Committee Chairman

Paul Stanley speaks out

Feb 16, 2014

We don’t normally cut and paste articles from other sites but the Classic Rock website interviewed Paul Stanley of KISS, which were finally inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after fifteen years of being eligible. Stanley and his bandmate, Gene Simmons have long trashed the Cleveland based institution and we were curious to see if maybe they changed their position now that have finally been chosen. As we see from this Q&A, at least where Paul Stanley is concerned, nothing has changed.

Say what you want about KISS, but we have to hand it to Stanley for maintaining his stance about the Hall of Fame. You can never call him a hypocrite!

Did you feel honoured at being inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

No, it was done begrudgingly and because it had become absolutely ludicrous that they were choosing to ignore us. At the end of the day most people don’t realise that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was a privately created establishment and that it has a self-appointed board. It’s a perfect case of perception becoming reality. People heard ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’ and gave it credibility. So whether it deserves the title has to be weighed against who it inducts.

So was it an honour to be nominated?

No. It means a lot to the fans and I understand it because it’s validation for them. So for that reason I accept graciously and accept on their behalf. My feelings and my ambivalence about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame hasn’t changed any. Their attitude is elitist and it doesn’t reflect the public. It reflects a small group who dictate who meets the criteria that they set up as ‘rock and roll’. I’ve always felt the spirit of rock and roll meant not only ignoring your critics, but ignoring your peers and going your own way. I think we’ve done that pretty much with few exceptions for forty years. So that same criteria that kept us out has not gotten us in. I scratch my head a little and I also take issue with a certain arrogance within that group. Nonetheless I look at some of the inductees and any club that has Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and The Who and the Beatles and the Stones is company I don’t mind being in and my feelings have nothing to do with any of them, it purely has to do with a system which I think is tainted, corrupted and distorted.

Are you looking forward to playing it?

Honestly, I have no plans at the moment to do anything, and that includes playing with Ace and Peter or anyone else. My plan at the moment is to go and accept the award. Anything else, we’ll see how it unfolds or unravels. It was interesting to me, or offensive to me, that when the question was broached with the hierarchy about inducting additional members it was shut down immediately as ‘a non starter,’ which to me is arrogant. People who sit behind desks need to respect the people who are actually either inductees or possible inductees into this so-called hallowed organization. So the fact that there are 30 or 40 or 50 or some absurd number of Grateful Dead members all inducted, the fact that all of the Chili Peppers, including people who played on early albums that never amounted to very much are inducted, the fact that John Rutsey, the drummer on the first Rush album is not inducted, the fact that Rob Trujillo, who’s a great guy but didn’t play on any of the classic Metallica albums, was inducted after being in the band six years makes me wonder exactly what are the rules? If the rules don’t apply to everybody then they’re not rules.

Do you plan to bring Ace and Peter up on stage with you?

Of course it goes without saying that Ace and Peter deserve this moment in the spotlight. We wouldn’t be here without them. We couldn’t have built what we did without them at the foundation. That being said, we couldn’t have built what we built without a lot of people who followed them. We couldn’t have been here without them and we couldn’t be here today with them. So absolutely, of course they deserve and belong up there.

Ace and Peter jammed together at recent party for That Metal Show presenter Eddie Trunk. How did you feel about that?

I didn’t feel one way or the other. I don’t own those songs, I only wrote ‘em. There’s nothing to guard or lock away. Those songs are public domain and they played on those songs so why wouldn’t they play them? For that matter, why wouldn’t anybody play them?

David Stern headlines first batch of 2014 Basketball HOF inductees

Feb 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The first wave of inductees for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has been announced and the undisputed headliner thus far is the recently resigned commissioner of the National Basketball Association, David Stern. Stern served in that capacity for thirty years, and during that time the NBA flourished becoming one of the biggest entities in all of sports. Not only did the players make a lot more money, they became a lot more famous, as ESPN analyst Colin Cowherd often stated, he made the names on the back of the jersey matter.

Stern will be joined International Committee selection, Sarunas Marciullonis from Lithuania. From 1981 to 1989 he played for Statyba Vilnius in the Soviet League and twice won the Lithuanian Championship. Internationally, he was a big part of the U.S.S.R.’s Gold Medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

With Lithuania breaking away from the Soviet Republic, Marciullonis joined the Golden State Warriors and would play for four teams in a nine year period, but again internationally he would make a huge impact as the man who resurrected the Lithuanian National Team. He did everything he could, including contacting players, negotiating shoe deals and other sponsorships. Literally, it can be argued that without him they would have never won the Bronze Medal in 1992 and again in 1996.

