"It's no suprise to me the only chord we know is B" ...If you like the class of 2021, just wait until 2022 when Smashmouth, Creed, and Hanson all get inducted
Blondie...blech There needs to be a distinction between pop and rock. Blondie was definitely pop. They were a bleak dance club band in an era that almost killed rock as we know it. I guess Madonna is next. What's the deal, doesn't jazz have their own freaking hall of fame?
No offense but you don't know what you are talking about; Blondie was not strictly a pop band - they did a variety of styles. Their first 2 albums were strictly punk and new wave. You just haven't listened to enough of their stuff and are only going by the songs that were played on the radio. Listen to "I Know But I Don't Know" or "X Offender" and tell me if that is pop.
Performers still not in the HOF : Genesis Iggy Pop Richard Thompson The Spinners T Rex The Commodores Patti Smith Chic ABBA The Faces Performers who might or should make it in soon: REM The Replacements Los Lobos The Cure Madonna Metallica Non Performers who have not been inducted : Norman Whitfield John "Mutt" Lange Nick Lowe Jimmy Webb WTF!?! performers who made it in : The Loving Spoonful The Mamas & the Papas Gene Pitney
I was at a Microsoft Tech Ed in Dallas (Technical Education conference) a few years ago and they actually had Blondie as the band. It was very cool as there were maybe a few hundred tech dudes and Blondie. You could walk right up to the stage. The next Tech Ed that I went to (this time in Atlanta) they had the B52s. I skipped out as my wife joined me and it would have cost us about $80 for a ticket for her (all you can eat and drink). Instead, the next day, we drove to Athens, Georgia to check out the home of REM and the B52s. While we were in a coffee shop, in walked Fred Schneider. So, we didn't see the B52s in concert but did we saw a B52 in a coffee house.
Frankly, I think they've allowed way too many bands into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, usually on popularity and nostalgia instead of artistic or historical merit. Despite being nothing more than a decent Dylan/Byrds tribute act, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers got in. And George Harrison got inducted for a pretty weak solo career - during his "live" performance (kind of an oxymoron considering he was dead), they didn't have enough solid material from his solo career so they played "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." (he's already in with the Beatles so he doesn't deserve double-recognition for his contributions there) I like Blondie (especially "Dreaming"), but with the exception of being one of the first female-fronted rock acts (although Janis Joplin and Big Brother beat them to the punch), they didn't really contribute much that was new to rock. Their dance stuff was either straight disco ("Heart of Glass") or a Chic ripoff ("Rapture"), so they really didn't mix anything there either. I feel the same about the Sex Pistols - they're more infamous for being idiots than a great band. The only reason Never Mind the Bollocks was groundbreaking was because the entire thing was a masterpiece of tape-cutting and editing (you didn't actually think they were able to play the songs all the way through, did you?). Miles Davis is one of the greatest Jazz artists ever. If I could only listen to one musician for the rest of my life, it would be him. But he's jazz. He's not rock. Calling him rock means we'd have to call Kenny G jazz. Not gonna happen. This is just a pathetic attempt by the RRHOF to make itself seem more respectable. Lame. I don't like Lynard Skynard but they have a strong catalog of songs and they were one of the first Southern Rock Bands. So I think they're a justifiable addition. Black Sabbath is the only no-brainer here - without them, you don't have any heavy metal. All of their albums through Sabotage are pretty good, but the first 3 - Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Masters of Reality are pretty close to perfect. In my ideal world, there would only be 3 inductees each year. And they'd be given more than 15 minutes to play. What is the purpose of celebrating music when the "celebration" has more talking than playing? I'm hardly guilt-free when it comes to long-winded pontificating (see this post), but if I was inducting one of my favorite bands (let's say Radiohead), I'd tell the RRHOF that my speech would consist of the following - "Radiohead rules - just listen." Then I'd tell them to add the ten minutes normally wasted on speeches and crappy film footage to the band's performance time. Each inductee should be given 45 minutes to play a solid set of songs. And the following would be forbidden: 1) No medleys - Great music is like little stories - they have beginnings, middles and ends. A medley is the equivalent of Scorcese editing Taxi Driver and Goodfellas together so that it looks like DeNiro and Pesci are arguing ("How the f*%$ am I funny? What the f%^& is so funny about me?" "You talkin' to me"). It makes no sense and nobody is impressed by how clever your editing skills are. Play the entire song. 2) No cover songs - Yeah, yeah, you like Dylan. We get it. But if your cover of a Dylan song was the best item in your discography, you don't belong in the RRHOF. 3) No 30 minute jams with every special guest participating - I do not want to see Lynard Skynard play "Free Bird" with Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richard, Prince, Slash, Justin Timberlake, Paul Schaeffer, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Bacon's brother and the corpse of Lee Attwater each taking a guitar solo or a vocal turn. Save the special guests for another night. 4) No substitutes for original members - About 10 years ago, the RRHOF allowed John Fogerty to get away with using session musicians during the CCR performance while the original members were forced to sit and watch. Not only is that classless, but it's not what people have to come to see. I don't care if you don't get along anymore - we inducted the band and we expect the BAND. Either play together or don't play at all. The only excuse for not including an original member in the performance is death, severe illness or if the original guy is gone completely batty (see Syd Barrett). However, the RRHOF is really about the industry promoting itself. That means pairing classic artists with new acts to make the latter seem more respectable, and asking previous inductees with new albums coming out to give speeches. So things are only going to get worse. Blondie will have a 4 1/2 hour introduction speech by Bono, who makes dumb rhymes like "Deborah Harry, a singer so scary, she popped my rock and roll cherry," and compares "Hanging on the Telephone" to Third World dictators waiting for the USA to call and forgive their debts. The Sex Pistols set will include a duet with Madonna, who will dress up as Sid Vicious but then vogue during "Pretty Vacant" and also sing the chorus of her new single during an instrumental break in "God Save the Queen." Black Sabbath will play the main riff of "Iron Man" for 20 minutes while Puff Daddy raps over it about his TV show "Making the Band" show Simply craptacular..
sub, Good post - just want to say one thing though. I agree that putting Miles in the Rock and Roll HOF is a stretch but he was an innovator - maybe the greatest in jazz history (his last 10 years of his life notwithstanding). I don't see Kenny G being an innovator nor able to come up with some of the mind blowing fusion that Miles did in the late '60s and early '70s, so I take a little umbrage at that comparison.
I agree with a lot of your post especially the part about no medlies. I do disagree with about George's solo career. I think it is ranks right up there with any other ex-beatle. It doesn't in as far as number one hits. But in quality, originality, and duration it does. He doesn't have the peaks that Paul had, nor does he have the low Vallies that Paul was capable of hitting. He produced more stuff than John(not that it was Lennon's fault, of course.) But had they wanted they could have performed three hours of his worthy solo material, but based on what the audience wanted, and the tribute band format, they did a Beatle's tune as well. Paul McCartney still performs Beatle tunes at his concerts, but it isn't because he doesn't have enough good solo stuff to do. I just think mentioning that as the reason they did While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a little off base.
I didnt like some of what came out of Blondie, but what was good was GREAT! Add Sting to that list, he'll be in there twice
I like Madonna as much as the next person, well everything she did up until the early 90's (The Immaculate Collection is still one of my favorite compliation albums of all time), but a member of the Rock and Roll hall of fame? Heck, you might as well let in Britney, Christina, and Jessica and just change the name to the music hall of fame. Oh yeah...Weird Al Yankovic for 2008...book it!
Its funny seeing all the love for Clem Burke. Blondie should definitely be in. You really can't judge them on "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture". The were so much more than that. Funny thing about Clem- He toured as a Ramone (The only member to NOT take the Ramone name) for almost a year in 80 or 81. Marky Ramone left the band for an alcohol Rehab, and then showed up at a Ramones show sober almost a year later. It was Burkes last show as a Ramone - He was too "Jazzy" for the other Ramones. Marky was back on drums the very next show. You'll never see Clem's name on any of the albums, but he did tour with them. On the Sex Pistols note - Are the Clash in yet? They're much more deserving, and influenced way more bands then the Sex Pistols. The Pistols were pretty bad, just a show band. Lets not forget they were put together by Malcolm McLauren just like Boy Bands are put together. He wanted them to advertise his punk clothing store. Someone mentioned Rush. They will get in someday. They too deserve it. I know Rolling Stone has no Love for them (once a hippie run Music magazine-now a corporate run Pop Advertisement), but even Spin magazine has named them one of the top bands of all time. They do have some Critics who love them.
You're right - Kenny G and Miles Davis do not deserve to be in the same room. However, breaking music categories for awards is a slippery slope. If the music industry can now call Miles Davis rock, then they can call Kenny G jazz. And that means in 15 or so years, Kenny G will be accepting his Jazz Hall of Fame Award due to the fact that 10 million or so record buyers suffered from acute bad taste (or deafness). If they had just left Miles in the jazz category, then there wouldn't have been any danger of Kenny G escaping out of the suck category. But it's too late now - God help future listeners. I don't agree that George's solo career was of good enough quality or originality (duration doesn't concern me at all - Grand Funk Railroad is still releasing albums and they definitely don't deserve RRHOF recognition). After all, this was the guy whose "My Sweet Lord" blatantly ripped off the Chiffons "He's So Fine" (he was successfully sued in court for this, so it's not even a matter of opinion). I also think it's very suspect that his induction came so soon after his death - I think nostalgia got the best of the industry. It doesn't mean his solo stuff sucks (it doesn't) or that he was any less important to the Beatles success than John or Paul - it just means that as a solo artist, he wasn't that important in the larger history of rock and roll. However, if I'm wrong and George Harrison's solo material does meet HOF criteria, shouldn't his induction be about recognizing that period in his career? This isn't your ordinary concert - it should be a time to feature his artistic output as a solo artist. If there are some great songs in his solo catalog that weren't big hits, then this is the PERFECT forum for people to hear them. Let's celebrate these songs instead wasting any more time canonizing the Beatles. Playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" just lends creedence to the opinion that his solo stuff didn't have enough good songs. Why would you want to do that? But again, the RRHOF is rarely about artist recognition - it's about promoting the industry. And no Harrison-penned song allows for more everyone-famous-gets-onstage-with-their-best-kitchen-sink histrionics that "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." So they don't care if it was actually a Beatles song - they just want to see Prince and Neil Young have a guitar duel.
What's with the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hate? The fact that he was in a band with Dylan, Orbison, and Harrison tells me that those all time greats respected him and his songwriting.
