In the next couple of weeks, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will unveil the fifteen artists who we think the committee will nominate. This is not necessarily a list of who we want them to select; in fact we have a ranked list based on our opinions and of course all of yours, of whom we think should be considered for
The three of us are of course, yours truly, the Committee Chairman and the co-owner of this site. The second is DDT, and if you haven’t taken a look at his section, please do (and you will thank us for it). DDT also on our site has a long running series where he ‘audits’ the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After you read that, I believe you will agree that there is nobody else who we would rather have helped us out! We also have Spheniscus, who has been with us since the beginning and has been kind enough to do the NASCAR list for us.
It should be pointed out that we did consult each other on our selections. As such, overlapping took place and we each give our reasons for why we think the nominations committee went the ways they did. Either way, we hope you enjoy our thoughts and as always invite you to give your opinions:
The Chairman’s Predictions:
Public Enemy
Haters of Hip Hop…..get over it. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has taken their stance on the question of Rap, and it was one that I agree with completely. As such, the committee likes to throw at least one urban act into the mix, and with Public Enemy entering their first year of eligibility, I would wager that the group which is arguably the most important Hip Hop group eligible would get the nod. An argument could be made for N.W.A. for this slot, and there is a strong chance that they will get a nomination, but both in their first year? I will bet against it.
L.L. Cool J
A second Hip Hop act is likely to be nominated and if I am right about N.W.A. being passed on in their first year, then they would like at the act that is not exactly painted in the same brush as Chuck D. and company. As L.L. Cool J is a past nominee and still very much in the public eye, I think he will get the nod. Eric B. and Rakim is a possibility here as they too are past nominees but with some serious Hip Hop Heavyweights coming up soon, they may have missed their initial window.
Rush
Is it because I am Canadian? Is it because we have them ranked #1? Is it just wishful thinking on my part? OK…..the answer is yes to all three; however I am reminded when Kiss got a nomination a few years back. The Kiss Army went full force thinking that a major wrong was going to be overturned, but all I could think that this was a token nod, and they would never see it again. (Though for the record, I am pro Kiss getting inducted) I have this feeling that with all the publications (us included) proclaiming that Rush should be in that we will be thrown a bone in the form of a nomination, and not an induction. Now that it is the pessimist in me talking…..
New Order/Joy Division
I am reminded of a small exhibit that is in the Rock and Roll
Donna Summer
How many times has the Queen of Disco been nominated over the past few years? With her untimely passing, sentiment could finally take her over the top, and if so it comes at the expense of……I don’t know…..maybe Chic?
Chic
Isn’t this band always nominated? Why should it change now?
Heart
I would have bet strong that in what was supposed to be the “Year of the Woman” last year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that the Wilson sisters were going to enter the Hall. It didn’t happen, but after they were nominated last year, a lot of publications seemed to say universally that they should be selected. They have successfully been rebranded as the 70’s ass kickers as opposed to the 80’s balladeers and as the Hall would want some female representation on the ballot, they would be a more than solid choice.
Bon Jovi
The
Warren Zevon
The Hall always has someone who fits that Singer/Songwriter mold on their ticket. Last year, Tom Waits got the nod after never have been nominated. Like Waits, Warren Zevon has never been nominated, and his career his acclaimed, respected, and his legacy is one that is growing in death. Someone who fits his profile will be nominated, and he just seems like the perfect fit this year.
MC5
Punk type acts are sure to be on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot in some form or another. Now that they successfully got the Stooges into the Hall, it seems that the time is right to go back to another band that was nominated before and are the Proto Punk brethren of the Stooges. With no clear cut Punk act as a possibility, this could be their year.
Mary Wells
The ballot needs more female representation, and I have argued that this is the most curious omission from the Motown era; especially since she was nominated multiple times many years before. Although the Spinners were not exactly a Motown act, I could see them sneaking into this spot, but realistically more women need to be represented and Wells would be a great fit.
Joan Jett
Nominated last year, Joan Jett seemed primed to enter; especially after the attention that her initial band, the Runaways got with the biopic film that was released a couple years back. I will play the gender card here, as I will wager they will want female representation on the ballot. As she was nominated before, I think the odds are strong that it will be repeated.
Deep Purple
One of the great arguments against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is just how many Classic Rock bands aren’t in. I am not just talking about bands you would hear on these stations across
Los Lobos
This is not as much as a wildcard as you think. The Hall has limited representation in the Latin market, and though many only know them for a La Bamba cover, this is a band that has pushed musical boundaries and ethnic perceptions for those who chose to take notice. If last year was the year that Cleveland chose to look at the female gender, this could be the year that they look at the Hispanic market. Alternatively, an induction for Los Lobos allows the Hall to pursue a racially equitable hall with an artist with Rock and Roll merit as opposed to the crop coming eligible in the years to come.
