Committee Chairman
The Songwriters Hall of Fame announces their 2020 Finalists
The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced the Finalists for the Class of 2020. It comprises of 24 candidates from a very diverse musical spectrum.
The Performing Nominees are:
Mariah Carey: Carey was nominated last year and co-wrote 17 of her 18 number one songs.
Gloria Estefan: Estefan wrote or co-wrote most of her hit songs and she helped pen Shakira’s hit, “Wherever, Whenever.”
The Eurythmics (Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox): The Eurythmics had many hits, which included the number one smash, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
David Gates & Jimmy Griffin (Bread): Bread would have five top ten hits, which included the number one song, “Make It with You.”
Vince Gill: Gill charted over 40 songs on the Country Chart and was inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Isley Brothers: The Isley Brothers had multiple number one hits on the R&B Chart, and they would enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Journey: The successful arena rock band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Mike Love: Love wrote or co-wrote many of the Beach Boys songs, though is not yet in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, though Brian Wilson is.
The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo): In addition to their own work, they have written hits for Jay-Z, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Usher.
Outkast (Big Boi & Andre 3000: The influential Atlanta based hip-hop duo had many hits, including “Hey Ya”.
R.E.M.: From Athens, Georgia, the Alternative Rock band had a lot of chart success in the 1980s and 90s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Patti Smith: Very influential in the 1970s in the Alternative and Punk scene, Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
The non-performing nominees are:
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty: Ahrens and Flaherty have written many musicals and have won a Tony.
L. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine: Brown and Levine penned many hits, their biggest being “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree” and “Knock Three Times” for Tony Orlando and Dawn.
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart: Boyce and Hart would write hits for the Monkees, Jay & The Americans and Paul Revere & The Raiders.
Sonny Curtis: Curtis wrote songs that were covered by The Everly Brothers, Bobby Fee and is best known for writing, “I Fought the Law.”
Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan: Fleming and Morgan have already been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Jerry Fuller: Fuller penned many hit songs, his biggest success being “Travellin’ Man” by Ricky Nelson.
Tony Macaulay: Some of Macaulay’s hits include “Build Me Up, Buttercup, “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All” and Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Grows).”
Bob McDill: McDill wrote over 30 number one hits in the Country Music Charts.
Roger Nichols: Nichols wrote or co-wrote many songs, including The Carpenters hit, “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
Rick Nowels: Nowels has written hits for Belinda Carlisle, Dido, Stevie Nicks and Madonna.
Mickey Stevenson: Stevenson wrote or co-wrote many songs for Motown, which included “Dancin in the Streets”, “It Takes Two” and “Devil With the Blue Dress.”
Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years. Six of these nominees will be selected.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will be inducted on June 11, 2020.
The Modern Era Committee announces their 10 Finalists for the Baseball Hall of Fame
When the Baseball season ends, the Baseball Hall of Fame season begins.
Today, the Baseball Hall of Fame has announced the 10 Finalists for the Modern Baseball Era, which is one of four Era Committees. The Modern Era focuses on the era between 1970 and 1987.
The ten candidates are
Dwight Evans: Evans was a twenty-year veteran of the Majors, 19 of which were with the Boston Red Sox. An eight-time Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star, Evans collected 2,446 Hits with 385 Home Runs and an OPS of .881. Ranked #15 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Steve Garvey: Garvey was National League MVP in 1974 and he would help the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 1981 World Series. Over his career, he set a National League record of 1,207 consecutive games and would be named to ten All-Star Games and four Gold Gloves. He would accrue 2,599 Hits and 272 Home Runs and also won the 1978 and 1984 National League Championship Series MVP. Ranked #25 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Tommy John: Playing for a whopping 26 seasons, Tommy John would rack up 288 Wins over 4,710.1 Innings. A four-time All-Star, John finished second in Cy Young voting. He is also known for returning from a surgery to repair his ulna collateral ligament in 1974, the successful procedure being known now as “Tommy John Surgery.” Ranked #12 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Don Mattingly: Mattingly played 14 years (all with the New York Yankees), where he would win the Batting Title in 1984, and the MVP the next season. He would amass 2,153 Hits with 222 Home Runs while winning nine Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers. He would also be a six-time All-Star. Ranked #40 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Marvin Miller: Miller was elected as the head of the Major League Baseball Players in Association in 1986, a position he held until 1982. Under his watch, free agency came into fruition and players’ salaries rose tenfold.
Thurman Munson: Munson played 11 seasons with the New York Yankees, where he was the 1970 Rookie of the Year and 1976 MVP. Munson went to seven All-Star Games and won three Gold Gloves. He would also twice help the Yankees win the World Series. He would sadly die in a plane crash during the 1979 season. Ranked #83 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dale Murphy: Murphy played most of his career with the Atlanta Braves and he would be named the National League MVP in 1982 and 1983. The seven-time All-Star would win five Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers. He would have 398 Home Runs over his career. Ranked #30 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Dave Parker: The “Cobra” won two World Series rings over his career (1979 with Pittsburgh, and 1989 with Oakland), and was the NL MVP in 1978. The seven-time All-Star, and three-time Gold Glove winner blasted 339 Home Runs over his career. Ranked #21 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Ted Simmons: Simmons was one of the best hitting Catchers of his day, as shown by his eight All-Star Games. He would have 2,472 Hits with 248 Home Runs over his 21-year career. Ranked #9 on Notinhalloffame.com.
Lou Whitaker: Alongside his Hall of Fame double play partner, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker spent his entire 19-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The Second Baseman was the Rookie of the Year in 1978 and helped the Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series. Whitaker had 2,369 Hits and went to five All-Star Games while earning four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. Ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com.
The vote will take place on December 8.
To get inducted, a candidate has to receive 75% of the vote from the 16-member committee.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com find value in all ten of these names, and we can’t wait to hear who they elect.
Do you have a favorite?
We here at Notinhalloffame.com are hoping the best for Miller and Whitaker, but again if anyone on this list t in, we would be happy.
Dave Matthews very humbled by RRHOF nomination
In addition to saying that he felt “unqualified and undeserving” he had this to say:
“I'm not sure that Lemmy Kilmisterever heard of the Notorious B.I.G., and I'm not sure if the Notorious B.I.G. ever heard of Lemmy, but maybe that's what rock ’n’ roll is… people falling out of their world or getting out of their world and getting in front of everybody and doing something that seems impossible and getting noticed for it. I feel like I don't belong, but I'm pretty happy to be included...in a pretty outrageous lineup of people. If I'm gonna be in a category of people getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's good to be included in one that makes no sense.
I was very happy to hear about it, and it is overwhelming. I do feel undeserving and flattered as well by the whole thing, and I think the whole band does, too. We all reached out to each other to say, 'How bizarre is this?'"
The selection of the Dave Matthews Band could be the most polarizing one of the Finalists. While they have a wide fan base, they have also drawn the most online criticism of any group to be nominated.
We do have to disagree with Matthews in his claim that this is a group of candidates that makes no sense, as this has been the pattern for nominees over the past decade.
Let the conversations on this topic continue.
K.K. Downing thinks this the year Judas Priest gets into the Rock Hall
In an interview with 101.8 in Wolverhampton, England,K.K. Dowling of Judas Priest discussed his nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In the interview, he had this to say:
“I think it’s looking pretty good this time, to be fair. I know there was a lot of backlash when we didn’t make it last time a year or two ago.”
This is Judas Priest’s second nomination for the Hall, the last one coming in 2018. Dowling isn’t wrong, as there were many fans of the band who were upset that it took them even that long to get nominated. They were first eligible in 1999, so the wait to for them to even reach this point seems long overdue.
The length of time for Judas Priest to get inducted is nothing new for Metal bands as Dowling is most certainly aware of as he discussed in the interview that Black Sabbath had to wait 15 years before induction. It also took Kiss 14 years to get in. The only exception to the Metal rule is Metallica, who got inducted in 2009, their first year of eligibility.
While many eligible Rock and Roll acts who have waited as long as Judas Priest has seemed to get (dare we say) crusty about their snub, Dowling has taken it in stride:
“There’s no such thing as a young legend. So, these are the credentials you’ve got to have.”
It should be noted that Judas Priest is not the only Heavy Metal band on this year’s list of Finalists. Motorhead have finally become Finalists after being eligible since 2002. It is unlikely that both will get in this year. As Dowling noted in his interview, nobody from the original lineup of Motorhead is alive.
Stay tuned for more news about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as we know for certain, more will come.