School's Out For Sweet Caroline, While the Devil's Down In The Hole at the Right Place, but the Wrong Time.

December 15, 2010 6:54 PM

MusicNewsFilter: This year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame are: Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love, Dr. John, and Tom Waits. Among those who will have to wait until next year: Bon Jovi (in the first year he was eligible), the J. Geils Band, the Beastie Boys and Donna Summer.
posted by EmpressCallipygos (114 comments total)

*shakes cane so hard it produces an strangely entrancing techno beat*
posted by cavalier at 6:56 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

And I wanted to save the slightly-editorializing comment for a comment:

I couldn't be more thrilled about Tom Waits, but I'm also absolutely fascinated to see what the performance part of his induction would be like.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, crap -- I meant to link to this song.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:59 PM on December 15, 2010

cavalier: *shakes cane so hard it produces an strangely entrancing techno beat*

Is immediately inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
posted by Trochanter at 7:00 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Tom Waits got inducted quickly, but its worth remembering that Tom waits for no man.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:05 PM on December 15, 2010 [20 favorites]

That list made me wonder about the criteria, so I went and checked on the Hall of Fame's website: "Criteria include the influence and significance of the artist’s contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll."

So where does the J. Geils Band come in?


/not saying anything new here
posted by scratch at 7:06 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

It was nice of Neil Diamond to let a couple of other artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before him, and now at the same time as him, to make it look like he isn't solely and totally THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF ALL THINGS ROCK. But really he is.

Play it now.

Play it now!

PLAY IT NOW MY BABY!
posted by ND¢ at 7:07 PM on December 15, 2010 [7 favorites]

I would not want to live in a world without Dr. John's Gris-Gris and Gumbo. And I'd know it was absent. I'd think, something is lacking. Some sort of voodoo New Orleans ass-shaking keyboard pounding spooky snake magic that we desperately need. I'd miss it in the world where it doesn't exist. If you haven't heard these albums, you probably miss them too. Late at night, half-asleep, something feels like it's not in your life, and should be.

Go out and get those albums. Go now. Don't disobey me. Je suis le grand zombi.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:10 PM on December 15, 2010 [13 favorites]

It was nice of Neil Diamond to let a couple of other artists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before him, and now at the same time as him, to make it look like he isn't solely and totally THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF ALL THINGS ROCK. But really he is.

After all, he did record the greatest song of all time.
posted by NoMich at 7:12 PM on December 15, 2010

Let's just hope we can find a sympathetic local judge willing to issue a Court Order preventing Scarlett Johansson from entering the greater Cleveland area until the day after the induction ceremony.
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:12 PM on December 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

Dr. John's version of Iko Iko was all but following me when I visited New Orleans a couple years ago, and it's one of the songs that can time-warp me back in an instant.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:15 PM on December 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

Hell yeah Neil!
posted by Ad hominem at 7:16 PM on December 15, 2010

Bonus pic: Neil's dog Poker
posted by Ad hominem at 7:18 PM on December 15, 2010

....I just had the very weird feeling that Tom Waits could very well do a cover of "Sweet Caroline" as his performance. It just strikes me as the sort of thing he'd do.

I mean, we are talking about a guy who gave into a spontaneous urge to put a fish down his pants on television.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:21 PM on December 15, 2010 [5 favorites]

Shit, my money was on Mark Zuckerberg.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:21 PM on December 15, 2010

I don't think Tom Waits could fit Mark Zuckerberg in his pants.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:23 PM on December 15, 2010 [9 favorites]

Bon Jovi can fuck off and die forever.
posted by dead cousin ted at 7:26 PM on December 15, 2010 [9 favorites]

Jon Bon Jovi ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd. You’re gonna hear his voice, when he shouts it out loud — at the White House Council for Community Solutions.

On Tuesday, President Obama announced his intent to appoint Mr. Bon Jovi, along with 24 others, to the newly established Council for Community Solutions, a group that, according to the administration’s press release, “will prove advice to the President on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses and government to work more effectively together to solve specific community needs.”

posted by Joe Beese at 7:28 PM on December 15, 2010

J. Geils Band?! What, no Katrina and the Waves and Toni Basil? What about Wang Chung?
posted by Mael Oui at 7:28 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Yeah, you have to wonder how many sexual favors Peter Wolf had to perform . . . oh, no, ugh, must wash out brain with Lysol before that mental image sticks.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:32 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Tom Waits where angels fear to tread
posted by Bromius at 7:34 PM on December 15, 2010

Yeah, the Geils's got totally ripped off, man.

