Tuesday, October 15, 2013

IF SEGER'S IN... The long-list ballot for this year's Rock Hall of Fame arrives this week, and the list of potential new nominees is here.  Obviously, Nirvana is a lead pipe cinch for induction in this first year of eligibility, but after that, it gets interesting--does Massive Attack make the cut to be the first electronica artist in?  Does Melissa Etheridge get in as much for political activism as for the music?  Does Morissey get in as a solo artist when The Smiths have never been nominated?  Does Phish get in?  Tracy Chapman?  Do the Traveling Wilburys get in, given than 4/6 members are already in for other work?  Much to discuss.

44 comments:

  1. Joseph Finn11:50 AM

    Nirvana is the only lock on that list for me. I can't speak to electronica, so I have no idea about Massive Attack.

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  2. christy in nyc12:00 PM

    Massive Attack is a shoe-in for the TV Theme Song Hall of Fame. If it exists. (For House).

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  3. Adam B.12:16 PM

    Let's not be silly: Nirvana is the only new nominee who will merit consideration this year, though Fugazi would if they expanded the "Influencers" wing to include modern acts. Etheridge may eventually get in.

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  4. I agree Nirvana is the only newly eligible nominee with a strongly compelling case. I do wonder if they look downballot this year at folks who've been snubbed--The Cure? Dire Straits? Bon Jovi?

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  5. For me, Etheridge is a fascinating case. She's got career longevity, Grammys, an Oscar, and a compelling personal story (including both coming out and publicly fighting cancer) - and all of this is likely more significant than her musical legacy itself. Then again, if John Mellencamp's in the Hall already - which he is - then Etheridge probably should be, too.

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  6. Also - Depeche Mode, Janet Jackson...maybe even Bjork?

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  7. Adam B.12:56 PM

    This Hall doesn't let in a lot of artists on the first ballot -- RHCP wasn't, Van Halen wasn't, to name two. I think NWA gets another look-see, and then who knows? Kraftwerk, Warren Zevon, Hall and Oates, The Smiths, KISS? Do they torture Nile Rodgers with another Chic nomination?

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  8. Allegedly, Wenner has big issues with Kiss (and an induction could be ugly, given that Criss/Frehley are apparently not on speaking terms with Simmons/Stanley). An interesting one to show up this year--The Monkees, given Jones' death.

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  9. NWA will more than likely be on the ballot again.

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  10. Adlai1:03 PM

    SMITHS! SMITHS!

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  11. Would be a pleasant surprise to see The Smiths on the ballot!

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  12. Adam C.1:28 PM

    This looks like a small class induction year to me. Nirvana, as others have noted, is the only lock for induction. Among past eligibles who have already been on the ballot, I think NWA and Bon Jovi probably have the best chance (in Bon Jovi's case, particularly given the fan ballot) of getting in. I just don't see the body of work argument for acts like the Wilburys (one mostly good album and another mostly forgotten album) or Tracy Chapman (outstanding debut, but little of great note since). I'd be surprised if Stevie Ray Vaughn didn't make the ballot, and I think there's a compelling case for Linda Ronstadt (plus sympathy for her recent health issues).
    What do you do about Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston?

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  13. The Pathetic Earthling1:38 PM

    It seems absurd that Joan Jett isn't in.

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  14. The Pathetic Earthling1:40 PM

    Wait, SRV isn't already in? Until he's in this is not a legitimate institution.

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  15. Eric J.1:54 PM

    They're not likely to get in this year, if ever, but an NWA/De La Soul double induction would be an interesting Hip-Hop Yin-Yang.

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  16. Adam C.1:55 PM

    I don't know about absurd, given her relatively limited catalogue of hits, but I think she may get there eventually on merits + influence.

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  17. Jim Bell2:04 PM

    Umm, Seger is awesome. Just like Southern Michigan Summertime.

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  18. Tosy And Cosh2:05 PM

    I'm a pretty big Tracy Chapman fan (and kind of goofily proud that a Google search for "best Tracy Chapman" yields a post I wrote as the #1 hit), but she shouldn't be in the Hall. Although I will say that many of her post-debut albums, while uneven, have a GREAT song or two buried in the mix.

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  19. Jim Bell2:05 PM

    Once saw Joan Jett rock out on the parkway in star spangled red white and blue spandex. She has my nomination and vote for anything up to and including emperor of the universe.

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  20. Jim Bell2:10 PM

    I'm sorry Adam, but I disagree on Tracy Chapman. Outstanding debut still downplays the strength of Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman. Everyone in our [sortof] age cohort owns that album and knows all of the songs. Carole King would be Carole King even if there were only Tapestry. I say Tracy Chapman goes in. What an album. It's easily on my list of top 25 albums of all time.

