Rush has great momentum right now. The band is selling out arenas and amphitheaters in a year when artists are canceling tours or selling tickets for $10 to get warm bodies in the door. The movie Beyond the Lighted Stage is critically acclaimed and is turning even more new fans onto the band. Rush is in the top 75 of all-time record sales by any artist, and has more consecutive Gold records in the US than ANY band except the Stones, Beatles and Who.
So who, you might ask, did get nominated this year? Donovan. WTF, he sucks ass and influenced um, NO ONE except he may have influenced me to pull my eardrums out... Donna Summer. Hmmm.... Alice Cooper. Good... Beastie Boys. OK, but really? Before Rush? Bon Jovi? Really? More influence, record sales, longevity? Not compared to Rush. Oh forget it, this is a futile post.
I mean look at this nominating committee. Who in the fuck are these people? I recognize a bunch of them from Rolling Stone magazine, and of course Robbie Robertson and Steven Van Zandt. Well, you know what? Fuck you Robbie, fuck you Steven and fuck you Rolling Stone. My subscription just ended and I won't be renewing. This is bullshit and everyone knows it. Man up and put Rush in the HOF.
Amen.
15 comments:
No KISS again, either. Big surprise! Bunch of buggers.
Chicago, which is 2nd only to the Beach Boys in album sales by an American band has been eligible since 1992 and has never been nominated either.
King Crimson
Yes
Genesis
Rush
and possibly even Emerson Lake & Palmer (on the strength of Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery... that should offset the musical atrocity inflicted on us with Love Beach)
They all deserve at least nomination if not induction
Doesn't Hip Hop have their own god damn hall of fame? The Beasties I can let slide, but LL Cool J?! He just isnt, and never was, a rock and roll singer. Plain and simple. He'd probably be the first person to tell you so too. It would be like putting Muddy Waters in the Heavy Metal hall of fame... "Well, they both played electric guitars..."
I'm just sayin is all.
So, I can justify some omissions such as Yes or ELP b/c those bands had their moments but have been either done or languishing for years. So maybe they get in but much later. And yeah, LL Cool J? I didn't even want to mention that one. I am sure Robertson is a HUGE fan.
Bands like Rush and KISS are still out there, selling out tours, selling records, pushing boundaries. Well, maybe KISS isn't pushing a lot of boundaries now but they still have a stage show unrivaled by any band. Rush is still VIBRANT - doing new things like releasing new material digitally, pushing the envelope in stage design and damn it they are playing better than EVER. No excuse for leaving this band off of any list of the greatest bands of all time. No excuse. Donovan? Give me a FUCKING break.
PS - did not know that about Chicago sales. Interesting!
With Chicago, they haven't exactly endeared themselves to the nominating committee... In an interview back in the 70s Peter Cetera was asked if he ever reads Rolling Stone his response was priceless: "Yeah, I read Rolling Stone. Usually when I'm taking a shit."
With Chicago though I'd counter they tarnished their own legacy. But if you ignore their 80s pop phase and focus on their first 5 albums, I'd argue they're worthy of induction. From their 6th album on the consistency in the quality of the albums varied but generally decreased and they totally jumped the shark when they tried to go disco on unlucky Chicago XIII. It kind of makes me wonder if ELP have been kept out because of Love Beach you take that musical atrocity out of the equation and they should have been a shoo-in for nomination in their first year of eligibility.
Well, that was my point on Yes too. They have soiled their legacy by touring with a fill-in from a tribute band for Anderson (although the same move doesn't seem to be hurting Journey in the market) but all those lineup changes just make the band seem out of it. As for ELP, I just think they too left field for the committee, Love Beach aside. Is Zappa in?
Having said all of this, the Hall doesn't matter nor do any awards not based around fan participation. I guess I would just love to see Rush play the tiny stage at the RNRHoF show and really show those fuckers what it's all about! A guy can dream...
I posted some other thoughts about the Hall of Lame this year and they bear repeating today: http://isorski.blogspot.com/2010/01/dvd-review-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html
Here here, Isorski. And you know what the best thing about it is? Rush couldn't give a flying leap at a rollin' donut about it!
Not only is this ridiculous, but it's also blatantly ri-cock-ulous.
Madonna is a member. Jesus H. Christ, she doesn't even have a nodding acquaintance with rock and roll!!
These clubs start out with good intentions but pretty quickly crumble on a credibility level due to cronyism and the influence of the almighty buck
It's fucking joke. There used to be a certain criteria to get in, like albums sales, sold out tours, relativity, influence. But you can clearly see that's not the case these days.
Here are bands that should be in. And for the record, like him or not, having Neil Diamond just get in is a joke and disrespectful considering Madonna and ABBA are in.
Deep Purple. Chicago, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, ELO, Dire Straits, Def Leppard, Three Dog Night ( amazing they aren't in ! ) Judas Priest, Peter Frampton, Grand Funk ( broke the Beatles Shea Stadium attendance record ) The Scorpions, Yes, Warren Zevon, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Iron Maiden, Journey, Jethro Tull, Steve Miller, Ringo Starr ( as a solo artist ) Heart, War, The Moody Blues.
It's fucking joke. There used to be a certain criteria to get in, like albums sales, sold out tours, relativity, influence. But you can clearly see that's not the case these days.
Here are bands that should be in. And for the record, like him or not, having Neil Diamond just get in is a joke and disrespectful considering Madonna and ABBA are in.
Deep Purple. Chicago, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, ELO, Dire Straits, Def Leppard, Three Dog Night ( amazing they aren't in ! ) Judas Priest, Peter Frampton, Grand Funk ( broke the Beatles Shea Stadium attendance record ) The Scorpions, Yes, Warren Zevon, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Iron Maiden, Journey, Jethro Tull, Steve Miller, Ringo Starr ( as a solo artist ) Heart, War, The Moody Blues.
It is important to remember that the R&R hall of fame has false credibility. They aren't experts and the award criteria isn't a meritocracy. They got the "obvious" rock and rollers (the early luminaries of the 50s) basically the first couple years and have been wandering in the wilderness ever since. They happened to have snagged a marketable name, which makes them sound impressive, but it is, and always has been, just a bunch of business people trying to sell an idea (which basically worked because people have been duped into thinking it is actually an important award -- but it is important in name only; and the "bump" I'm sure sales get a week after the show). The notion that exactly one body or organization somehow speaks for the "Rock and Roll Community" is absurd. It might as well be the WalMart Music awards.
I'll continue to tacitly "vote" for many of those bands mentioned on this thread, in particular Rush, with my fandom, appreciation, and (ultimately) money.
Love your comments,Man! Just got around to writing about it today...
Great post! As you know, I also dislike the Hall of Fame, I wrote this article about the recent nominations http://tiny.cc/xbvud.
Since you're such a Rush fan, you might also be interested in this special I did last year the week of the HoF inductions. We counted down the Top 10 Bands That Should Be in the HoF, But Aren't http://tiny.cc/vhs3e
Guests include Dennis Dunaway from Alice Cooper, Rick Wakeman from Yes, Styx manager Charlie Brusco and Gregg Rolie from Journey. Rush was #1 on our countdown.
Thanks for the great post!
Sterlingwit, I am listening to last year's show now. Killer! Thanks for passing this on to me.
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