It is the
time of the year when I am called upon to cast my vote in the annual ballot for
who should pass through the gilded doors of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, an
annual task that I try to take seriously even though I have increasing doubts about
its integrity. These doubts stem from the realisation that for reasons
unexplained various acts that I would like to see inducted – invariably British
ones* – are never nominated, and that the
need to induct a minimum of five new nominees each and every year unavoidably
results in a decline in standards.
According to the R&RHoF’s website
no fewer than 323 acts have been inducted since the show got on the road in
1986. The early inductees, of course, included the cream of the crop – Elvis,
Chuck, Buddy, Beatles, Dylan, Aretha, Stones, Who, Kinks, Cream etc – and along
the way, as the 25-year rule comes into play (you can’t be nominated until 25
years after your first record is released) all the major acts you’d expect –
Hendrix, CSN&Y, Zep, Elton, Jackson, M., Bowie, Springsteen, U2, R.E.M.,
Prince, Madge etc – have sailed in, as you would expect.
To use a football analogy, these and
maybe a few others represent a sort of Premier League, I guess, but after a
while it seems that the anonymous – some might say obsessively secretive –
nominating committee find themselves obliged to spread the net wider and wider,
into the Championship and then Divisions 1 and 2. So I have to ask myself
whether those nominated more recently – perhaps, heaven forbid, to make up the
numbers – are really worthy to stand alongside those nominated in the early
days. Maybe it’s now time to establish a Hall of Eminence corner away from the
rank and file so as to distinguish between the Premier League and the rest,
with entry restricted to just one nominee each year though not necessarily one every
year.
With this in mind I turn to the 15
names on this year’s nomination form, none of whom would enter my Hall of
Eminence, not yet at any rate. They are The Cure, Def Leppard, Devo, Janet
Jackson, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Stevie Nicks, John Prine, Radiohead, Rage
Against The Machine, Roxy Music, Rufus & Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren and The
Zombies. Seven of these 15 acts (LLCJ, Radiohead, Rufus+CC, Zombies, Janet J,
KW and MC5) have been nominated (but not inducted) before, some more than once,
which implies that those charged with coming up with the nominees are either
running out of names or determined that some among this number will finally get
in.
I have five votes and of those
previously nominated I voted in the past for Kraftwerk and Radiohead. I shall
do so again, for reasons stated earlier. Viz 1, Townshend’s work on Who’s
Next aside, Kraftwerk’s pioneering use of synthesisers is the
foundation for modern dance music and in addition they wrote some lovely,
sensuous melodies, of which ‘Europe Endless’ and ‘Neon Lights’ are supreme
examples. Viz 2, I know Radiohead can be miserable old buggers and, if not
restrained by the more level-headed among them, a tad on the pretentious side
but they’ve made some wonderful music over the years and OK Computer really
was one of the best albums of the nineties.
That leaves me with only three more
votes, and it’s not easy whittling them down as, unlike in previous years,
there’s a superfluity I’d vote for given the chance. Out of the running
immediately are those who for no fault of their own are not really to my taste
(Def L, Devo, Janet J, LL Cool J, RATM and Rufus+CC – and it’s no coincidence
that of the 15 these are the only six whose records I do not own), which leaves
The Cure, MC5, Stevie, Prine, Roxy, Todd and The Zombies. I’ve always had a
soft spot for Robert Smith’s offbeat weirdness, MC5 deserve to be in for
politics alone, Stevie’s a trouper, John Prine is a truly wonderful songwriter,
Roxy thrilled me when I first saw them, Todd Rundgren has served his time
honourably (and I can’t believe he’s not already in) and The Zombies deserve a
shot, even though they’re not really in the top league… see above.
Well, after a bit of thought, I’m going
to plump for John Prine, whom I recall seeing at the Bitter End in Greenwich
Village in 1974 and thinking he was 100 times better than John Denver who was
100 times more popular. I vowed to spread the word, so I’ll continue to do so.
And as I’m typing this I’m listening to ‘Hello In There’ for the 1,863rd
time. (I made up the number but you get the gist.)
And Roxy Music. I saw them in 1972 or
‘73 at London’s Rainbow and I’ll never forget how Bryan came out singing ‘Do
The Strand’ dressed as a toreador, a red and black outfit with epaulettes and
frills, and how he just blew Roy Hollingworth, who was sat beside me, and
myself away. I saw them a few more times after that in those early years and
they failed me only once, in 1972 at the Lincoln Festival where they were
unsuited to the great outdoors. But I’ll forgive them that glitch and put an X
in their box because before they even had a record out we stuck them on Melody Maker’s cover (exactly 46 years
ago this month, as it happens), thus spreading the word which I’ll continue to
do.
So who’ll be my fifth choice? In the
past I have left my final vote open to readers of Just Backdated and I will do
so again, so who should it be? Answers below. I have four weeks to make up my
mind before my ballot needs to be posted.
* Three that
spring to mind immediately, from opposite corners of rock’s great triangle, are
Tom Jones, Richard Thompson (and/or Fairports) and Slade.
I say Rufus. I also say nobody gets in until they induct Nicky Hopkins.
ReplyDeleteMC5.... Depending on your point of view, they deserve it either - as you say - because of their politics, or in spite of their politics, because they just kicked so much ass.
ReplyDeleteRoxy Music on cover of MM in October 1965??
ReplyDeleteMy mistake. Should have been 46... Oct, 72. Maths was never my strongest subject. Thanks.
DeleteI'm glad to see what you say about John Prine. I sometimes think that he doesn't get much attention outside of our Chicago area. I'm also casting an online ballot for Kraftwerk, Rundgren and The Zombies. I think you should vote for either Runt or the boys from St Albans, but I can't decide which.
ReplyDeleteTodd Rundgren.
ReplyDeleteRicky Byrd
ReplyDelete