A teen idol in the late 50’s who scored multiple hits; Paul Anka was won of the few who actually wrote his own songs during that era. Anka didn’t just write hits for himself as no less than Buddy Holly and Frank Sinatra (My Way) scored chart success with Anka penned songs. Enjoying a career renaissance in the 70’s in the Adult Contemporary field, Anka remained a force (and still does) with his writing. Anka, might be a better choice to be inducted for his songwriting, but as a teen idol who stayed relevant, he poses an intriguing case for induction.

A band that bridged the timeline from the first wave of Hard Rock to the next wave of British Heavy Metal, UFO is a top candidate on this list for having the most devoted fans. During their run, UFO managed to crack the American market and their brand of aggressive Rock garnished them acclaim and a multitude of devotees. With the amount of Metal acts that have cited them as an influence it would seem that they would have a shot, but in all likelihood the big names they helped to inspire will have to get in first.

With a string of straight forward Rock albums in the 80’s Bryan Adams felt like a breath of fresh air to many disillusioned music listeners who struggled to identify with the New Wave sounds or Heavy Metal that seemed to split the music world. Adams was a safe option and maybe that would become a problem for Adams later. As other genres emerged, Adams embraced a very safe form of Soft Rock and the pock marked Canadian was churning out more elevator standards than Rock songs. Should the Hall look at his 80’s work alone he would have a better shot then if they look at his post “Robin Hood” work.

The muddled history of the Crystals prevent them from a higher ranking (and potential induction as it may have turned out) but it does not take away from some of the brilliant material that the Phil Spector produced girl group had. Their best known hit was actually sung by Darlene Love and credited to the Crystals which naturally created tension when they had to perform songs that they didn’t sing. This may be confusing the Hall as per their induction as we admit it baffled us where to rank them.

The Bullet Points:

Eligible Since:

1988

Country of Origin:

U.S.A. (New York City)

Nominated In:

Never

NIHOF’s Favorite Album:

He’s A Rebel (1962)

NIHOF’s Favorite Song: