Shirelles, to Celine Dion and The Monkees. Her songs have been covered by well, everyone and as a singer her album, Tapestry topped the U.S. charts for 15 weeks and remained on the charts for more than six years! She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was also inducted into the RRHOF in the non-performer category for her songwriting achievements. Sha has also won 4 Grammy awards.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Eric Clapton called him the greatest guitarist ever. I think that alone is enough. If not, his music simply speaks for him. Listen to any of his songs in a lineup of the Hall of Fame bests. If his guitar playing is not immediately recognizable and singled out, then you aren't listening. He cites Hendrix as his greatest influence, but he took Hendrix, and turned it into something completely new. Even Rolling Stone magazine ranks him at #7 in the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. But that's no argument, just curious to me that Wenner wouldn't have at least gotten him on a ballot. He's also won 6 Grammy awards.
In addition to the above list of standouts, there's a few others I feel that I should at least mention as consideration worthy. They may not necessarily have what's needed to be inducted as of now, but the fact that almost all of them have never even come up in discussions seems wrong.
They are: The Cure, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, ELO, Peter Frampton, Journey, Foreigner, YES, Deep Purple, Joan Jett, The Runaways, Kansas, Boston, Todd Rundgren, Iron Maiden, Steppenwolf, Cat Stevens, Gram Parsons, Donna Summer, Pat Benetar, ELP, Mountain/Leslie West, Motorhead, REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh/The James Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Harry Chapin, MC5, Meatloaf, Nick Drake, and The Steve Miller Band.
One last note. I was never really a Sex Pistols fan, but they look a whole lot cooler to me after blowing off the ceremony in 2006, and sending this letter to the Hall of Fame:
(transcript)
Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a iss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organisation selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL
Stay tuned for Part III, tomorrow.
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