An Open Letter To The Rock Hall Induction Committee

To: Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Committee
Fr: Rock And Roll Fans everywhere

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s just a month away before the 30 or so of you get together and throw out your picks on who gets into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2010 so I am asking, no begging you, please look to our past and get some of the greats you have overlooked into the hall. I can’t figure out your reasoning on your past nominations but now is the time to right the wrongs and honor the greats that have been passed over year after year. So please, pull your heads out of your …..., no I won’t go that far. How about just think about us when placing your vote, the true rock fans.

Sincerely
Rock Fans Across The World

Next month the secretive society (well not really anymore. Click Here to see the list of voters courtesy of futurerocklegends.com) we call the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominating Committee will meet and argue, wheel and deal, and whatever else they do to get who they put up for nomination into the hallowed halls of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

How all this all goes about, we don’t know.

Who nominates Chic every year, we don’t know.

Who the hell votes for Chic every year to get them to the final list the past couple of years, we sure as hell don’t know.

This I do know, the fact that they continue to overlook bands such as Genesis, Rush, Yes, Deep Purple, Electric Light Orchestra, Alice Cooper, Kiss, The Doobie Brothers, Todd Rundgren, Steve Miller Band, Emerson Lake And Palmer, Faces, Gram Parsons, The Hollies, J. Geils Band, Lou Reed, The Moody Blues, Peter Gabriel (with or without Genesis), Heart, Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat And Tears, Steve Winwood, Tom Waits, etc, etc, etc…. makes you wonder, what the hell do they talk about in their secret meetings. It can’t be rock and roll.

Before the Induction Ceremony this year I put a poll on the website and the music fans that visit http://www.clevelandrockandroll.com/ responded in surprisingly huge numbers. They voted and they want to see inducted into the Hall Of Fame in order:

1. Rush
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. Kiss
4. Genesis
5. Alice Cooper
6. Doobie Brothers
7. Heart
8. Electric Light Orchestra
9. Jethro Tull
10. Cheap Trick
Now, personally I am not a big fan of some on the list but I can’t argue with anyone of the Top Ten getting the nod but will they?

I don’t know, probably not!

Artists such as Chic, Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Earth Wind And Fire, Madonna and others keep getting nominated and even inducted over those older “classic rock” artists. It seems a trend with this committee is emerging. They are going away from rock, punk, and metal of the past and toward “popular music” artists representing disco, dance, and rap. There also seems to be a trend of “newer is better”. How does John Mellencamp get in before Steve Winwood, Leon Russell or Todd Rundgren or how does Metallica get in before Deep Purple? Now don’t get me wrong, I think Metallica should be in the Hall, but come on, before Deep Purple? Even James Hetfield in his induction speech went on a rant about the innovators of the past that should have been in the Hall already like Deep Purple, Rush, Judas Priest, Kiss, Motorhead, and Thin Lizzy.

You know who is up for nomination this year? Whitney Houston….

Do I think she will get nominated? Yes.

Do I think she will get inducted? Absolutely

Do I think she belongs in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? Hell no but she seems to be exactly the type of artist the committee loves and wants in the hall. She was a money making machine for the record industry right along the lines of Madonna, how could they not vote her in with the logic they have used in the past.

I am starting to think Madison Avenue should be represented on the committee. Why? Have you listened to commercials lately on television? They are like listening to a classic rock station at times. ELO, ELP, Moody Blues, George Thorogood, Grand Funk Railroad, The Cars, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, Bad Company, Canned Heat, Donovan, Edgar Winter, Faces, Jethro Tull, Rare Earth, and Styx to name just a few are the soundtracks for the commercials Madison Avenue throws at us daily. Why do they do this? Because even they know these are classic songs from classic bands that we love and guess what, none of these bands are in the Hall Of Fame. Is Madison Avenue smarter than the so called music experts on the committee? I am starting to think so.

Scott Rowley, the editor of the U.K.-based magazine Classic Rock suggests the Hall is creating its own misconceptions about what rock evolved into. Rowley said in a recent interview “Rush and Yes and ELO are as good and as loved and as worthy as most of the acts in the Hall,” noted Rowley “I think it’s very damaging to the Hall of Fame’s credibility to continually ignore bands that they perceive to be on ‘the fringes,’ whether they’re prog, punk or metal acts. It makes you wonder if the selection committee is actually run by music fans.”

Well maybe this year (and in future years) the committee, will open their ears and eyes and put some deserving bands into the hall and maybe I won’t have to write this column in the future.

PS: Remember committee, if you put Whitney in this year, next year Bobby Brown is eligible! Oh boy…I would put in a whole new wing just to run episodes of their reality show!

Nuff said, least till next time
Peace Out
Bear