COMMENTARY
Wondering why notables can’t crack Rock Hall
As has been the case with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from its beginning in 1986, the list of nominees for 2009 is far less controversial than is the list of eligible artists being passed over, some for the first time, some for the 10th or more.
The Rock Hall in Cleveland announced its list of nominees for the 2009 induction class Monday: Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack, Little Anthony & the Imperials, War, Jeff Beck, Chic, Wanda Jackson and the Stooges. They’re all in the running for induction during the ceremonies, scheduled to take place on April 4.
According to Rock Hall rules, an artist can be nominated for induction 25 years after the official release date of its first album. That means Metallica and Run-D.M.C. are making the list the first year they’re eligible.
Most of the artists on this year’s short list deserve to be honored with induction. However, even a casual glance at the tallying of eligible artists not able to make it past Jann Wenner’s velvet rope casts a serious spotlight glare onto this year’s list. When you realize who hasn’t made the cut, those who have immediately demand closer scrutiny.
In the world of punk rock, the MC5, Buzzcocks, Dead Boys and the Jam are all eligible. Progressive rock icons Yes, Rush, King Crimson, Genesis and Jethro Tull have been denied, repeatedly. Electronic music pioneers Brian Eno, Can, Neu! and Tangerine Dream sit glumly in the Rock Hall’s waiting room. Glam groundbreakers Roxy Music, T. Rex, Kiss and Alice Cooper are on the outs. Metal and hard rock bands Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and Motorhead should have been considered by now, but haven’t been. Nerd-rock prototypes Devo, the Cars, Depeche Mode and New Order haven’t been granted their golden ticket yet, either.
There is only one reggae artist — Bob Marley — in the entire Hall of Fame, and that seems awfully suspect. That blues musician and guitarist supreme Stevie Ray Vaughan has been overlooked again seems unforgivable.
We all have our favorite artists on the “not this year” list, and since our relationship with the music is an emotional one, righteous indignation seems the only logical response to what can often seem gross negligence by the Rock Hall induction team.
Still others find the whole notion of a rock music museum anatheama to the very tenets of the musical and cultural force itself. Rock, after all, is supposed to offer alternatives to the mainstream, rather than diving straight into it. There’s also that whole argument over just what “rock ’n’ roll” really is, which heated to a boil in 2007, when Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first rap/hip-hop act to be inducted.
There’s plenty here to chew on, then. While we do so, let’s take a look at the artists who are nominated:
Run-D.M.C. put East Coast rap on the map, no doubt. The trio also brought the rap-rock hybrid straight into the mainstream, with its smash hit collaboration with Aerosmith, “Walk This Way.” If Grandmaster Flash is in, Run-D.M.C.’s gotta be, too.
Metallica is the most successful metal band in history, commercially speaking. There’s no doubt the band is destined for the rock hall, but on its first year of eligibility? That’s an insult to the groups Metallica was influenced by, among them Iron Maiden and Motorhead, neither of whom is ever likely to get in.
Jeff Beck is already in the hall, as a member of the Yardbirds, but his solo ouvre blended funk, jazz, R&B and rock with considerable invention. Beck’s influence on rock music is vast. He belongs on the list.
So do funk-Latin-soul outfit War, gospel-soul legend Bobby Womack, punk-noise collective the Stooges, and rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson. Doowop kings Little Anthony & the Imperials harmonized like fallen angels, and the band’s string of late-50s/early 60s hits (“Tears On My Pillow” among them) brought a strong gospel feel and hip harmonies to pop music. Inducting them seems proper.
But 70s disco merchants Chic? That’s a dubious choice, at best.
Still, if only one artist on the short list is undeserving, it does seem that the Rock Hall is at least holding its own, for the time being.