Um, who is Love?
posted by ovvl at 7:40 PM on December 15, 2010

So where does the J. Geils Band come in?

Their pre-"Centerfold" stuff was very different from what came after. It was very gritty, funky blue-eyed R&B. Hall of Fame-worthy? Open to debate, but was really good stuff.
posted by jonmc at 7:41 PM on December 15, 2010 [4 favorites]

Um, who is Love?

Phil Spector protoge. Today she's best known for coming on David Letterman's show every year for the holidays and singing this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 PM on December 15, 2010

The Beastie Boys? Don't get me wrong, I love me some Beasties. But why would they be considered rock-n-roll?
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 7:48 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, you have to wonder how many sexual favors Peter Wolf had to perform...

Aw, c'mon... There's nothing wrong with this.
posted by mintcake! at 7:55 PM on December 15, 2010

The Beastie Boys? Don't get me wrong, I love me some Beasties. But why would they be considered rock-n-roll?

Beastie Boys > Abba
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:57 PM on December 15, 2010

I couldn't be more thrilled about Tom Waits, but I'm also absolutely fascinated to see what the performance part of his induction would be like.

Probably something like this.
posted by clarknova at 8:06 PM on December 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

These guys are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and that's all you need to know about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
posted by stargell at 8:06 PM on December 15, 2010 [8 favorites]

Delighted about Tom Waits and Dr. John.

That said, I can now officially resume my annual (fruitless) chorus of "WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL FACES AND THE FACES?"
posted by scody at 8:08 PM on December 15, 2010 [4 favorites]

What? No Free?!

It is nice to see the master of space and time get some recognition, even if only as a sideman.
posted by TedW at 8:43 PM on December 15, 2010

Worrying about who gets inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame isn't very rock and roll.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:49 PM on December 15, 2010 [6 favorites]

Shit Fucking Sandwich. Donna Summer? Give me a fucking break.
posted by dbiedny at 9:00 PM on December 15, 2010

Dr. John was way overdue and I can't help but think it's good he's in, even if Slack-a-gogo's totally right. This collection is your amazingly cheap and excellent proof, if you need any.
posted by mediareport at 9:09 PM on December 15, 2010

Yeah! How could Donna Summer get passed over while Geils gets in?? What's wrong with them?
posted by faceonmars at 9:10 PM on December 15, 2010

It stopped being about rock and roll a long time ago. I think the main problem is that they called it, for obvious marketing reasons, the ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame rather than the ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE Hall of Fame or the JANN WENNER APPROVES Hall of Fame.

They've watered down the definition of rock and roll so much that there's no context for who get's inducted anymore. It's not all rock and roll music (or even just rock music). It's definitely not the rebellious spirit of rock and roll. It's not record sales. I don't even buy the "contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll" angle. It's so arbitrary that it doesn't make sense worrying about who's not in. It seems like it's more about the work of good managers and press agents than it is about the musicians.

The only good thing I find in the annual list of inductees is that it gets people talking about music again. It makes them think about what music excites them and what music doesn't. It gets them engaged in a discussion about music. If the random inductees of the year aren't worth checking out, maybe the discussion of who got left out again will spark some new interest in a few great bands neglected by the HoF. Not only are people currently talking about Tom Waits, but right here in this thread there's new reason to bring up Motorhead, Leon Russell, and the Small Faces. How fucking cool is that?
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 9:27 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Yeah! How could Donna Summer get passed over while Geils gets in?? What's wrong with them?

Neither one got in this year.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:32 PM on December 15, 2010

faceonmars:Yeah! How could Donna Summer get passed over while Geils gets in??

And risk a three-way tie with Andy Kim and Mungo Jerry? Absurd!
posted by dr_dank at 9:32 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Donna Summer completely deserves to be there, as does disco, if we are talking about the introduction of funk and dance into a discourse that had turned v. white and v. straight, she brought back queer sexuality and the mixing of white and black sounds into something new that hearkened back to the beginnings of rock. She was a glacial italians reworking of the 60 minute man, and if we did not have her and Chic, we would not have dance musicians as varied, and as rock inspired/rock and roll from Madonna to James Murphy.

