Committee Chairman
Donovan and Ray Davies selected to the Songwriters HOF
As we have mentioned here on Notinhalloffame.com, we don’t foresee us ever ranking those who are not in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. This is not to say that we don’t have respect for this institution as we certainly do, but as much as songwriting is an obviously vital part of music, this Hall of Fame does not raise even a fraction of the ire and passion that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does.
Regardless of that fact, there is a major event which occurred yesterday as they have announced their 2014 Class which includes a pair of recognizable names and three names who penned for some of the greatest musical legends of all time.
The arguable headliner is Ray Davies, the frontman and songwriter of the popular British band, The Kinks. The band themselves have long since been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though it can be argued that this is an overdue induction as Davies was not a songwriter who penned the standard rock tune. He could appeal to the working class, the avant garde and those who just wanted a cheery pop song.
The other high level name selected was Donovan, who also was selected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Scotsman was a major force on the Folk scene that was labelled as a genius by some and eccentric by others; of which they might both be right. No matter what, he was unique and he is a man of which time has shined a very positive light.
They are joined by another man from the United Kingdom, Graham Gouldman. He penned three well known songs that have persevered from the late 60’s, including two made famous by the Yardbirds (Heart Full of Soul & For Your Love) and Bus Stop which was recorded by the Hollies. He was a performer himself and was part of 10cc, which themselves had a decent run.
The fourth inductee is Mark James, form the United States. He wrote “Hooked on a Feeling” which was performed by his friend, B.J. Thomas and “Suspicious Minds” which was arguable Elvis’ last great hit. In our opinion, his greatest songwriting performance was “Always On My Mind” which was executed so well by Willie Nelson, that he often erroneously receives credit for writing it.
The final inductee is Jim Weatherly, also an American. Like everyone else selected this year, he wrote many hits but was known mostly for his work writing the majority of the songs for Gladys Knight and the Pips, including “Midnight Train to Georgia”.
We would like to congratulate this year’s class, and we will certainly keep an eye on who will be selected next year.
Lita to the WWE Hall of Fame
It was announced tonight on Monday Night Raw that Amy Dumas who performed as “Lita” in the WWE, will be part of the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame Class.
This should not come as a real shock, as she was one of the top women wrestlers in the 2000’s and the WWE has seemingly tried to induct a female every year since its return to annual inductions in 2004.
Amy Dumas began her wrestling career in 1998 and within a year she was performing in ECW as “Miss Congeniality” where she only appeared for five months before gaining attention from the World Wrestling Federation. She would debut in 2000 as the valet of Essa Rios, though it was clear that she was no ordinary valet.
Now named Lita, she would perform moonsaults on the prone body of the opponent of Rios after the match. It wasn’t a bad pairing, but her career skyrocketed as a member of “Team Extreme” with the Matt and Jeff Hardy, and she was quickly regarded for her athleticism and unique look. In the ring she would begin an on again-off again feud with Trish Stratus, and the two would make the Women’s division relevant in a way that has not been seen since the two retired.
She would make wrestling headlines when she left her real life boyfriend, Matt Hardy for fellow wrestler, Edge, turning her into the biggest female heel in wrestling. She retired as a four time WWE Champion, and arguable behind Trish Stratus as the most important female wrestler of the decade of the 2000’s.
We would like to congratulate Amy Dumas for her selection to the WWE Hall of Fame.
Deep Purple to number one on Rock and Roll Revisions
Ladies and Gentleman, we have always said that the Winter is our favorite time of year at Notinhalloffame.com. In a thirty day period, it is when the Rock and Roll, Baseball and Football Halls of Fame announce their new classes, and we have to back to the drawing board and revise our lists.
The first up is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we are thrilled to announce that we have our revision done much quicker than we did last year. Our last year’s number one selection, Nirvana was selected on their first year of eligibility necessitating a new musical act to take over the top spot.
For the first time in our site’s existence, all of the acts that were selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were in our top 100. This includes KISS (5), Peter Gabriel (15), Cat Stevens (36), Hall & Oates (63) and Linda Ronstadt (93).
We have revamped our “Notinhalloffame” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list based on our usual criteria:
1: Your Votes and Comments:
Votes are critical here. We have our own opinions here, but this has always been meant to be the intention here. High votes raise ranking, low votes plummet them.
2: The New Eligible Acts:
Every year, as certain bands are selected, we have new musical acts to take their place that are now eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Along with our opinions, the votes and comments that you gave in the “Future” sections help rank the new list.
Here is what we have determined for the 2014 List.
As we need to secure a new number one on the list, and there was no consensus top pick on the new crop of acts, we elected to go with your votes on an act that we have selected in our top five since we started this website.
The new Number One Selection is Deep Purple, the band that gave us “Smoke on the Water” and has received one of the highest percentages of support in our site’s young history. The British rockers were nominated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the past two years though have failed to receive the support needed to make the final hump.
With the removal of Nirvana and KISS form the top five, Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, The Smiths and Jethro Tull round out the top five.
There are many new entries to the 2014 list, the highest ranking belonging to Green Day at #20. They helped resurrect the Punk Rock world, and could be a potential first ballot entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Nine Inch Nails also cracks the top fifty. The Trent Reznor outfit could potentially be the first act to fly the Industrial Music flag. Reznor is considered by many to be a musical genius, and his induction would not be opposed by many.
The top 100 has another new entry in Pavement, who takes over the #79 slot. They could be a legitimate darkhorse candidate for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The new acts are joined by the following:
#106 The Manic Street Preachers
#111 The Offspring
#134 Sarah McLachlin
#160 Lenny Kravitz
#247 Gang Starr
#299 Garth Brooks
#332 The Bare Naked Ladies
#366 Queen Latifah
#420 The Gin Blossoms
#427 Buffalo Tom
#443 Skid Row
#475 Warrant
#490 Selena
Gang, you know what we want you to do! If you have not yet voted or made a comment, please do so and make your vote be heard.
Todd Helton's number 17 to be retired
The Colorado Rockies have announced that they will be retiring their first number (other than the league mandated #42 of Jackie Robinson) in the history of their franchise.
The number 17 of Todd Helton will be officially taken out of circulation on their August 17th home game. He spent his entire career with Colorado where he amassed 2,519 Hits with a .316 Batting Average. He put up good power numbers with 364 Home Runs and a .539 Slugging Average. His career OPS of .953 put him 20th All Time and his 61.3 WAR is the highest in Rockies history.
He is a solid candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame, though the “Coors Field” bias has hampered former Rockie, Larry Walker’s vote tally. Regardless, this is a major accomplishment and one that is well deserved.