Where Do We Go Now? Thoughts on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Nominees

And just like that, this year’s Rock Hall voting is underway. We have a slate of nominees (Or, if you read the font literally, “NNOMINEESS” (Just a side note; skip it if you wish: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE GRAPHIC DESIGN ON THE HALL’S WEBSITE? This silliness with the fonts started with the ceremony last fall and it’s leaked over to the site. It’s ugly, disjointed, and it’s lousy branding. I will freely confess I have no background in design, but I have eyeballs, and they don’t like it.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the ballot. If you haven’t seen it yet, this year’s list is:

Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliot, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, the Spinners, A Tribe Called Quest, the White Stripes, and Warren Zevon.

I won’t go into the merits of all the names, but just some thoughts off the top:

It’s a unique year when everyone’s first guess is Kate Bush. You have to think “If not now, when?” I’m a little surprised in a not-good way that she’s drifted right back to her usual spot about three-fourths down in the fan vote, but all we can do is wait and see.

I’ve been hoping for Cyndi Lauper, Warren Zevon, and George Michael for a long time now, and it’s a thrill to see them on the ballot at last.

I’d predicted Motley Crue because I thought they might go for someone never nominated, but I really hoped to see Maiden here, so more than happy to be wrong on that one. Priest is in and not only did the sky not fall, but they went down well, so you have to strike while the iron’s (no pun intended) hot. They’re doing well in the fan vote, but is metal really over with the voting body? Let’s hope so.

The Spinners?! This is WONDERFUL; I’d hoped but didn’t expect to see them again, and while the odds are steep, I’d so love to see them in. And it gives hope to those of us who still believe that some pre-80s names still deserve their due.

And Missy Elliot — finally, finally, a female hip hop artist. It shouldn’t have taken this long.

So what do I think the class will look like when the dust settles at the end of April? (God, this schedule…)

Right now, I’m thinking:

• Sheryl Crow: Now that she’s on the ballot, she’s a textbook nominee and a shoo-in. May as well be now. Some of the names ready to play with and for her would be up for double-duty for Warren Zevon too if he were to make it in.

• Willie Nelson: Enough said.

• Missy Elliot: The sound you hear is the glass ceiling shattering. Again, stupid that it took this long, but the Hall is a history of putting in hips hop’s major names with speed.

• Soundgarden: Chris Cornell is very much loved, the legal issues seem to be over, and it’s just time.

• George Michael: Even those of us watching the ceremony on HBO heard that pop when his name was mentioned last year.

• White Stripes: Jack White’s an industry icon and oh look, they tweaked the eligibility year.

• Cyndi Lauper: She’s rightly beloved in the industry as well as by fans and although some podcast guests aren’t aware of it, her resume’s both stellar and long. The Hall might beat the Kennedy Center to the punch this time.

I’m listing seven here, but given that the ballot’s thet shortest it’s been since 2010, I think we may not get that many this year. The Hall wants to streamline the ceremony and we may not see classes as big as last year’s again.

There were some ecstatic reactions from journalists to this ballot, with Jill Mapes at Pitchfork declaring, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations actually don’t suck this year.” I don’t know; the Nom Com does a good job overall — I wouldn’t say that taken as a whole, the slates suck the vast majority of years.

But this is the Hall, and there are some bones that sadly, must be picked:

Almost everyone on this list is exceptional and Hall-worthy. Can’t stress that enough. And as I said, a lot of these names as I said are ones I’ve hoped for and am personally excited to see. But if you hoped for an outlier, it’s not this year.

As has been pointed out, this was a wide-open year with no accepted no-brainer nominee. Most of us that made guesses had some left-field choices but generally got about five to seven right. But if you put everyone’s guesses together, you’d get almost the entirety of this class. Which is a long way of saying that despite that “anything can happen” zeitgeist, this is a fairly predictable ballot. It’s missing that stunner name — the one that takes you totally by surprise, that you had no idea was anywhere near the Nom Com’s radar. A Fela Kuti. A Nina Simone. Even a Gil Scott-Heron. I know Mary with Hall Watchers is looking for some edge, some sense of wildness and danger, and there’s none of that — we miss ya, MC5 and the Dolls. Sorry, Grace Jones.

But it’s not just that. For example, wouldn’t you all jump back if the Carpenters were on this list? How about Selena? (Maybe the Carpenters could happen, given this article that came out yesterday, the anniversary of Karen Carpenter’s passing.)

But that begs the question: Is the ballot even the place for an outlier anymore, assuming that there’s any room for them at all? The Hall put Sister Rosetta Tharpe on the ballot for 2018 because it gave her more exposure than just putting her in the Musical Excellence category. The Nom Com was looking to “engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock & roll.” That may have also been the thinking behind putting Kuti on for 2021. And it works. I’ve seen people online say they’ve learned about artists from the fan vote.

But in case you missed it, that mission statement has changed. As of last year, it does something to address just what the Hall defines as “rock and roll,” but it’s a lot more vague and a lot less, well, mission-y: “Born from the collision of rhythm and blues, country and gospel, rock and roll is a spirit that is inclusive and ever-changing. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates the sound of youth culture and honors the artists whose music connects us all.”

Sounds great. Especially if your initials are HBO. But it does not fill me with hope for the snubs and outliers.

And after the encouraging signs of the past couple of years, we can declare the Hall’s diversity issues solved, right? Wrong. Of 14 acts, four are performers of color. One of those is a woman of color. There are three other women and two bands with one female member. It’s a good ballot for stylistic diversity — there’s that mission statement in action — but not the demographic inclusion many of us hoped for. I had Rage and Soundgarden on my prediction list and thought I was wrong because there’s be at least one more woman. But no.

And one group is still missing out on both counts: female R&B acts. One of the biggest surprises of last year’s class was the omission of Chaka Khan’s name as a Musical Excellence inductee. That may be their plan this year. It had better be, because assuming the Hall wants to fix this, it’s painting itself into a corner: Patti is waiting. Mariah is waiting. Mary J. is waiting. (I’m going to leave the topic for later, possibly pending the ballot announcement, but we’ve got to talk about Musical Excellence.)

There’s no doubt that there’ll be lots more to say as we get closer to the class announcement and the ceremony. But for now, this slate of nominees all deserve to be celebrated. Here’s to a celebration-worthy class.