Deeper thoughts:
Kate Bush
Kate Bush has been nominated several times and reportedly never come close. Her career was kind of a blip stateside but got rediscovered with Stranger Things. Is the revival of 1 song something that should put someone over the top? Not IMO.
Predictions: GETS IN (because if not now, never, and she's a woman and they want more female representation).
My vote: NO.
Sheryl Crow
The ultimate industry insider. She has a couple of huge albums and a couple of songs that most people can probably remember hearing. But Jesus... Sheryl Crow?!
Prediction: GETS IN
My vote: Are you f!cking kidding me?
Missy Elliott
Hugely influential as both a rapper and producer. A no-brainer
Prediction: GETS IN
My vote: YES.
Iron Maiden
A laughably sh!tty band that mostly influenced sh!t. For objective numbers, they sold a lot of albums in the 1980s. However, they have no songs that the average rock fan knows 0 which is important - just look at how few inducted artists don't have at least a few big hits from back in their day, or at least 1 big song that stuck around that everybody knows (Run to the Hills doesn't quite make it, IMO). Nobody other than a NWOBHM fan could tell you who or what they influenced.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO.
Joy Division/New Order
It's almost silly that this band/s isn't/aren't already in. They tick a lot of boxes - influence (in a genre that weirdly has hardly any representation) hits, lasting popularity among people who are into music, a couple of songs that most people today could recognize (even if they didn't necessarily know who it was).
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: YES
Cyndi Lauper
She's kind of an enduring figure, and True Colors has somehow become her signature song (nobody would have thought that 30 years ago). But she had a really short time as a star.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO.
George Michael
He was one of the biggest names in the business for 3 or 4 years in the 1980s. 5 years ago I'd be surprised at his being nominated, but the HOF has been going in this kind of direction for a few years now. I'm not feeling it for this year necessarily, but I now think that it's inevitable that he eventually gets in.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO
Willie Nelson
We all know that that the R&RHOF depends to some extent on interest in its induction show, and the show needs names to keep people interested. The paucity of names left from the 1970s is the only explanation I have for Dolly Parton (last year) and Willie Nelson this year. They're both huge names... in Country Music. The only reason they're on the ballot is to be inducted. Me, I'm all for inclusion of different popular music genres that came about subsequent to rock. But Country, which pre-dates rock and existed in parallel for some time, just feels weird - not only do they have their own HOF, the whole genre existed in opposition to rock for a good couple of decades.
Prediction: GETS IN
My vote: NO.
Rage Against the Machine
They tick boxes - albums that sold massively and a few songs that everybody knows/most people can recognize, even if just from a movie. They were also hugely influential, albeit on music that everybody hates intensely. But they did have a short career and the R&RHOF has not been voting in their contemporaries very quickly. Even if I was to grudgingly admit that they were big enough to vote in, there are other names that need to go in first, IMO - and the music has lost some of its edge over the years, too; is the HOF really all that interested in Bro-test music? I say no.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: No.
Soundgarden
I'm not sure how they're not in already; they were nearly as big as Pearl Jam, and were more influential. The Rock and Roll HOF has been weirdly anti-rock in recent years. Seems like their time to me, though. And can you really put White Stripes in before Soundgarden?
Prediction: GETS IN
My vote: YES
The Spinners
Too old and obscure
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO
A Tribe Called Quest
It really was a pretty short time in the spotlight, for them. That comeback album was really good though.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO
The White Stripes
They do have a couple of platinum albums, but did it in an era when everybody who was anybody could do that. Still, they do have at least one song that everybody knows, and Jack White is even more of an industry insider than Sheryl Crow: he burrowed his way into the arse of the industry a very long time ago and this seems like an automatic for me. But IMO the albums weren't good enough to cover for the relatively brief career, and neither of those two factors do enough to make up for the very-good-but-not-huge sales. If we're going down this road, I think Black Keys are more deserving - quite simply, they were bigger (it was way harder to sell 2 million copies of an album in 2010 than 2001 or 2004) and less annoying.
Prediction: GETS IN
My vote: NO
Warren Zevon
INO the Hall of Fame has inducted at least 20% more artists than they should have; mostly this happening in the last 10 years. In order to have an institution that recognizes only the biggest/best, there has to be a layer of excellence that nevertheless falls short for some reason. Warren Zevon IMO is just this kind of artist, IMO. A smart guy with a batch of excellent songs that became staples, yes. But only 1 or 2 (3 at most) albums recognized as excellent. From a notoriety perspective, the career was pretty front-loaded. His late-career albums are notable in that they aren't throwaways like most of the work by people of that age, and that's not nothing, but does it make up for not making any notable albums in his 40s or 50s? Does he deserve this more than Tom Waits? Sure, of course, but I don't like to let mistakes become precedents.
Prediction: DENIED
My vote: NO
Responses