Fela Kuti
Isn’t there always an unexpected selection in the mix? Granted, this is going far out, but why not a true International superstar and a celebration of
DDT’s Predictions:
Debutants
George Michael
As noted, this pick and all the others are based on what I think the Hall is going to produce as a ballot of nominees. Based on the Hall's track record, its rationale is about as logical and as linear as a Manny Ramirez route to a can-of-corn fly ball. Regardless, from Neil Diamond, ABBA, and Elton John through Michael Jackson and Madonna, the Hall has never shied away from pure pop. George Michael is probably a bigger draw in Europe and the rest of the world, but he's had eight chart-topping singles in the United States and cannot be dismissed so easily. Will his sometimes-messy private life be a spoiler? C'mon—that's rock and roll, baby! Besides, "I Want Your Sex" ranks right up there with similar demands from Madonna and Prince.
N.W.A.
An outside shot not just for the candid, brutal approach but because N.W.A.'s legacy essentially adds up to one album—but what an album it is. Gangsta rap became the dominant hip-hop genre for years thanks to Straight Outta Compton, an album whose impact rivals Sgt. Pepper's, Never Mind the Bollocks, and (simply) Nevermind as a Rock Era milestone. Voters might get skittish, but once you've let in the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, better let in the other barbarians at the gates.
Public Enemy
Public Enemy is indisputably a first-year nominee, if not inductee—PE is the hip-hop equivalent of the Clash, as brash, as opinionated, and as influential as that punk band. With a court-jester foil in Flavor Flav, pristine production by the peerless Bomb Squad, and in Chuck D. one of the most commanding MCs the form has produced, Public Enemy has the "musical excellence" the Hall professes to reward along with the ringing social commentary it pretends to support.
Recent Recruits
Whitney Houston
The only reason I can think of for why Whitney Houston isn't in the Hall already is because she is the black Reba McEntire—she used her glorious voice to gleefully belt out industry schmaltz. (At least McEntire had the countrypolitan excuse, but I digress.) Not that it stopped Houston from collecting a ton of precious metal for her efforts. And the Hall likes precious metal, from Elvis's on down, as tangible proof of greatness, and even better when burnished by tragedy. Indeed, her death earlier this year might be what sets her on the stairway to Cleveland, if not the stairway to heaven.
LL Cool J
Given the Unbearable Whiteness of Being that marked the inductees of the last two years, the Hall might attempt to redress that with this pick and the previous one. LL's got the swagger without being a 'banger, the trash-talk with the ladies without really macking too hard, so even though Ice-T might be the better rapper and actor, James Todd Smith might be seen as the less threatening choice over Tracy Marrow. At least LL's got the stuff to back it up, or maybe you haven't heard "Jingling Baby" or "Goin' back to Cali" lately?
The Smiths
Some say Roxy Music; some say the Cure; some say Depeche Mode; some might even say New Order/Joy Division. Call me a charming man, but I think the Hall's choice this year for the act with the greatest fey, subterranean influence on modern pop-rock all the way up to Britpop and beyond will be the Smiths. True, they didn't really break too big in the States, and Morrissey is a particular kind of British bloke, but I think the Hall treats this slot like the Democrats treat their non-incumbent presidential candidates: Let 'em have a shot one year, and if they get beat, they fade back into the pack and on with the next one. This year it's the Smiths' turn.
Back-Catalog Buckaroos
The Cars
Just as the Hall went through a spate of backfilling for the 1950s and 1960s, it will now begin to do so for the 1970s, and one key choice from the latter part of the decade is the Cars. With an angular, vibrant bounce that honked New Wave even as the hooks purred through the radio speaker, the Cars might have sounded too poppish for such an angry, angst-ridden period. We know better now, of course, and the rough-hewn genius of Ric Ocasek's stealth-1960s lovelorn declarations will now stand up and be recognized.
Dire Straits
Steely-eyed singer-songwriter lyrics, smart but not too much so? Check. Fluid lead guitar that reminds you of Clapton but not too much so? Check. Supple rhythm section that recalls Fleetwood Mac's but not too much so? Check. Fifteen-minute epic that crosses Dylan with Springsteen but not too much so? Check. Dire Straits was such an amalgam of classic-rock tropes that it's a wonder it has never even been considered for the ballot. But now that the pickings for backfilling are getting slim, why not a band that championed the old guard even as New Wave sprang up around it? Besides, singing about a "trumpet-playing band" is not a death warrant now that Miles Davis is in the Hall, right?