Love to Love you Baby is the only 13 minute song ever recorded in a popular argot that I will listen to again and again.

I fucking love Donna Summer, and so should you.
posted by PinkMoose at 9:34 PM on December 15, 2010 [8 favorites]

Shit Fucking Sandwich. Donna Summer? Give me a fucking break.

You don't deserve one. If you can't recognize why Donna Summer deserves a slot in the Mainstream Rock Hall of Fame your knowledge of 20th century popular music is too inadequate to bother breaking. She was a smart woman, excellent singer, and decent songwriter who had the brains to work closely with folks whose music became instrumental in the creation of techno. If all you know is the chorus of her overplayed hits you're missing out. Listen to what goes on starting about 1:30 into 1976's "Try Me, I know We Can Make It" - you're hearing nothing but the sound of SOUL updated to the electronic age right there.

The shit is seminal.
posted by mediareport at 9:34 PM on December 15, 2010 [12 favorites]

*high fives PinkMoose*
posted by mediareport at 9:34 PM on December 15, 2010

high fives MediaReport!

(also when is Grace Jones elgible?)
posted by PinkMoose at 9:41 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

I like Bon Jovi as much as the next man. And I'm assuming he'll eventually be inducted.

So what are you waiting for, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? 2012, the mature Bon Jovi's annus mirabilis?
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 9:41 PM on December 15, 2010

When the obit post for Neil Diamond happens my dot will be a smiley face.
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 9:45 PM on December 15, 2010

Disco being invented - gently - out of funk and synths in 1975.
posted by mediareport at 9:54 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Dr. John is not rock and roll.

Tom Waits is not rock and roll.

(I like both these artists v. much.)

I have never heard of Darlene Love and I am a rock fan; ipso facto she ain't famous.

I doubt I will ever visit this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unless I find myself someday living in a very nearby zipcode.

(obviously Alice Cooper and Neil Diamond rock)
posted by bukvich at 9:55 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Darlene Love's voice is pure sadness, but it in a you know sweet and almost girlish way, teenage tragedies and all of that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnHujxAVBI4
posted by PinkMoose at 9:58 PM on December 15, 2010

The day The Jam gets inducted is the day I begin caring.
posted by davebush at 9:59 PM on December 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Link to "Try Me, I know We Can Make It". And anyone doubting the silky soulfulness of her singing should hear "Full of Emptiness."
posted by mediareport at 10:02 PM on December 15, 2010

Dr. John is not rock and roll.

Tom Waits is not rock and roll.

Oh jesus it's lumpers v. splitters again. I'm going to bed.
posted by mediareport at 10:03 PM on December 15, 2010

The Lumpers And The Splitters band name etcetera.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:09 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Stevie Wonder - As.

Funk, rock, pop, disco, metal, jazz... it's all the same, and it requires head-banging.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:14 PM on December 15, 2010

Weird Al should be in the Hall.

I'm as serious about that as his songs are not.
posted by inturnaround at 10:15 PM on December 15, 2010 [4 favorites]

Worth noting that Alice Cooper the band (1968-1974), and not just the man, is being inducted specifically.
posted by anazgnos at 10:17 PM on December 15, 2010 [4 favorites]

Neil Diamond killin' it with the Band
posted by philip-random at 10:51 PM on December 15, 2010

I wish so called rock and roll band would have more of an open mind when it comes to artists being inducted in the Hall of Fame. Rock is basically a culmination of the U.S.'s early genres (blues, country, etc.) so it makes sense that rock itself has many different splinters or share some similarities with some genres that don't overtly reflect it.

Donna Summer totally deserves to be inducted because she did many (and I mean many) genres during her career. Plus, her 1980 album The Wanderer was the 2nd best album according to critics at Rolling Stone. Yeah you may snicker now at Rolling Stone, but for a black woman coming out of the "Disco Suck" backlash that is a great feat. Plus, that album has so many great rock/new wave elements.

Plus, people forget that rock n roll in its infancy was dance music. Dance music that had both black and white kids dancing to the same music for a short period of time. That can be the same with disco as well until the backlash. Donna was to disco/dance music that Aretha was to soul.

