It's pretty pathetic when you consider that you can vote for the Chantels and Darlene Love, but not for Linda Ronstadt, Steve Miller, Chicago, Rush, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Dire Straits or Stevie Ray Vaughan, just to name a few of the ineligible worthies... Those of us who are actual voters are asked to choose a maximum of five nominees, using numbers (1-2-3-4-5) to signify our preferences. You can do the same. Here's how I'd make my choices as of now, but I'm open to being swayed by any especially passionate or persuasive arguments:Laura Nyro, nearly forgotten?! Crazy! Can you surry? Can you picnic? Perhaps you think no one even asks questions like that anymore, but we do.
1) The Stooges....
2) The Red Hot Chili Peppers....
3) Laura Nyro. (Nearly forgotten today, she was a seminal influence on Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash and untold other singer-songwriters.)
4) LL Cool J....
5) KISS....
November 6, 2009
ABBA, the Chantels, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Stooges and Donna Summer.
Such are the nominees this year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Patrick Goldstein moans:
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Laura Nyro, nearly forgotten?!
Laura Nyro...one of my favorite all time writers and singers. I still remember where I was when I heard that she had died.
Buy the album Laura Nyro the First Songs You won't be sorry.
Rolling Stone's definition of "rock & roll" is so broad as to essentially include all non country & western pop music.
I like motown, I like rock. But they aren't the same thing.
I was about to say go LL COOL J because I love him, but now I have a Red Hot Chili Peppers song stuck in my head so maybe they deserve it.
I'm surprised KISS isn't already there. And Genesis. On second thought, I vote for Genesis.
Abba?
SOS!
What constitutes worthiness to be inducted? Hard to tell from that list...
Fame? Pick any 10 people on the street at random and see how many have ever heard of everyone on that list. I haven't. But then, I think King Crimson (go figure)and Soft Machine are worthy, just to name a couple that will never come close to consideration. What we need is a Rock and Roll Hall of Good Music.
You often read that Laura Nyro is now forgotten. Can someone be famous for being forgotten?
As long as Neil Diamond, who should have been a charter member, is ignored, I have no use for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Of this year's nominees, the only one worth voting for is the Hollies.
I love ABBA, I even have them listed under "favorite music" in my profile, but under no circumstances would I call them Rock and Roll.
Why not include Sufjan Stevens and Amy Winehouse why they are at it?
But I guess at some point the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was bound to sell out. It's fits the genre after all.
[KISS is performing on stage.]
LEAD SINGER: I wanna rock and roll all night . . .
[Extends microphone into audience for proper response.]
LOIS GRIFFIN: . . . ah . . . and have a wonderful time?
@jaltcoh
Yeah, someone can be famous for begin forgotten. I am Gen X, a former music obsessive, and this is why I know there is such a person as Laura Nero- that she was perhaps the first "weird chick" of music. When it was still relevant to my life, I could passably drop her name in a conversation, but I have never heard a song, and I made my way through tons of older stuff.
This seems like another attempt to be conroversial for PR reasons. If Linda Ronstadt cannot make it, then it's a joke anyway.
Laura Nyro also recorded with Labelle the greatest covers album ever, "Gonna Take a Miracle" in 1971.
You can hear The Bells ringing in your ear.
And then there's Todd Rundrgen's love letter to Laura - Baby Let's Swing
ABBA is a good choice. Not only did the music appeal to a diverse audience, they have come to represent the 70's as much as any other band. Plus, the production values of the record was top notch. AS some here know I'm a musician (not a good one necessarily, but hey) and will listen to record as both a regular guy and as a guy who knows the process of making a record - I listen to the details.
On a whim, I decided to dissect some of the ABBA stuff I have. I don't always like all the songs, but man, the production, the musicianship and attention to details were top notch! And Yes, SOS is a fantastic song.
Genesis - Yep, good choice. I'm biased and have been a long time ago, along with Yes. You can't really separate the two.
With this said, I do not take this R & R Hall Of Fame seriously.There is NO WAY you can omit Carrol King or Mark Knopfler or Stevie Ray or especially Rush and be considered a serious Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
Carole King was inducted in 1990 along with her 1st writing partner / 1st husband Gerry Goffin.
