Ricki C. - I actually agree with many of the points Jeremy’s made in Saturday’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Class of 2021 rundown/wrap-up, and I especially admire the thoughtful manner in which he made those points. Conversely, I’m just here to spew venom.
My thoughts on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are well-known, it’s no secret that I’m NOT A FAN. (I suppose I could link some older columns from Pencil Storm here to prove my point, but I fully admit I’m FAR too lazy to go though the archives to provide those links. Colin, you maybe wanna handle that?)
In a nutshell - 1) I agree with the idea of different sports (baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse) having a Hall of Fame, because many sports stats are quantifiable; numbers of home runs hit out of the park, number of touchdowns scored, numbers of three-pointers drained from beyond the arc, etc. Rock & roll - on quite the other hand - is NOT quantifiable; it’s based on magic & power and hopes & loss and triumphs & tears, and to me, in that respect a One-Hit Top 40 Wonder like The Robbs (see video below) are JUST as important to rock & roll as The Beatles and the Stones.
2) It’s hard for me - as a 68-year old rock & roll fan - to see Jay-Z and The Foo Fighters inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while older and, I believe, far more deserving 60’s & 70’s rockers are repeatedly passed over for induction or never even nominated. For me, the “M & M’s” come immediately to mind: The MC5 and Mott The Hoople. Admittedly, Mott is a personal favorite/taste of mine (though Ian Hunter of Mott WROTE & performed “Cleveland Rocks,” for Chrissakes), but the exclusion of The MC5 is unconscionable. Just because Jann Wenner couldn’t invite those Detroit boys over to his nouveau-riche New York City apartment for a formal party dinner and expect them to have impeccable table manners and discuss the finer points of Proust around his Russian Tea Room friends does not warrant being excluded from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
3) It’s supposed to be The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; not The Popular Music Hall of Fame, or The Yacht Rock & Rap Hall of Fame, The Entertainment Tonight Hall of Fame, but I fear that’s the way we’re headed.
Okay, that’s my two cents, over to you Colin…….
Colin Gawel - I think everyone just needs to get over the name of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It’s just called that because it looks good on a t-shirt and “Cleveland Rocks” and all that. It was never going to be strictly rock n roll. That’s just not a sustainable business model. It’s hard to pinpoint what is considered “rock” exactly, but from the moment the Hall was conceived I knew that - without a doubt - Dean Martin was never getting in and Madonna definitely was. So the line is somewhere around there.
And as much as it pains my rock n roll brethren to hear, Rap is this generation’s rock n roll. Us older rockers just want everyone to get off our lawn. I’m not supposed to dig everything my son listens to. In fact, if you want a pure definition of rock n roll, I suggest it’s a parent screaming “Turn down that infernal racket!” at whatever their kid is listening to at that moment. I don’t recall my parents being particularly fond of Number Of The Beast. My Mom loved Elvis, which her parents hated. and so on and so forth.
On a positive note, the reason I love the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is that it is the ONLY thing that keeps discussion about rock n roll alive. There would be no reason to ever discuss The MC5, Thin Lizzy or Mott the Hoople if it weren’t for the rock hall debate. These bands would virtually vanish off the face of the Earth, except for their hard core fans. Now, they are kept somewhat relevant by their exclusion from this not-so-exclusive club. And I physically enjoy going to the actual Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. What’s not to like? It’s got lots of cool stuff. It’s fun.
Where the RRHoF went horribly wrong was turning the induction ceremony into a made-for-TV event. Bands and performers are inducted strictly to help the broadcast for the individual year. Not to be cynical, but the only reason Tina Turner and Carole King are getting in for a SECOND time while other deserving candidates are still outside looking in is so they can perform on this year’s show because some executive thought it would be cool. Who was clamoring for those two being inducted again? I bet even they were shocked.
The TV problem has also led to way too many bands/performers being inducted every year. They should cap it at five inductees each year. Period. And if HBO doesn’t like it they can get bent. I mean, thirteen inductions in the year 2021 sure seems like too many. You think the class is thin now? Who is going to be left to get inducted in 2031? Hell, at this rate Watershed may have a shot.
As for personal thoughts about the class of 2021, since I retired the band Why Isn’t Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I haven’t had a dog in the fight. I do feel like metal gets overlooked and this year Iron Maiden drew the short stick. I guess the other acts seem fine, though once again I agree with Jeremy that folks do not need to be inducted twice. If you are in, you are in. That seems pretty simple. (editor’s note; David Crosby has been inducted into the Rock Hall THREE TIMES! As a member of The Byrds, as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and as a solo artist; and that questionable-talent wash-out has been FIRED from every BAND he was ever in.)
As for next year, click here for the comprehensive list of every band that has ever been snubbed. Let the debate for 2022 begin.
So Ricki C., you’re going to try to tell us that this never-made-the-top-40-of-the-Billboard-Charts 1966 band from Milwaukee is JUST as important to you as The Who, The Kinks or The Velvet Undergound? “Yes, I am telling you that. I started rock & roll with Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry, I ended with it at The Strokes and The White Stripes. In between I maintain The Robbs are just as important to me and should be in a One-Hit Wonder Wing of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”