The same can go for Diana Ross too. Next to Paul McCarthy and John Lennon, she was probably the most popular faces in music during the 60s. That ain't a small feat.
posted by LilSoulBrother85 at 10:54 PM on December 15, 2010

And I meant to say rock and roll fans.
posted by LilSoulBrother85 at 10:55 PM on December 15, 2010

Bon Jovi can fuck off and die forever.

he prefers the term shot down in a blaze of glory
posted by mannequito at 11:11 PM on December 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

Just for the record:

I hate rock and roll.
posted by charlesminus at 11:54 PM on December 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

And I meant to say rock and roll fans.

I'm assuming you also meant Paul McCartNEY, took rather than McCarTHY. :-)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:01 AM on December 16, 2010

Worth noting that Alice Cooper the band (1968-1974), and not just the man, is being inducted specifically.
posted by anazgnos at 6:17 AM on December 16

I should hope so too. Cooper on his own hasn't come close to matching the "Love It To Death" - "Billion Dollar Babies" period. They should have split before "Muscle of Love".
posted by Decani at 12:18 AM on December 16, 2010

Just for the record:

I hate rock and roll.

So take another dime from the jukebox, baby.
posted by Spatch at 12:32 AM on December 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

(also when is Grace Jones elgible?)


I think she is already -- you're eligible 25 years after your first album comes out, and Grace's first album was in 1977.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:38 AM on December 16, 2010

Donna Summer deserves to be there just for I Feel Love, as far as I'm concerned. Grace Jones would likewise be excellent.

On the subject of what is and isn't rock and roll, I cite Mos Def "Kenny G ain't got no soul / John Coltrane is rock and roll.....You may dig on the Rolling Stones / But they could never ever rock like Nina Simone".
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:51 AM on December 16, 2010 [4 favorites]

Halls of Fame are weird things. On one hand, you've got some genre of music that someone at some point decided was important and could be sufficiently distinguished from all other types of music. On the other hand, you've got music itself, which is like a soup with a hundred ingredients. The very act of trying to decide what music is 'rock and roll', or 'jazz', or 'folk', is like trying to fish out a spoonful with enough carrot that you can call it 'carrot soup'. And then you've got to decide whether it's good carrot soup or bad carrot soup.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:52 AM on December 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Can someone make the case for me that Bon Jovi deserves induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

HARD MODE: Without saying something to the effect of "the RARHOF is a joke".

LUNATIC MODE: Without comparing Bon Jovi to lesser acts that were also inducted.

I'm genuinely curious what it is that makes Bon Jovi stand out at all. To me, and even to the friends I had who enjoyed spandex rock, they were always poseurs; tag-alongs who aped pre-existing sounds and looks. But I never really scrutinized their oeuvre, so I readily admit there could very well be something or even several things I'm missing about this band.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:47 AM on December 16, 2010

John Coltrane is rock and roll.....

Yeeah, get him in there,
posted by ovvl at 4:19 AM on December 16, 2010

What about Huey Lewis & the News? They should also be considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released this, Fore!, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
posted by jabberjaw at 4:44 AM on December 16, 2010 [15 favorites]

So where does the J. Geils Band come in?

You don't know your rock history, apparently. Or you've never been to Boston. Or might I ask, where does Alice Cooper come in? Or Neil Diamond? Neil Diamond isn't even a rock singer, and in my opinion neither is Tom Waits (whom I do love, however).

Geils rocked very very hard, before AND after Centerfold. And they've sold more records than a whole bunch of current members of the HoF (which I think is sort of a joke anyway, like "any club that would have me for a member territory" -- way to turn rock into a museum piece!). A clear, major criterion for membership in the HoF is: "played real rock once, sold a lot of records in the end." By that standard, Geils should already be in.

And if you never heard them in their glory days, your loss. They were terrific live. Peter Wolf still is, if you ever get a chance to hear his smart solo stuff of recent years. Oh, and one more thing: Peter Wolf knows more about the history of blues, country, and early rock -- in his voice and in his brain -- than the vast majority of white musicians now in the Hall of Fame. I consider him a scholar of American roots music.

Petty bullshit to pick on Geils when your freaking options include Bon Jovi, Neil Diamond, and the queen of disco.

Of course, he's a personal friend of mine, so I am inclined to bias, perhaps.
posted by spitbull at 4:46 AM on December 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

PS, true story: back in the 90s I was sitting in the dental chair having my teeth cleaned when a Huey Lewis song came on the air in the midst of many schlock dental office-type songs. The hygienist (whom I still remember, because she was a darn pretty redhead, I used to go to the dentist way more than I needed to) got so excited that she screamed "HUEY" at the top of her lungs and dropped her instrument tray all over the floor.

I dug her even more after that.

De gustibus non disputandans est.
posted by spitbull at 4:50 AM on December 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wisecracks aside, I have nothing specific against J. Geils. They were a fine band in their day, and I'm sure Wolf is a lovely person. But they're hardly iconic, or innovative, or deeply influential, or the voice of a generation, so yes, Donna Summer and Neil Young are both far more logical choices.

Not that any of this matters, but if I were inducting people and I had reached the level of the barrel occupied by J. Geils and Alice Cooper (and, mind you, I love Alice Cooper), then I would just stop inducting people for a few years.

I mean, fucking Graham Parker is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but J. Geils is? Come on.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:02 AM on December 16, 2010

Er, Diamond, Neil Diamond, not Neil Young.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:02 AM on December 16, 2010

And yeah, the Bon Jovi thing is just silly.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:04 AM on December 16, 2010

To me, and even to the friends I had who enjoyed spandex rock, they were always poseurs; tag-alongs who aped pre-existing sounds and looks.

I once heard Bon Jovi described as "beginner heavy metal" and thought that was the perfect description of them
posted by TedW at 5:10 AM on December 16, 2010 [3 favorites]

I have never heard of Darlene Love and I am a rock fan; ipso facto she ain't famous.

Please let this be a troll.
posted by yerfatma at 5:19 AM on December 16, 2010

Peter Wolf still is, if you ever get a chance to hear his smart solo stuff of recent years.

Agreed, his latest solo album is outstanding. Bon Jovi, well, they are what they are: car radio rock and as such they have their moments, but they're not hall of fame material. And I am disturbed by the number of people who call themselves rock and roll fans who don't know who Darlene Love is.

Also, screw the genre hairsplitting, rock and roll is an ethos not a narrow drawn pigeonhole.
posted by jonmc at 5:20 AM on December 16, 2010

Geils is a lot more the voice of my generation (mid-40s, grew up a rock musician, born in Boston, if that explains anything) than Neil Diamond ever was for anyone. And "not influential" is a bunch of crock.
posted by spitbull at 5:21 AM on December 16, 2010

Donna Summer deserves to be there just for I Feel Love, as far as I'm concerned.

Ditto. Probably the most influential song of the 20th century.
posted by empath at 5:25 AM on December 16, 2010

I should add that I am a HUGE fan of Tom Waits, Dr John, Alice Cooper and the Beasties and that Summer and Diamond definitely have some great moments. And they all are rock and roll if you look at them right.
posted by jonmc at 5:25 AM on December 16, 2010

Agreed, his latest solo album is outstanding.

I think *Sleepless* is one of the better rock records of the last decade, actually, by a guy in his 60s no less. If you haven't heard it, you are missing out. "Nothing But the Wheel" (with Keith and Mick helping out) is one of my very favorite rock cuts of the last few years (a version of a fine C&W song first cut by Patty Loveless, which also rocks). Also, Aretha thinks highly enough of Wolf that she appeared as a guest on his prior record. Aretha does not guest on whiteboy rock records for just anyone. If the (real) Queen of Soul thinks Wolf is the real deal, maybe a little deference is in order. If all you know of J. Geils is "Centerfold" and "Love Stinks," get with it. Listen to the live "Musta Got Lost." Wolf's opening stage patter rap ("Raputa the beauta!") is as good as anything of the sort, and reveals what his big fans know, which is that he is a fairly brilliant improvising live blues performer, not just a crafter of fine pop songs.

He also deserves HoF consideration as a DJ, in which role he was extremely influential on a generation of Boston rock musicians, including Aerosmith.
posted by spitbull at 5:26 AM on December 16, 2010

Ditto. Probably the most influential song of the 20th century.

Oh, and ooh, I'll agree it was influential, although more for what Moroder did than Summer. Alas, the influence was the bringing of sequencers into the rock studio, which nearly killed music in the following few years. A direct antecedent of today's auto-tuning hideousness.

