The nominations are in

[ericcoleman]

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominations that is.

Madonna
John Mellencamp
The Ventures
Leonard Cohen
Dave Clark Five
Little Walter
Gamble And Huff

So, what do you think? And none of the "so and so belongs in there before so and so". Yeah, that's a given. What do you think of the current bunch. Do any of them NOT belong there? I think one doesn't, and I will talk about that in comments later.

Comments

[mle292.livejournal.com]

I think the only one who doesn't really belong is probably John Mellencamp, only because his music is mostly derivative, but I think the case could be argued that he made a (small) contribution to what Rock And Roll is today.

I don't care for Madonna, but I'm sure that she's had influence on what Rock And Roll is. Today, her music sucks hardcore, copious ass, but a long time ago, it was influential and different enough to matter. I've never really been a Madonna fan, so this is a definite outsider perspective.

[ericcoleman]

First, I love the icon.

I think that Mellencamp is borderline. His work from Scarecrow on certainly deserves some kind of recognition though.

Madonna had a major influence, and some of her music is amongst the greatest of the rock era.

As for her music today, well ... I think you may be too kind.

[ericcoleman]

mostly derivative,

Which describes rock and roll ...

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Madonna? She didn't invent publicity whoring, just perfected it. Snort.

I'm down with the Ventures, but I love love love good guitar picking.

[ericcoleman]

I disagree totally with your assessment of Madonna, sure she was good at the publicity, but she did have the music to back it up. And she changed a lot of things, the major change being how we looked at the woman as an artist. That a woman could be smart, sexual and in charge. There was a time when her music was the most cutting edge of it's time.

The Ventures belong, but definitely are part of that category that I said to not talk about.

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

How many get in? Cause I vote for Leonard. Not that he is really Rock n Roll. I always vote for him. For everything. Always.

(I am not normally this obsessive)

[ericcoleman]

They all get in. And Leonard absolutely does NOT belong. He's brilliant, but has nothing to do with rock music in any way whatsoever.

[catalana.livejournal.com]

Huh - none of the Leonard Cohen stuff I've heard was remotely rock and roll. I guess he must have done a lot of things I haven't heard.

[ericcoleman]

My thought exactly.

I think he is brilliant, one of the greatest lyricists ever, but ... rock ... rock and roll ???

Naw.

[bammba-m.livejournal.com]

Am i thinking of a different Leonard Cohen?

[ericcoleman]

I can't say which Leonard Cohen you may be thinking of, but I only know one who is a songwriter ...

[hardly-angelic.livejournal.com]

I wish I had an icon of a golden rat's hindquarters, which would be symbolic of what I do not give about anything to do with the shameful entity known as the R&R HoF.

Fuck Jann Wenner - preferably with something sharp and poisonous.

By the way - the inductees were announced today.

Cohen, Madonna, The DC5, The Ventures, and Jack Puma Melonball all made it.

[ericcoleman]

By the way - the inductees were announced today.

Cohen, Madonna, The DC5, The Ventures, and Jack Puma Melonball all made it.

Yeah, I know, it's right there in this post ...

have you been staying out late again?

[mle292.livejournal.com]

See, that's what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has always been about, though. The justification seems to be that it's not just Rock and Roll musicians, it's everyone who's ever had any sort of influence on Rock and Roll.

Fuck it. If Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams are in, then so is Leonard Cohen.

[ericcoleman]

Woody and Hank influenced rock and roll in a deep and fundemental way ... Leonard ... not a bit. Sure some folks do covers of his songs (and always wildly superior to his versions) but other than that, he has nothing to do with it whatsover.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

"Rock and Roll" is a fairly broad category, so I don't mind being more inclusive than exclusive. If you're going to exclude Cohen, you'll probably have to exclude The Ventures as well. Personally, I think they're both justified. I'm glad both got in, but I'm unlikely to visit the Hall of Fame anyway. The closest I came was going to a Planet Hollywood. And I didn't like it.

[ericcoleman]

And the Ventures are not Rock And Roll how ???

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

I refuse to take the R&RHOF seriously until The Moody Blues are in and seriously apologised to for the delay.

[ericcoleman]

It's the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, not the Muzak Hall Of Fame

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

it's all turned into money and politics.
hell when van halen got inducted last year (and they truly changed the face of rock, and have gone DIAMOND- that's 10 million copies- with 2 albums), who showed up to accept? Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, neither of whom are in the band anymore.

BTW it's very expensive for each band member to show up to this induction thing.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

and speaking of not takinga hall of fame seriously, i have aproblem with keeping pete rose out of the hall of fame, and letting in all these steroid users with an asterisk as their only punishment.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

madonna is not only NOT rock and roll, she is a large part of what destroyed it on the radio.

[ericcoleman]

Rock and roll has never had a big presence on the radio. There was a time when FM free form radio played quite a bit, but pop has always ruled the radio, and always will. Madonna had more rock and roll attitude than pretty much anyone of her time. Her music was frequently (but not always) cutting edge for the time and she changed a lot of things, mostly, as I said above, the way that we look at women as artists.

[powersalad.livejournal.com]

This is all IMO/YMMV.

Madonna - A joke. Image image image without anything musically original. And absolutely nothing rock (& roll) going on. Pop/dance, as been mentioned here. Producers & songwriters. At least Elvis brought something fresh to the party back in '55-'56, before he was co-opted by Major Label and Col. Parker. Perhaps I was just cranky then, but I put Madonna in the same camp as Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. Talented yes, but important to rock & roll? No way.

John Mellencamp - Great songs, and honest rock. More justification than others, but hall of fame material? Not sure. Nyeh.....

The Ventures - Tough call. Everyone screams "of course!!!!!", but fer cryin out loud, practically every song they ever recorded was a cover, at least Wray's "Rumble" was an original...But I will definitely concede their influence, and that their success was sort of a bridge from doowop and teen idols to guitar bands and ultimately The Beatles (if this was the UK the same argument could be made for The Shadows), plus they were from Seattle (would love to hear a Ventures version of Smells Like Teen Spirit)...I say groovy Dad....

Leonard Cohen - Who? No seriously, Who? His is a name I hear mentioned in with other names but never have I heard anything of his, nor have I ever heard him mentioned in relation to rock (& roll). Folk yeah, but nothing of any consequence.

Dave Clark Five - Hrmmmm....Well, I love their music, but I'd almost say that Dave Clark himself would be better in as an innovator as far as financial matters, rather than the group, which was another British band who made it big. Dave Clark was one of the few who managed to do a deal where he owned and then licensed his recordings to the label, making himself a zillionaire in the process of issues and reissues over the years. The band was great, and they did a great deal of their own writing, but again, Hall of Fame material? Perhaps, as they did certainly have their own sound (hey, it's that Tottenham Sound!!!!), but I'm not convinced that in the big picture that they belong. The Bachelors, anyone?

Little Walter - Not familiar enough with the blues to know his contributions, so will demur.

Gamble & Huff - Architects of the Philadelphia Sound. The Cameo/Parkway sound grows up and ditches Allen Klein to mature into something smooth, baby. Along the way they even managed to take a bunch of white Italian goombas and make the blackest white record ever (Expressway to Your Heart - Soul Survivors). They practically invented "sweet soul". I say uh-huh.

And dammit, why not David Geddes, who gave us the immortal "Run Joey Run"?!?!?! ack, wrong thread...

[powersalad.livejournal.com]

Oh, they've already been inducted....OK then....

Idetrorce

[(Anonymous)]

very interesting, but I don't agree with you
Idetrorce

Re: Idetrorce

[ericcoleman]

How nice that you could take a stand there ...