Thursday, October 4, 2012

I GOT SO MUCH TROUBLE ON MY MIND / I REFUSE TO LOSE:  Rev up your Keltner lists, because the fifteen nominees vying for induction into the Rock and Roll Non-Country Popular Music of the 1950s and Beyond Hall of Fame include first-time nominees Deep Purple and, yes, Rush; rap legends N.W.A. and Public Enemy; the RRHOF's equivalent of Jim Rice and Bert Blyleven in Donna Summer and Chic; plus The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Albert King, Kraftwerk, The Marvelettes, The Meters, Randy Newman, and Procol Harum.

So let's do a Doodle poll again. Vote for as many or as few artists as you wish, and we'll see how the numbers shake out. (Typically, artists require 50%+ support to be nominated and the top 5-7 get in, unless Jann Wenner decides otherwise.)

[Among those not nominated: first-time eligibles The Pixies, as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan, KISS, and The Spinners.]

30 comments:

  1. Finally! Now Wenner will just have to put up with, instead of reasonable questions as to why he blocked the nomination, why he's blocked their induction.


    My list: Rush, NWA, Public Enemy, Heart, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (an easy decision, too) and Randy Newman. Like I said on Twitter to Matt, I have no expertise in Kraftwerk so have no basis wherein to vote.


    Honestly, this is an excellent list this year and I can easily see a top 7 class.

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  2. bill.9:25 AM

    Oh, just let everyone in. And I want an album of Randy Newman covering Donna Summer.

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  3. My guess is that NWA has to wait a year, since they may not want to induct two hip-hop acts in a year, but Public Enemy gets in.

    I'm saying Public Enemy, Heart, Donna Summer, Rush, and Kraftwerk, with maybe one or two of the Motown groups getting in to placate the Rush haters. (I'm no fan, but I get their influence/importance.)

    Next year has one of the easiest first ballot inductions in a good while with Nirvana, especially given the brevity of career (3 or 4 studio albums, depending on how you count Incesticide, plus Unplugged).

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  4. I just can't with Randy Newman. I know HE meant "Short People" as a joke, but its existence is a plague to those of us who are challenged of stature.

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  5. Also, my vote for Kraftwerk isn't so much for that band itself - honestly I don't know if I've ever heard their music - but because they influenced so many acts that are already in the Hall and many more that will be inducted in the future.

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  6. Kraftwerk was deemed worthy of an extensive MOMA retrospective and series of concerts this year. Without Kraftwerk, there's no EDM, which is one of Rolling Stone/Wenner's big things right now, so I'll be shocked if they don't get in.

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  7. Sound Opinions had a really great show about EDM earlier this year and what little I know of Kraftwerk's influence was gleaned from their retrospective of the genre.

    In a weird way, I'd link Kraftwerk and Chic because both were as much about the production of the music as the music itself. Kraftwerk may have the artsy-fartsy museum crowd cred, but Nile Rodgers was a thoughtful, innovative producer and his fingerprints are all over so much of that 70s/80s sound.

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  8. Adam B.11:37 AM

    I do not understand an anti-NWA argument: you cannot tell the story of hip-hop music and culture without them.

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  9. Adam B.11:57 AM

    Kraftwerk, like Minor Threat, is why the RRHOF needs to expand its "Influencers" wing to include modern small-but-critically-important artists.

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  10. Yeah, I was a 4'8" high-school senior when that song came out, and it was Not Funny. I've forgiven Randy Newman and quite like his work, but I think the song points out the problem with satire -- bullies don't get the fine points. They just think it's hilarious to tell you you have no reason to live.

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  11. no Jeff Lynne, no Gram Parsons, no Carly Simon. This is a pretty weak class, too. Voted yes on Rush, PE, and NWA; also no-hopers Paul Butterfield. NWA is a stronger case for me than Public Enemy, as they were just better rappers. The alternative class (even with Kiss, who are dreck, would be better than the one they'll induct).

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  12. Jordan12:42 PM

    Fight the Power comes great responsibility/F the Police, but who's stoppin' you from killin' me?


    Oh, not that kind of anti-NWA argument.

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  13. Joseph Finn12:57 PM

    Gram Parsons is an interesting marginal (and slightly out for me) case. I can see an argument being made though.

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  14. Reading Keith Richards's autobiography, he should be in.

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  15. Joseph Finn1:27 PM

    I listened to that this year as well and RIchards does indeed make a strong case.

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  16. Watts1:45 PM

    I want Joan Jett to make it in because I want to imagine her jamming with all the other inductees. ALL of them.

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  17. Just another note: I think NWA's music holds up far better than Public Enemy's. PE owes more of a debt to early hip-hop, while NWA was a little more paradigm breaking. They both helped give rise to the gangster rap movement, but NWA is of the genre, while I feel Public Enemy merely influenced it.

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  18. Adam B.2:47 PM

    PE has nothing to do with gangster rap. The best politically conscious rap, however, with damn good sampling, and the Chuck D/Flav combo just ... worked. Perfectly.

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  19. isaac_spaceman3:01 PM

    I suppose that a person who has grown up with gangster rap is necessarily going to think that NWA holds up better than PE. But By the Time I Get to Arizona is still one of my favorite songs ever. (the title of this post, by the way? comes right before when Chuck D says he "slapped a Jap," so, you know, uh -- what did we ever do to him?

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  20. Jordan3:50 PM

    Additionally, for the do they rock after their peak? question, I'd argue they've had a couple legit classic songs long after their great four album run, including the song I quoted above (one of my all time favorites). Seriously, go listed to "Harder Than You Think" and tell me they aren't still relevant.

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  21. Nation of Millions and Fear of a Black Planet (I think) also belong to the pre-clearance era of sampling, which gives them a nearly unique texture and sonic landscape.

    And no duo has done The King and his Jester better than Chuck D. and Flavor Flav.

    Something I've wanted to hear for a few decades, and someone just might do it now, is "Bring the Noise" recreated in Bob Dylan's voice.

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  22. Joseph Finn4:49 PM

    Joan Jett and Rush! Shredding their way through Subdivisions!

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  23. Roger5:11 PM

    What is the case for Randy Newman?

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  24. Watts5:27 PM

    I used to get Randy Newman and Warren Zevon confused. Then I realized one's a genius and the other makes me want to punch things.

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  25. What do you have against Warren Zevon? :D

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  26. Punch things in a good way? I don't understand.

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  27. When was the last time you listened to Straight Outta Compton? Especially, you know, the words? (Some of the production is pretty undeniable.) It's aging horribly. It may have established the genre in which it is now a cringe-worthy cliche, but I cringe nonetheless. PE, on the other hand, never seems to get old.

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  28. Oh, okay. Now I get it.

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  29. In a bad way. His schlubby smugness makes me want to sock him in the nose.

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  30. As I smug schlub myself, I... Oh, nevermind.

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