Donna Summer could sing her ass off. It's sad what Moroder did to her music, in my book.
posted by spitbull at 5:28 AM on December 16, 2010

Here, check it out. Now I'll shut up.
Nothing But the Wheel.
posted by spitbull at 5:30 AM on December 16, 2010

As someone or other once said, give people Freedom of Choice, and you give them the freedom to choose wrongly.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:31 AM on December 16, 2010

Is this where I come in to complain that [my favorite band] hasn't been inducted yet? How could they consider Bon fucking Jovie over [my favorite band]'s awesome work on [mid-career album that only I still listen to]?
posted by Think_Long at 5:42 AM on December 16, 2010

I love reading these threads. It is like being cornered at a party by that guy ....
posted by srboisvert at 5:44 AM on December 16, 2010 [6 favorites]

My gold standard for how good a band is live is to compare them to J. Geils Band live.

Few measure up.
posted by tommasz at 6:11 AM on December 16, 2010

About time for Alice Cooper. They were basically the first real theatrical rock band. Shoulda happened earlier.
posted by spirit72 at 6:16 AM on December 16, 2010

It's sad what Moroder did to her music, in my book.

This is so wrong that all i can do is shake my head and tsk.
posted by empath at 6:23 AM on December 16, 2010 [3 favorites]

LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING BASSLINE I MEAN SERIOUSLY
posted by empath at 6:24 AM on December 16, 2010

So the Beastie Boys were snubbed for the HOF, and now they will be forced to fight ... for the right ... to party ... at next years awards?

I am outraged.
posted by I am the Walrus at 6:38 AM on December 16, 2010

Bon Jovi (in the first year he was eligible)

So only Jon Bon Jovi is eligible, not the rest of the band? Poor Ritchie Sambora
posted by I am the Walrus at 6:39 AM on December 16, 2010

You may not agree with this, but David Bryne taks a bit about rock and roll in the write-up for this months playlist here. I think there are some exceptions, but generally he has a valid point.
posted by edgeways at 6:42 AM on December 16, 2010

Yeah, wow, spitbull. I think Summer's routinely underrated by the "queen of disco hmmph" crowd, but Moroder and his collaborator Pete Bellotte were so essential to her success (and influential in the growth of electronic music) they should be in the HOF right with her. To say he "nearly killed music" because mainstream radio played disco to death is about as wrong-headed as can be.
posted by mediareport at 6:49 AM on December 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ha. Listening to, and enjoying, Donna Summer is not something I pictured myself doing today. Or any day. Wow.
posted by word_virus at 7:59 AM on December 16, 2010

Reading all the comments since mine (which really should have ended the discussion) I realized that nobody really pinned down the central issue here:


YOUR FAVORITE BAND SUCKS.
posted by scratch at 8:22 AM on December 16, 2010

I've been patient. Really patient. But come on.
posted by Shoggoth at 8:30 AM on December 16, 2010

It seems pretty random, this whole "who gets inducted and who doesn't" thing. Is there a hard set of criteria posted somewhere outside of the Hall of Fame site that outlines what the standards are that acts and musician are judged by?

My husband is always annoyed that Rush is never nominated, but it's nice that Darlene Love got some recognition for her contributions to American Rock and Roll. Most of the musicians from Spector's stable got (and continue to get) a very raw deal.

(my stepson's mom is singing back-up in that video on Love's front page, so I may be less than objective)
posted by stagewhisper at 8:58 AM on December 16, 2010

Not that any of this matters, but if I were inducting people and I had reached the level of the barrel occupied by J. Geils and Alice Cooper (and, mind you, I love Alice Cooper), then I would just stop inducting people for a few years.

Not that I'd actually put Alice Cooper there (the band that is, up to and including 1974's Muscle Of Love) but I'm with you on the overall bottom-of-the-barrel notion.

My memory of J Geils is that they were a pretty shit-hot b-band (hard, rowdy live act, great to get a big show started but hardly a headliner anywhere but Boston) who eventually had to change their stripes (to horrific effect) in order to sell any records. And Bon Jovi? All I can do is shrug. The first half minute or so of Living On A Prayer is sheer silly pomp genius but otherwise ... well let's just say I lump them in with Styx and Loverboy (but probably not as relevant).