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  21. The fact that Janet wrote or co-wrote on her mega blockbuster albums cements the creative element. There were dozens of Janet Jackson clones that flooded the airwaves after Control & Rhythm Nation 1814. None had Janet's talent & longevity, though.
    Whitney had an amazing voice, but she didn't have that creative element.

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  22. Adam B.2:20 PM

    It's definitional: if what Madonna does counts for this Hall, certainly should for Janet Jackson. I'm not as sure on the definitional angle for Whitney, but there's no question that she is Hall-worthy for whatever genres in which she can legitimately be considered.

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  23. The fascinating thing with Nirvana is that they are a cinch despite a small number of albums of original material, and only 3 Top 40 hits (Smells Like Teen Spirit, About A Girl (unplugged), and Come as You Are).

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  24. Jim Bell2:52 PM

    IMHO "Baby Can I Hold You" should have made your list. No, I don't know what you should have left out or where it should go, but it has to be in the top 10.

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  25. Joseph Finn3:40 PM

    Jesus, don't remind me that Mellencamp got in before you-know-who.

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  26. Joseph Finn3:40 PM

    Just without the pleasant part.

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  27. Joseph Finn3:41 PM

    I think that's a fair argument.

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  28. Joseph Finn3:43 PM

    Phish is an interesting case to me. Honestly, they feel like a latter-day Rush in terms of fan feelings towards them and they're the case where I understand how those who were not Rush fans regarded our complete surety that Rush deserved to be in the HOF. Phish may not be my thing and I wouldn't especially care either way if they went in but I can understand that they need to be discussed.

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  29. Weird Al.

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  30. The closer analogy for Phish is the Grateful Dead, I'd say. (Where it gets harder is the generation after that, where it's probably Dave Matthews Band as the heir.

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  31. Joseph Finn3:59 PM

    A fair comparison, but I think GD is a little more mainstream than Phish or Rush.

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  32. Adam C.4:04 PM

    We agree on the strength of the album, Jim -- I just don't think it's enough by itself to get TC in, either in my Hall or the Rock Hall. Carole King would be Carole King if there were only Tapestry, but her HoF cred owes to Tapestry AND her classic and oh-my-God-she-wrote-THAT-TOO? songwriting. (Actually, believe it or not, she's in the Rock Hall ONLY for her songwriting, in the non-performer category.) As transcendent as Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman may be, she needs more to make the case.

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  33. Adam C.4:18 PM

    Well, you've got precedent there, like Janis Joplin (4 studio albums) or Jimi Hendrix (3 studio albums before he died, then a bunch of posthumously released stuff). Am I remembering right that Krist and Dave had some battles with Courtney over unreleased material? Again, though, on top of the material, influence looms incredibly large here.

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  34. Eric J.4:37 PM

    I think Phish goes into the "deserves to be in, but Jann Wenner doesn't know who they are" category of say, XTC and They Might Be Giants. Yo La Tengo is probably there as well..

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  35. Adam C.4:39 PM

    Especially the part about Sheryl Crow not deserving to be in.

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  36. Adam B.5:00 PM

    Has never appeared on the ballot.

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  37. Adam B.5:00 PM

    Lord Voldemort?

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  38. Adam C.7:37 PM

    Out of that group, the only question mark for me is Shannon. All the rest get major pioneer/influence credit. I'd credit Valens with at least two indelible songs ("Donna" and "La Bamba"). Haley (Chester, PA, represent!) gets credit for two as well - "Shake, Rattle and Roll" along with RATC.

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  39. Adam B.7:39 PM

    I've had this argument before here: SRR is a blues song that Bill Haley covered and popularized; it's not his own. And I don't know what Valens' "influence" was.

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  40. Adam C.8:18 PM

    I grant you that it wasn't Haley's song originally, but he did popularize a rock version of it, and it was a big hit -- some say the first rock and roll hit -- before RATC was. I recognize the issues that raises, but he still gets Rock Hall credit for what it meant to rock music.

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  41. The Smiths will never get in in large part because an induction with them would be insanely ugly, with Morrissey and Marr basically unwilling to be in the same room with one another.

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  42. Tosy And Cosh10:14 PM

    And Guns 'N Roses? One great album, one collection of b-sides and acoustic leftovers, one covers album, and one bloated double-CD beast that hasn't held up too well. I myself feel they shouldn't have gotten in.

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  43. Benner11:11 AM

    it disturbs me that for a made-for-tv spectacle, this is seen as a reason not to induct.

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  44. Jim Bell2:46 PM

    I beg to differ.

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