The continuing tragicomedy that is The RnR Hall Of Fame announced its nominees for 2011. These are just nominees. Only six are guaranteed induction in January. Here are this year's contenders:
· Alice Cooper
· Beastie Boys
· Bon Jovi
· Chic
· Neil Diamond
· Donovan
· Dr. John
· J. Geils Band
· LL Cool J
· Darlene Love
· Laura Nyro
· Donna Summer
· Joe Tex
· Tom Waits
· Chuck Willis
Now, imagine you are a sixty year old bald critic/journalist guy who has never played in a band and makes his living off building up the false legend that musicians are all geniuses possessed with magical powers. Or pretend that you are Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, who is essentially the man behind the curtain of the Hall Of Fame.
You have a summer house in The Hamptons and you hobnob with on Jon Bon Jovi, Russell Simmons and Peter Wolf. Why on earth would you sway votes towards Alice Cooper, KISS, Cheap Trick, Motorhead, New York Dolls or other so-called rock bands when you can just give it to Donna Summer, who never wrote or produced anything she sang?
That's who is running this show. That's why year after year the list gets bleaker and dumber. And that's why they do it. To get dorks like me to keep shouting about the pointlessness of it all.
The Hall Of Fame is still a joke. Always will be. Period.
I'm just gonna go ahead and start my own hall so I can finally validate all those thousands of hours listening to Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force over and over.....
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I must be getting older, because this year there's only one name I don't recognize.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most disappointing days of my life as a rock and roll fan was when AC/DC got voted in. Unfortunately, the guys are presumably too gracious to have refused the honor. The very idea that rock and roll, this rebellious and creative art form and social phenomenon (Christ, I sound like Dave fucking Marsh), needs to be codified and made official defeats the whole purpose.
Calling it the "Popular Music Hall of Fame" would at least make sense and be true to the hall's nature. If you've sold any records in the past 50 years, and you don't wear a tuxedo and have a big band playing behind you, you're deemed "rock and roll" whether you fit the label or not (cf. Madonna, Donna Summer, Neil Diamond.)
Frankly, I'm surprised the J. Geils Band had to wait this long to get nominated. Maybe Wenner had to wait for Wolf to get back on speaking terms with the rest of the band.
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Lights out...