Although none of the members of the NIHOF committee were alive when Ben E. King achieved his greatest success, we were among the millions that rediscovered him with the re-release of his signature song, “Stand by Me”. Those that found him again, found one of the smoothest voices of and most sophisticated voices of all time.
For a country with such a small population, the rich musical history of Ireland is an extensive one. Our first representative from the Emerald Isle is the Hard Rock band, Thin Lizzy; though it may surprise some casual fans that Thin Lizzy was even Irish.
The next selection found the NIHOF committee reminiscing a little bit more than some of our other selections. It seemed we all had an older sibling or knew of one with a worn out vinyl of Breakfast in America. They were like comfort food; they may not have been the best out there, but Supertramp just felt so comfortable to listen to.
Anyone taking a look throughout this list will see the vast amount of artists from the United Kingdom. Primal Scream is another such artist, but if anyone seemed to represent the last twenty years of British music better than they did, we would like to know who that might be.
If any artist associated with Disco gets into the Hall next, the current top contender would have to be Chic. Ironically, if people wanted to make the argument that they aren’t a Disco band, a few of us at NIHOF would not completely disagree.
Our introduction to our Rock and Roll list depicted the ever changing face of what Rock and Roll is or was. There are artists on this list with whom we expect to hear a roaring cry that they are not “Rock and Roll”. We doubt we will hear that with Steppenwolf.
We did not have an internal debate as to whether Johnny Ace should be inducted.We agreed that he should but as the bulk of his work predated the Rock and Roll explosion we are not sure if he is a Roots and Influences candidate instead.
Historically speaking, Music of all genres is full of all male bands. Sure, there was the occasional female lead singer or two, but generally, it did not get much further than that. That ceiling was forever broken in 1981, when the Go-Go’s topped the charts becoming the first all female band that wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. Seriously, it took until 1981 for that to happen.
If there is a Mecca in the British music industry it would have to be Manchester. It is there where we have our next entrant; The Buzzcocks. Although they did not have the same impact as the Sex Pistols, a band they opened for, their influence in the Punk world may be almost as important.
With his chiseled physique and arrogant demeanor, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff was a top contender for years in the WWF and sold out stadiums and arenas during his run with Hulk Hogan. Orndorff was a natural athlete who was at his best when drawing heat from sell out crowds. He was still a very viable competitor well into his 40’s in WCW, and this was with a severely atrophied arm.