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

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need to mark The B-52s with a #

Brett Alan said...

LL Cool J, Janet Jackson, and Norman Whitfield are more deserving than anyone you mark with an *. I do agree that most of the ones you give an * to are worthy, although I don't see Patsy Cline as rock.

And Wynonie Harris deserves the biggest * you can find. He is one of a handful of people most responsible for the very existence of rock and roll music, and the Hall's failure to recognize him is appalling. Several other artists on the Early Influences list are long, long overdue as well.

Anonymous said...

Alex Voltaire here- very nice list, and I appreciate how you are conscientious about including both early pioneers and important 80s artists that should be in. Lots of lists are exclusively (and frustratingly) 70s-classic rock oriented. Great job!

Unknown said...

Though I would've included the Silver Bullet Band in that last category, any list that includes J.J. Cale is OK in my book.

Keith H. McIlwain said...

Anonymous - Yes; thanks.

Brett Alan - Yes to Norman Whitfield...enthusiastically. LL Cool J is a marginal figure for me; I'd be fine if he were inducted, I can live if he isn't. I absolutely do NOT believe that Janet Jackson should be inducted, even with her résumé. Maybe I'll write a post about that. As for Patsy Cline - she is one of many non-rock & roll artists whose influence goes beyond her own genre. Terrific singer who influenced MANY female singers. I think she's long overdue for induction.

Alex Voltaire - Thanks very much! I am enjoying your own series on the subject!

Daniel Graham - The Silver Bullet Band is a very interesting proposal. Have they had a somewhat stable membership?

BTW if I had to pick one shocking exclusion from the Hall (other than my beloved Monkees), it would be Carol Kaye. I am stunned that she has not been inducted. VERY few 20th century musicians have her résumé. Her absence diminishes the Hall.

Michelle Bourg said...

Sister Rosetta-absolutely. And IMHO, Lonnie Donegan is an insightful and excellent choice.

The non-performer category gets ridiculously short shrift (more proof that it's all about the ratings for the HBO broadcast); I'd venture to add Gus Dudgeon and Roy Thomas Baker.

liquidmuse said...

Culture Club and INXS over Depeche Mode? The Mode have sold 100 million, still play stadiums and arenas, their albums still debut top 5 in America, and have an intensely musical and pioneering catalog.

Keith H. McIlwain said...

Michelle Bourg - Two interesting additions! Yes, worthy of consideration!

liquidmuse - Yes, I'd find it easier to argue for INXS and (even moreso) Culture Club than Depeche Mode. All three had significant sales & chart success. Culture Club was additionally important culturally, had probably the best written songs of the three acts, and - without question - Boy George was the best singer in all three acts. He remains, in my opinion, one of the truly fine & underrated R&B singers of his era. I wouldn't balk at a Depeche Mode nomination, but do think that Culture Club & INXS are at least slightly more deserving.

TrekkiELO said...

Fanny should be on this list and with a #

Electric Light Orchestra should have a *

ELO have been eligible since 1996-1997, 20 years!