The ABA Committee has once again selected someone representing the Indiana Pacers as former Head Coach, Bob “Slick” Leonard will be inducted this year. Leonard coached the Pacers from 1968 and stayed with them through the move to the NBA. He was at the helm when Indiana won three ABA Championships.

Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton will also be inducted. He was chosen by the Early African-American Pioneers Committee and was one of the first black players in the NBA. Prior to joining the Association he was with the barnstorming New York Rens and the famed Harlem Globetrotters. He was an NBA All Star in 1957.

The final man who has already been chosen for the 2014 Basketball Hall of Fame Class is Guy Rodgers from the Veteran’s Committee. The Point Guard was a two tine Assists leader in the NBA as well as a four time All Star. Rodgers held the #98 spot on our list.

The Finalists for the Hall of Fame in the traditional vote was also announced. Alonzo Mourning who is in his first year of eligibility is the biggest name and the number #3 man on our Basketball list. Spencer Haywood, who was told that he was going to be inducted last year, returns as a Finalist and is ranked number #2 by us. Mitch Richmond (#9), Tim Hardaway (#10) and Kevin Johnson (#13) are also Finalists.

They are joined by NCAA coaches Nolan Richardson, Eddie Sutton and Gary Williams. The group is rounded out by Women’s Coach, Harley Redin and the three time AIAW champion in the 70’s, Immaculata University.

Our number one choice, Chris Webber was not chosen as a Finalist. As much as he has the statistics to make a Hall of Fame claim in both College and Pro, his banishment from the Michigan program after accepting funding from a local booster clearly played a part in his omission.

The announcement of the complete class will be announced on April 7^th, prior to the Final Four.

The Baseball List is revised

Feb 13, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Last week we here at Notinhalloffame.com were thrilled to unveil the 2014 Rock and Roll list at a timeframe much quicker than we did last year. With that completed, we were able to focus on the Baseball section, which we have now finished and are happy to unveil today.

As happy as we are to present it to all of you, we know that the debate on the Baseball Hall of Fame will remain the hottest debate among such institutions and we welcome the polarizing opinions that comes with it.

As with all of the other lists we do, we alter rankings based on the input that you give us. The votes and comments mean a lot to us and we certainly encourage all of you to keep making this website as interactive as possible. As for the new entries, we base that first ranking on as much statistical analysis as possible, though of course in the sport of Baseball, stats are constantly being evaluated and re-evaluated and far too often the magical element of the sport is forgotten when we look at the eligible players.

The top of the list remained the same as we continue to have the banned Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson at 1A and 1B and PED tainted Barry Bonds at 1C, making him the top eligible player. His support on our site is mostly positive, though in dealing with him and many of the other PED users (or suspected users), we are dealing with absolutes as you have told us you definitely want him in, or definitely want him out. Until it shifts that more of you want him out, Bonds will likely maintain the top spot.

The same is said for Roger Clemens, who won more Cy Young Awards than anyone else, who remains at number 2. Like Bonds, he is a position where it appears that the Baseball Writers will not be selecting them for the Hall of Fame, and we wonder how long we will see Bonds and Clemens remain 1 and 2 on this list.

Although the top is unchanged, there are four former players who are entering the top 25, two of which we think will be first ballot Hall of Fame entries, with a strong possibility of a third.

“The Big Unit” Randy Johnson is the highest ranking new entry, taking over the number 3 spot, which was owned last year by first year inductee and fellow Pitcher, Greg Maddux. It is on the Pitcher’s mound where we will also find Pedro Martinez who enters at number 5, again a position which inducted another first year entry last year in Frank Thomas.

John Smoltz did not make our top ten, though he enters at number 13 and is a very strong Hall of Fame contender. The others in the top ten are Mike Piazza (4), Jeff Bagwell (6), Mike Mussina (7), Tim Raines (8), Bill Dahlen (9) and Curt Schilling (10). Among the “Eligible” top ten, only Dahlen is not on next year’s ballot and would have to enter based on the support of the Veterans Committee.

Also now eligible is Gary Sheffield makes his debut at 22, and we are very eager to see what the Baseball Writers do with him. The fifth and final new entry to the list is Carlos Delgado who we have slotted in at 63.

You know what we want from all of you! Check out these new entries and cast your vote or offer a comment.

Donovan and Ray Davies selected to the Songwriters HOF

Feb 12, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

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.