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Handicapping the Rock Hall of Fame: Lou Reed’s year? Or Chic’s? Or JOAN JETT’s?
from: seattletimes.com
By Malcolm X Abram
The list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is out â€" Lou Reed, Sting, Chic, JOAN JETT, Kraftwerk and Green Day are on the list.
Break out your pitchforks and/or band T-shirts, music lovers: The 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees list was released Thursday. Let the debate begin.
The class of 2015 will be announced in mid-December, and the induction ceremony will take place on April 18 in Cleveland at Public Hall (no ticket sale date has been set).
Once again, it’s a fairly eclectic bunch, covering blues-rock, R&B, pop punk, hard rock, proto-electronica, hip-hop and industrial rock, owing to the Rock Hall’s desire to embrace many forms of pop music.
But there sure seems to be a push to induct some younger bands (the term being relative since nominees need 25 years since their first release to be eligible). That always means some older deserving bands will get screwed, leading to charges of politics and biases among the mysterious cabal of voters.
Among the influential and frankly obvious classic bands still waiting their turn are Deep Purple, Devo, Chicago, Yes, the Doobie Brothers, Roxy Music, Journey, Thin Lizzy, the MC5 and the Moody Blues. With the year of eligibility up to 1989, there are also seminal alt-rock/alternative and punk bands such as Depeche Mode, the Cure, Joy Division, the Jam, Sonic Youth and Black Flag.
And don’t get me started on the hall’s aversion to heavy metal.
But we have our nominees, so let’s discuss and predict them a bit, shall we?
â€"Lou Reed: The singer/songwriter was inducted with the Velvet Underground back in 1996 and has been nominated three times as a solo artist. Let’s be honest: Reed died last year, and that’s a pretty good sign that he will finally be enshrined.
â€"Sting: Gordon Sumner is already in as a member of the Police. He’s made some truly boring if competent adult-contemporary music in the past decade or so, but his career as a solo artist includes big pop hits like “Fragile,†“Desert Rose†and “Fields of Gold.†Plus, Sting is still active and (pure speculation here) seems like the kind of artist who appeals to a sizable amount of the 700 music professionals who vote.
â€"Stevie Ray Vaughan: The late Texas blues-rock guitar titan got his first taste of national attention playing on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.†He brought together influences such as Jimi Hendrix, the Kings (Albert and B.B.) and his big brother Jimmy, and cranked them up to 11 for hits such as “Couldn’t Stand The Weather,†“Pride and Joy†and a cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).†Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in 1990.
â€"Green Day: Why should the “pioneers of pop-punk†get in on their first year of eligibility before many pioneers of actual punk? Because Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt are young, still active and were massive hitmakers in the ‘90s: “Longview,†“Basket Case†and “When I Come Around†from their 10 million-selling Dookie, and the 43-week ride that their acoustic ballad “Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life)†had on the pop charts in ‘97-‘98 while also seemingly appearing in every television show or film featuring people under 40. They scored critical respect with the rock opera “American Idiot†that became a hit musical on Broadway.
â€"JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS: There are only two female-driven acts on this year’s list (the paucity of women artists is an entirely different rant), and Jett will probably get the nod. She has been one of those tough, confident female rock stars, getting your head nodding and fists pumping to “I Love Rock N Roll,†“Do You Wanna Touch Me†and every Hollywood movie’s bad girl theme “Bad Reputation.â€
â€"The Marvelettes: The girl group has been waiting for 53 years since “Please Mr. Postman†gave Motown its first No. 1 pop hit. The original quartet of Georgeanna Tillman, Katherine Anderson, Wanda Young and Gladys Horton sang songs that have been covered for decades, including “Don’t Mess With Bill,†“The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game†and “Playboy.â€
â€"The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: A seminal blues-rock band whose 1965 debut influenced many of the British blues rockers who would become much more famous. Late guitarist Mike Bloomfield is still considered one of the best of the era. East-West from 1966 mixed blues, rock and R&B with Indian music, pointing the way for many of their peers.
â€"N.W.A.: Their high points are brutal slices of life in L.A. during the crack-fueled ‘80s. Producer Dr. Dre’s sound, built on funk and R&B samples, angry synth sounds and big drums set the course for much of West Coast hip-hop for a decade. They’ll get in, but probably not this year.
â€"Kraftwerk: The mighty tree of electronic and synth-driven dance music has the German automatons as arguably its largest, thickest root. Since their inception in 1970, the quartet’s music has veered from bubbling avant-garde weirdness to icy, proudly mechanical yet funky grooves that influenced hip-hop and electronic dance music. I think they’re a dark horse, but may be pushed out by one of the younger groups.
â€"Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails helped bring the willfully abrasive sound and spooky style of industrial to the mainstream with “Pretty Hate Machine,†featuring “Head Like a Hole.†There’s a pretty good chance that NIN will knock one of the older bands out, but we’ll say they’ll have to wait.
â€"The Smiths: The very British 1980s alt/rock band had a relatively short but highly influential five-year run, making an icon out of miserable, painfully vulnerable, asexual singer Morrissey and anti-guitar god Johnny Marr. Morrissey’s recent cancer diagnosis may move them to the front of the line.
â€"Bill Withers: The smooth, soulful singer/songwriter had a string of hits over a 15-year career that he ended voluntarily. He wrote radio staples and heavily covered and sampled tunes such as “Lean On Me,†“Ain’t No Sunshine,†“Who Is He and What is He To You,†“Lovely Day,†“Grandma’s Hands†and “Just the Two of Us,†and his influence on soul singers is indelible.
â€"The Spinners: Classic progenitors of the Philly Soul Sound, the quintet’s 15 Top 10 R&B singles include “Mighty Love,†“Could It Be I’m Falling In Love,†“Sadie†and “The Rubberband Man.â€
â€"War: The interracial Afro-Latin funk outfit’s hit “Low Rider†still gets airplay, and its hits including “Why Can’t We Be Friends,†“The Cisco Kid†and “The World is a Ghetto†are heavily sampled by hip-hop and dance producers.
â€"Chic: This quintessential cosmopolitan R&B/disco band, led by guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers and late bassist/producer Bernard Edwards, cranked out dance floor-igniting jams such as “Good Times,†“I Want Your Love†and “Le Freak.†Perhaps the 10th time will be the charm. |
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