2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

[JohnG]

I would vote for Carole King/ Todd/ Kate Bush and Tina Turner. Would of course love bands like The Go-Go, Iron Maiden, Devo and the New York Dolls.

 

[birrrdy!]

Does the RNR Hall of Fame have any credibility? I'm a prog. rock fan (but is that "rock and roll"?), yet they clearly don't care for this genre. YES were inducted in 2017 (and too late for Chris Squire), after Rush, and even Abba (wtf?) - but no ELP or Jethro Tull. Even Rory Gallagher doesn't appear to be worthy.

No problem with Rush getting in before Yes. The wait on Rush was inexecusable; Yes (as my #2 band of all time) was just more complicated with all the lineups. Went to both of their induction ceremonies (LA and NY). Two of the best musical gatherings of my life. Rush fans occupying 90% of the Staples Center was pure joy, particularly when we booed the head of the HOF for a solid 5-7 minutes and wouldn’t let him speak to open the show.

Didn’t know ELP and Tull weren’t in. That’s a travesty.

 

[humprof]

Pisses me off too...why couldn't these rappers/everything but Rock....get their OWN HOF

C'mon Clint. We all like to see people get honored, even if there's broad agreement that things like the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame are bullshit--not least because drawing hard boundaries around categories and genres is a mug's game.

But "these rappers" should get "their own"? Should "those blues (R&B, gospel, soul, disco) singers" or "those funk" players be excluded too? I'm with Jon: if we're gonna have a HOF, let's at least name it something more inclusive.

 

[Perp]

C'mon Clint. We all like to see people get honored, even if there's broad agreement that things like the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame are bullshit--not least because drawing hard boundaries around categories and genres is a mug's game.

But "these rappers" should get "their own"? Should "those blues (R&B, gospel, soul, disco) singers" or "those funk" players be excluded too? I'm with Jon: if we're gonna have a HOF, let's at least name it something more inclusive.

You have a point. After all, Rappers have sampled a lot of music from said Rock n’ Roll artists.

 

[markshan]

When REM first came on the scene they didn't fit my understanding of what Rock music was at the time. Things change.

 

[quicksrt]

I'm old enough to remember when Dionne Warwick had hits on the radio played between Beatles, Stones, and Archies, Monkees, and Neil Diamond. It all sounded so great together on AM. She simply charted too many big hits on Top 20 radio to be ignored. And they need to move with her before she is no longer with us.

Todd too has been working the scene far too long now to not be in the RHOF. Quality albums with a few scattered big hits, lots of dues paid.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

For what it's worth, here's Todd's take on the whole thing. As usual, he makes a couple of interesting points.

 

[Petr Kropotkin]

No problem with Rush getting in before Yes. The wait on Rush was inexecusable; Yes (as my #2 band of all time) was just more complicated with all the lineups...

Well, you should have a problem with it. YES had helped define the whole genre of progressive rock from "The Yes Album" through to "Relayer" (5 studio albums) before Rush even did their first prog. rock album (and the influence of YES on Rush's change to prog. rock has been well acknowledged by Geddy Lee). The absurd delay also meant Squire died before he could be honoured. I don't buy the "more complicated with the lineups" charge. That era was defined by Anderson, Squire, Howe, Bruford, Wakeman, White, and even Moraz (and OK, maybe Kaye - but not Rabin, or The Buggles).

My issue here is with the chronology: YES produced most of their memorable music in the period 1970-1974; Rush did theirs after that, not before or even contemporaneous with it, and they acknowledged YES as influences on their own change in musical direction. To induct Rush before YES makes no logical (or musical) sense. But having read the "Criticism" section of the wiki entry on the RRHOF, I can perhaps understand it (as well as the Amercian-centric attitude, alluded to before on here, which would embrace, I imagine, anyone from up north as well). Indeed, having read it, I no longer care. It is indeed a joke.

 

[privateuniverse]

And the winners are:

Foo Fighters
Carole King
Jay-Z
The Go-Go's
Todd Rundgren
Tina Turner


And being honored in the "musical excellence" category:

Billy Preston
Randy Rhoads
LL Cool J


And being honored in the "early influence" category:

Gil Scott-Heron
Kraftwerk
Charley Patton


And music impresario Clarence Avant is honored with the Ahmet Ertegun award.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

edit: i take back my statement

 

[Bill B]

I've pretty much learned to ignore this dog and pony show. With each passing year it seems the whole "rock and roll" part of the requirement gets watered down.
I am with the others above, just get the word "Rock and Roll" out of the title and make it something more generic. Then some day someone can open a new Rock And Roll HOF and honor those artist that actually play rock and roll and get played on radio stations that call themselves rock stations. Or at least appear on Amazon when you click on the "Rock" filter.

 

[cbmmm3]

wow, other than Todd, Tina and Carole...this is a very weak class

 

[Marplot]

And Maiden left out in the cold again. It has always been a popularity contest which is a shame. I am undecided if it is better than nothing.