Then you get to the likes of Neil Diamond, Tom Waits and Darlene Love who definitely belong in some kind of hall of fame, but not one that goes by the name of Rock And Roll. I mean, keep going this way and it becomes to relevant to wonder why Yes hasn't been inducted yet (not the 1980s abomination but the 1968-74 unit that really did put the PROGRESSIVE in rock). Seriously.

As for Dr. John -- why the hell wasn't he inducted a long time ago?
posted by philip-random at 9:17 AM on December 16, 2010

Cooper on his own hasn't come close to matching the "Love It To Death" - "Billion Dollar Babies" period. They should have split before "Muscle of Love"

While I completely agree that it should be the band inducted instead of Alice Cooper solo, I disagree with the above statement and submit that Cooper's first solo record, Welcome to My Nightmare, definitely belongs in the strongest band-albums period.
That record is etched in my impressionable 8-year old self's mind forever and...wait...isn't that our mom calling?
posted by chococat at 9:54 AM on December 16, 2010

I read somewhere once that Bon Jovi lyrics are nothing but a string of cliches, and now, whenever I hear a Bon Jovi song, I can't help but think of that idea.
posted by box at 9:59 AM on December 16, 2010

John Coltrane is rock and roll.....

Yeeah, get him in there,

For Eight Miles High, at least.
posted by Herodios at 10:01 AM on December 16, 2010

I doubt I will ever visit this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unless I find myself someday living in a very nearby zipcode.

10 minutes away, me. Trust me, it's not worth the outrageous entrance fee. Although I did learn that David Bowie is TOTALLY POCKET SIZED. I could put him in my pocket and have room left over for Stevie Nicks. The rest of the museum? Meh. Drive 10 minutes away and go to our art museum instead, it's much better.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:07 AM on December 16, 2010

Donna Summer could sing her ass off. It's sad what Moroder did to her music, in my book.

What you mean, what Moroder "did" to her music? Summer chose to have Moroder as her producer, in fact pushed for it. She approached him with the idea for "Love to Love You Baby," not the other way around. He didn't "do" anything to her music that she didn't want done, and she made her name on what he "did" to it. You make it sound like she was some plastic bimbo who had no agency in her musical choices, when in fact it was diametrically the opposite.
posted by blucevalo at 10:09 AM on December 16, 2010

Of all the days to no longer have a Tom Waits-referrent username. *sigh*

Last night, I had a dream that Tom Waits and I were both in church (what church? I don't know. Just generic Church Brand Church) for reasons beyond my comprehension - and anyway, I totally got his autograph and it was awesome.

The end.
posted by sonika at 10:28 AM on December 16, 2010

This is the first induction list in years I don't have a major problem with.
The museum itself is worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.
posted by rocket88 at 10:42 AM on December 16, 2010

if John Coltrane's rock and roll, then so's Igor Stravinsky.
posted by philip-random at 12:11 PM on December 16, 2010

I'm sort of okay with that, actually.
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:14 PM on December 16, 2010

There's something wrong with you if upon hearing "I Feel Love" you don't want to fuck something.

*stares desperately around office*
*fucks stapler*
posted by Skot at 1:01 PM on December 16, 2010

Personally, I'm having a very different reaction from "thus-and-so hasn't gotten in yet? Really?" Because I'm so blown away by "someone actually grew a pair and inducted Tom Waits? Really?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:13 PM on December 16, 2010

I once heard Bon Jovi described as "beginner heavy metal" and thought that was the perfect description of them

That's a pretty apt description of Bon Jovi. Even my conservative Mom likes him! I guess we just have to wait twenty years or so before Daughtry makes it in, then.
posted by Mael Oui at 8:15 PM on December 16, 2010

beginner heavy metal
posted by philip-random at 11:35 PM on December 16, 2010

I've got to say it was a great decision to have a 25 year period before eligibility.
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:19 AM on December 17, 2010

I've been patient. Really patient. But come on.

I've got a buddy that works for the Rock Hall. Rush fans are far and away the most vocal about how much they deserve to get in. It's not helping their cause, believe me.
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:20 PM on December 17, 2010

Rush fans are far and away the most vocal about how much they deserve to get in. It's not helping their cause, believe me.

Political subtlety and rock and roll are not exactly joined at the hip. Personally, I'd love to see Rush, the Beasties and Donna Summer all jammin' on something together next year.
posted by philip-random at 2:17 PM on December 17, 2010