Def Leppard
Bowing to pressure that it doesn't nominate and induct enough metal acts, the Hall will react in a similar manner to the similar charge concerning progressive rock. And just as it did with its election of Genesis, a prog-rock act whose career was ultimately that of a pop-rock combo, the Hall will put Def Leppard on the ballot. Note that this will be over Iron Maiden, which has more credibility with headbangers even as it must battle the "are they really Spinal Tap in disguise?" stigma, because Leppard not only brought in more chicks to its concerts—they were usually hotter. Oh, and probably because its songs have catchier hooks than Maiden's turgid high-school book-report sagas.
Donna Summer
Once you get past the Bee Gees, disco is primarily faceless, anonymous music, made by committee, which might be the real reason why the Hall has largely ignored it even though a) it was a signature style of the 1970s and b) it informed electronica for the next two decades. Donna Summer was an exception, an exceptionally attractive face to the boom-boom beat, and once she gasped out her orgasm-on-disc, Summer matured into disco's premier diva. Never a great singer, she was a strong one, and what gives her the edge over every other genre act is that she developed beyond disco, crafting smart soul and R&B into the 1980s. Her death this year will move the Hall sufficiently to keep her on the ballot. Now it's up to the voters.
Purgatory Picks
The Crystals
Realizing that many acts have languished without recognition for two decades or more, the Hall will set about to give that recognition with the following five picks. And as it has done with doo-wop groups, once the Hall began righting the wrongs it believes have occurred, it continued with another overlooked genre, the girl-group. The Crystals will be beneficiaries of this policy, and deservedly so: Another of Phil Spector's creations, this group showed an edge with "He's a Rebel," but the fact that "Then He Kissed Me" frames one of the most iconic scenes in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas gives the Crystals the Percy Sledge One Song Can Make You leg-up needed to get onto the ballot.
Dick Dale
Let's face it: After the Beach Boys and a handful of killer instrumentals by sundry anonymous groups (for example, the Chantays' "Pipeline"), what is left for surf music? Jan and Dean? Those two will languish for another year as demon guitarist Dick Dale coasts onto the ballot. Kills two birds with one strum as it covers surf guitar and a formative influence on punk. And Dale covered "Pipeline" too—with Stevie Ray Vaughan helping him out.
Love
It might not have had as many hits as the Lovin' Spoonful, but Love painted a richer psychedelic landscape, one that made an impression on Robert Plant, while flashing an occasional dark side ("My Little Red Book"—a Bacharach-David song, no less). If having only one great album made you a Hall of Famer, Moby Grape would be in; Love had its classic, Forever Changes, but its other albums were not shabby at all. Next up from the groovy L.A. '60s: Spirit.
Randy Newman
Randy Newman's days as the Rodney Dangerfield of singer-songwriters are over: "This just in! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reported today that the scales have fallen from its eyes. It finally acknowledged that Randy Newman isn't just an understated—and criminally underrated—composer and performer, he is one of the great musical talents of the Rock Era. 'We just never realized how good he is,' the Hall admitted, blushing."
The Spinners
How does it feel to issue a slew of hits from the 1960s and 1970s, crafting smooth, rich, infectious gems—only to find that Percy Sledge has beaten you into the Hall of Fame? The Spinners made it seem effortless, which maybe people thought meant that it wasn't that hard, or that the Spinners just weren't trying. After a quarter-century of watching marginal acts from the Dells to the Dave Clark Five get the nod, it is the Spinners' turn now.
Spheniscus’ Predictions:
First Time Eligibles
Public Enemy
This is the ballot that finally destroys the idea that the Rock Hall is solely for as Reverend Lovejoy would say “Rock and/or Roll music”. The Rock Hall has long been a depository of popular music, whose many genres are so intertwined at this point that it is difficult to separate most groups into a specific category. Public Enemy is not one of these groups. They aren’t just a rap group, they are the rap group. And they will be first ballot HOFs.
N.W.A.
Two first time eligible Rap artists on the ballot at the same time? Rock Hall Traditionalist’s heads are going all Scanners on us right now. While I think Public Enemy will ultimately be the Rap group to get the first ballot nod, N.W.A. will likely also be nominated (probably at the expense of last year’s first ballot nominees Erik B. & Rakim). They only released two studio albums, but the first was Straight Outta Compton, which went double platinum with nearly no airplay nationwide. They are in many ways the Stooges of the rap world, so it may take them some time to get in. But they will be nominated this year.
Returning from Last Year
Donna Summer
Donna Summer should be in the Rock Hall already. This is not the Nomination Committee’s fault, though. They have put the Queen of Disco before the 600 electorate panel on four separate occasions now and the electorate has decided that lesser artists like Laura Nyro, Darlene Love and the Faces/Small Faces combo were preferable. She will be nominated again this year and she will get through the doors. Unfortunately, she just won’t be alive to see it.
