Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Considerations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

If I were given dictatorial powers over the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I would surely not induct all of these artists, but these are artists with significant cases to be made for induction. The exclusion of a few (marked with an asterix) is a real shame & serves as an indictment of the Hall of Fame voters.

Possible inductees as Early Influences:
Charley Patton
Roy Brown
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
WC Handy
Wynonie Harris
The Carter Family
Lightnin' Hopkins
Sonny Boy Williamson II
The Clovers
Chuck Willis
Big Mama Thornton
The Penguins
Lonnie Donegan

Possible inductees as Artists
(* means this is long overdue;
# means female possibility):

The Five Satins
Johnny Burnette & the Rock & Roll Trio
Slim Harpo
* Larry Williams
# The Chantels
* Link Wray
# The Chordettes
# The Marvelettes
Chubby Checker
* # Patsy Cline
The Tokens
Jr. Walker & the All Stars
Ben E. King
Big Walter Horton
Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
Arthur Alexander
# Mary Wells
# The Shangri-Las
The Zombies
Tom Jones
# Sonny & Cher
Aaron Neville / The Neville Brothers
* The Monkees
Procol Harum
The Bar-Kays
* The Moody Blues
Joe Cocker
* Tommy James & the Shondells
The Guess Who
Quicksilver Messenger Service
King Crimson
# Joan Baez
Ravi Shankar
T. Rex
Three Dog Night
Jethro Tull
Harry Nilsson
The Spinners
* Yes
JJ Cale
# Dolly Parton
Donny Hathaway
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
# Delaney & Bonnie
Todd Rundgren
Barry White
* Bad Company
* Billy Preston
The Doobie Brothers
Gram Parsons
War
Roxy Music
Glen Campbell
Kratftwerk
Thin Lizzy
The Commodores
Jimmy Buffett
# The B-52s
Warren Zevon
* # Chic
Cliff Richard & the Shadows
*# Pat Benatar
Electric Light Orchestra / Jeff Lynne
Kool & the Gang
Judas Priest
Rockpile
Willie Nelson
Motörhead
The J Geils Band
Dire Straits
# The Go Gos
Rick James
# Stevie Nicks
Culture Club
Iron Maiden
Herbie Hancock
"Weird Al" Yankovic
# Eurythmics
Steve Winwood
# Chaka Khan
Joy Division / New Order
# Cyndi Lauper
The Cure
# Tina Turner
The Cars
Phil Collins
Mötley Crüe
Sting
Bon Jovi
Los Lobos
INXS
# The Bangles
The Smiths
# Janet Jackson
Traveling Wilburys
Nine Inch Nails
XTC
# Sinéad O'Connor
Jane's Addiction
Garth Brooks
Soundgarden
LL Cool J

Not eligible yet but should be considered when eligible:
Pearl Jam
Radiohead
Alanis Morissette
Smashing Pumpkins
Beck
Eminem
Amy Winehouse
Beyoncé
Adele
Taylor Swift

Possible inductees as Non-Performers:
Jerry Ragavoy
Boudleaux Bryant & Felice Bryant
Don Cornelius
Bob Crewe
Geoff Emerick
Brian Eno
Jimmy Iovine
Casey Kasem
Lorne Michaels
Norman Petty
Barrett Strong & Norman Whitfield
Bernie Taupin
Wolfman Jack

Possible inductees as Sidemen / Award for Musical Excellence
(perhaps the Hall's most neglected category;
* means this is long overdue):

Lee Allen
Richard "Pistol" Allen
Kenny Aronoff
Fred Below
Gene Chrisman
Merry Clayton
Ray Cooper
Jim Gordon
Johnny Griffith
* Nicky Hopkins
Jim Horn
Joe Hunter
Bruce Johnston
* The Jordanaires
* Carol Kaye
Jim Keltner
* Bobby Keys
* The Memphis Horns
Maceo Parker
* Mick Ronson
The Spiders from Mars
* Sam "The Man" Taylor
Tammi Terrell
* Tommy Tedesco
Earl Van Dyke
Robert White

Bands to induct retroactively
(as done with the Crickets, the Comets, etc)

Big Brother & the Holding Company
The Belmonts
The Revolution
The Wailers