Tho some Abba singles are pure classics, I adore (appropiate for something so pregenitorly Twee) this Benny Andersson pre-Abba band Hep Stars gemm even more:
Songs We Sang
Popville, that album has gotten me through many a hard time. I love it so much. It's also one of my favorite Labelle recordings - each voice has its moment. It made me go out and find Nona Hendryx's solo work.
It helps that i grew up "back in the day"!
I saw Genesis two years ago. Even without Gabriel, they were amazing. They have twenty songs better than any the RHCP ever did. I had lost sight of how amazing they were. Many people or bands are very good, but don't attain the level of the true deservers. Some, such as Laura Nero are worthy as founders, with years of singer songwriters trying to emulate her. Others, such as the hollies were as famous for what particular members did later (Graham Nash) as their music itself did in most people's memory.
The Hollies certainly deserve the Hall of Fame, and not just because of Nash's later work. If you list the original English invasion bands, The Hollies are on that list. Listen to "I'm Alive."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSqZC7G3_9I
And "Just One Look."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32VWELcZUMM&feature=related
sonicfrog: Plus, the production values of the record was top notch.
We just want to know if you consider them rock and roll.
Also, production values? Production values should only be talked about if it they're bad.
Ann- Thanks for the links. They look so YOUNG!
Others, such as the hollies were as famous for what particular members did later (Graham Nash) as their music itself did in most people's memory.
OMG, you need to learn your music. Graham Nash started with the Guytones that became the Fourtones and then eventually the Hollies. They were influenced by Lonnie Donnegan, who at the time was THE big star of skiffle. Check out: Manchester Beat for background and more here.
1. The Hollies (On a Carousel; Bus Stop, He ain't Heavy, He's my Brother; Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress, many others)
2. Darlene Love (The greatest voice Phil Spector had, the lead on most Crystals classics)
3. Laura Nyro (died far too young, fantastic songwriter- Eli's Coming; Stoney End, Stoned Soul Picnic; And When I Die, many others)
Also Carrie Ann, Look Through Any Window, Pay You Back With Interest- All by the Hollies. Fantastic 60s pop/rock.
I'm with you on both the Hollies and, especially, Laura Nyro, who (it might not be clear) is on the list of eligible nominees this year according to the article.
She recorded what is now known as "First Songs," an incredibly sophisticated set of songs, when she was something like 18. People who dismiss her as a lightweight because groups like the Fifth Dimension made hits from her tunes are missing a treat. I have her first two albums pretty much permanently on my iPod.
wv: supbono. What you need to start U2 Soup.
So...
1. Laura Nyro
2. Darlene Love
3. ABBA
4. The Hollies
5. Jimmy Cliff.
sonicfrog: Plus, the production values of the record was top notch.
We just want to know if you consider them rock and roll.
Yes. They were in the pop end, but had evolved from the folk / harmonies tradition. Still R & R. I would even put the Bee Gee's in, especially for their earlier stuff.
Also, production values? Production values should only be talked about if it they're bad.
Why not talk about production values if they're good? Shouldn't good work be acknowledged?
Thanks for the reminder on Carrol King. I forgot she was in as a songwriter.
Moody Blues
Yes
ELP
Like others here, Laura Nyro has always been one of my favorite singer/songrwiters. Surprised to learn that the Hollies and KISS aren't already in the Hall of Fame. Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, LL Cool J, Red Hot Chili Peppers are all fine with me, but Donna Summer? What's up with that? Sounds like a token offering to gay men about my age. No thanks.
Laura Nyro - Save The Country
Laura Nyro - Flim Flam Man
Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry
Laura Nyro - Stoney End
Laura Nyro - Wedding Bell Blues
Her cover of Gonna Take A Miracle
I took the liberty of appropriating Flim Flam Man for this:Flim Flam Obama Man;-)
In a recent interview Alice Cooper asked why he hasn't been inducted said....brushing it off...."Well, i guess it's some sort of private club. I think I'm over-qualified anyway!" And what about the fathers of progressive/art/symphonic rock, The Moody Blues. If these two have not been inducted, i cannot take the Hall of Shame seriously.
Genesis!!!
Rush!!!!
Chili Peppers--their moment will come later.
LL Cool J and Donna Summer--not rock and roll.
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