Heart
When the Committee finally nominated Heart last year, I was ecstatic. I mean is there an opening to a song that’s better than Barracuda’s Duh-dadaduh-dadaduh-dadaduhduhduh-duuuh-waaaawwwwww? (Well, yes there is one, but we’ll get to that later). And with no Rush on my list (spoiler alert), we need to throw The Chairman some Canadians. Plus, if they get the nomination, I think this is their year. Canada rejoice!
The Spinners
The Spinners started performing together in 1954 and bridged the gap from Motown to mainstream R&B with a string of hits in the 1970s including Could it Be I’m Falling in Love, I’ll Be Around, and Rubberband Man. How they were overlooked by the Hall until last year is unclear. But now that the Hall has found them, I bet they keep nominating them until they get in.
Returning from Previous Years
Bon Jovi
When they were first nominated two years ago, I was shocked to see boards filled with anti-Bon Jovi vitriol at a level usually reserved for Nickelback. Regardless of what you think about them, there is no denying that Bon Jovi was one of the best selling and best loved bands of the 1980s and has kept their relevancy having had three top 40 hits in the U.S. in the 2000s. And the Rock Hall is going to want a headliner for their return to Cleveland for the induction ceremony. I think Bon Jovi is it.
Gram Parsons
This is the songwriter spot that the Nomination Committee often has. Laura Nyro was elected out of it last year (and you could argue Neil Diamond the year before that). While I would love to see this spot go to Warren Zevon as The Chairman has, I think the Committee will go back to their love affair with the twice nominated Gram Parsons here.
First Time/Long Time
Deep Purple
When Alice Cooper finally was inducted two years ago, Alice himself (nee Vincent Furnier) remarked that he couldn’t believe that Donovan (with whom they had collaborated on Billion Dollar Babies) hadn’t gone in as well. Donovan was elected the next year. Last year Slash of Guns N’ Roses said that he was confused as to how GnR were in but Deep Purple had never been nominated. I hope that his specific mentioning of Deep Purple is enough to get them (and Smoke on the Water which is the only opening to a song better than Barracuda) nominated this year.
Joy Division/New Order
It makes me feel a little bit dirty combining Joy Division and New Order into the same nomination, but it is better than both of them waiting indefinitely (and they certainly have more in common member wise than the Faces/Small Faces platter that got in last year). While New Order was much more commercially successful and has had a longer run, Joy Division changed music and before Ian Curtis’ suicide more or less created the Post-Punk sound. I’d love to get them in separately, but the last exhibit you see in the Rock Hall’s main gallery in Cleveland are the two of them combined in one panel and I think that is the only way they get in. I just hope it is this year.
The Zombies
The Rock Hall loves the 1960s. There have been more acts elected to the Hall who started their careers in the 1960s (91) than all the other decades combined (89). And there is no part of the 1960s they love more than the British Invasion. They have nominated a British invasion band six of the last seven years and with Donovan being elected last year, this spot is open. While I am tempted to go with Herman’s Hermits, The Moody Blues, or the Spencer Davis Group, given their past nomination history The Zombies are probably next in line.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray gets the “Blues Performer” spot on the list previously held by Dr. John and Freddie King. That critical fave Stevie Ray Vaughan hasn’t been nominated to this point is a shock. But there can’t be that many more bluesmen ahead of him for nomination. I think this is his year.
Whitney Houston
I suppose this is my wild card for the year. This is the fourth year of her eligibility and she has yet to be nominated. What makes this year different? Well, not to be crass but the first three years she was crazy and this year she’s dead. Death tends to make the Committee look back on the quality of your work rather than the nuttiness of your headlines. The dominant diva of the 1980s and early 1990s, she is definitely deserving of nomination. Again, it is sad it will be coming too late for her to enjoy it.
Linda Ronstadt
Perhaps a little strangely, I am giving Joan Jett and the Blackhearts spot to Linda Ronstadt, an artist who may not have rocked quite as hard, but whose 43 year, multiple hit career is simply more worthy of enshrinement than the two hit wonder Joan Jett.
Sonny and Cher
There are some huge oversights in the Rock Hall, but none that makes less sense than Cher having never been nominated either with Sonny and Cher or alone. She talked about this in January on Letterman and more importantly Paul Schaefer, (a tactic which worked for Little Anthony in 2009). I think that with the focus being more on women, there is no way that she doesn’t get a nomination either alone or with Sonny in the next couple of years.
The Cars
The Cure was nominated as the quintessential 80s band last year, but with the New Order/Joy Division combo being on this list, I think the Committee will steer away from New Wave and more towards traditional pop with their 80s pick this time around. The best band that fits that description is The Cars.
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