And so we have a class. In contrast to the afterthought ballot announcement, this one was literally proclaimed in prime time as part of a “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Night” on that bastion of engineered “reality” stardom, American Idol.
Idol fans didn’t even notice, from what I could tell on the show’s socials posts. On the big night, it was over in about 60 seconds. So thus far it seems like Disney has gotten free content, while the Rock Hall has turned over control of its own narrative and become a sound bite.
We knew this already, but it’s clear that we’re going to see even more populist classes. Anything like a Fela Kuti will have to wait for the categories. But the categories have been pressed into service as catchalls for what the Nom Com can’t get through on a vote in the first place. There’s no room now to put supporting musicians into the category meant to honor them. It’s not going to get better; the voters at this point are counting on the acts they don’t vote for going in through categories, despite a perception that the “back door” inductions aren’t “real.” By listing all the names together alphabetically, the Hall’s trying to soft-pedal the whole subject. This system is so beyond borked.
And while we’re on categories, why is Norman Whitfield not inducted with Barrett Strong — the Hall never seems to know who worked with whom. And why didn’t they use Musical Excellence for Devo, in a Cleveland year?
Peter Frampton’s resume is wafer-thin, but it’s so hard to begrudge him. Still, it feels like Sinead or Mariah (what an odd pair) should be in this slot. I wonder if the voters thought Sinead is just a one-hit wonder. Kravitz will be back. I can handle it better now that he’s not an FYN. I’m betting on Phil Collins in the next couple of years, and I’m not mad about it.
Without vote transparency we’ll never know, but I suspect the Hall did some engineering in the name of good by making it a class of eight. I have to stress that everyone on the list deserves induction, absolutely. But the Hall is trying to meet expectations for class makeup that this ballot may have made difficult. I said I thought the class would go to eight if DMB didn’t get the votes, and I’m just not sure they did. To be honest, I think their massive numbers in the fan vote were bot-boosted. No judgment: Not that it makes it right, but it’s been done by multiple fan bases before. Their fans wanted to get their own back. The optics would’ve been terrible if the band was left off again.
Which brings us to Mariah.
WT actual F?
I thought there was no way she could miss. Although I thought that about Warren Zevon too. But here we are. As a non-fan, I’m still stunned. You look at the length of her career, her awards, her influence on younger singers, and she should be an FYN.
It seems a lot of people thought like a friend of mine – someone who’s at a shows at least once a week if not more—who texted me: “At least Mariah didn’t get in.” I asked him about that, and his reply was, “Just never liked her. She’s got a great voice, but she never impressed me much. She will get in for that damn Christmas song she does. Just didn’t think she was a first-time inductee.” The damn Christmas song’s only in the National Recording Registry.
Is this a good time to note that only two women made the main class of eight, and five out of 16 total? And are still only 8.79% of inductees? No?
The other woman in the performer class is, of course, Cher. I believe she’ll show up to headline, and it’ll be one for the history books. The relative importance of her musical output ceased to matter long ago: It’s Cher’s world, we’re all just lucky to live in it.
On the flip side, the omission of Carol Kaye is just inexcusable. No other way to put it. Not finding her name on the list was a punch to the gut. Why is it so important to put Alexis Korner in now? Yes, he should’ve been in years – decades – ago, but he’s been gone for 40. What’s one more? I guess it was critical to rush to get both the cornerstones of British blues in at the same time. At least, at long last, Big Mama Thornton gets her due. And if Korner and Mayall can wait this long, there may be hope for Lonnie Donegan.
And it’s good to see Suzanne DePasse getting the nod for non-performer. But when, Rock Hall, when, will the omission of Estelle Axton be rectified? When can four or five minutes be spared for her?
No one expected Jimmy Buffett to show up in the categories this year. In most respects, it’s a win: It pleases all the artists who paid tribute after Buffett’s passing and might be counted on to appear in a package or show up for a tribute. It’s media-friendly. It frees up a ballot spot next year. And it keeps the induction relatively timely. For some artists, that’s important I guess. I’m curious to see how much ceremony time he gets.
With so many legendary names making what’s likely their final appearances, the induction will be a genuinely historic event. But it’s going to be 12 hours long, and someone’s still going to get short shrift. Let’s hope it’s not the all-star jam.
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