Passed over this year: Bon Jovi, LL Cool J, the J. Geils Band, the Beastie Boys, Donna Summer.
But as "Rock Hall says no; White House says yes":
The humble band from Sayreville will not be among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees... In brighter news, President Barack Obama on Tuesday named Jon Bon Jovi, a staunch Democratic supporter, to the White House Council for Community Solutions....
Bon Jovi, who performed during Obama's inaugural concert, heads the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, a nonprofit group working to alleviate poverty and homelessness across the U.S. The White House cited the rocker's work with that foundation as a reason for the appointment.
Posts
63 comments:
Neil Diamond is a dick. Seriously, he has a clause in his contracts that workers at his concerts have to turn their heads from him and not look at him. And it is hard to classify Neil Diamond as a rock signer.
Jon Bon Jovi, despite being an Obama supporter (cough cough) is a decent rock signer and a nice guy.
All make sense except Diamond. Aside from his baffling appearance at The Last Waltz, he had no connection to rock music. Perhaps they should rename it the Popular Music Hall of Fame.
Seriously, he has a clause in his contracts that workers at his concerts have to turn their heads from him and not look at him.
I heard the same thing, except it was Streisand. And since they are both Jews, now I've decided it's complete horseshit. Link, please.
And the Beastie Boys rock.
Good. Let Jon stick to other endeavors. Like promoting/funding arena football, for instance.
"And it is hard to classify Neil Diamond as a rock signer."
Considering the number of pop acts in the hall already, I'd disagree. Plus, look at just these tracks from "Hot August Night" alone: Crunchy Granola Suite; Solitary Man; Cherry, Cherry; Shilo; Kentucky Woman; Holly Holy; and Soolaimon/Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. These are all clearly rock songs. Plus, he's also an established rock song writer, e.g.: I'm a Believer.
Re: his attitude--well, he's hardly the only diva inducted in the hall.
Neil wrote some great pop songs back in the day. And in the 70s, he and his ascots got lots of love from the ladies.
Not surprised that he is a jerk though.
And Streisand, come on, she MUST be a jerk.
The people who got in made some great music, except for Darlene Love who sang a bit. I also really like J Geils and the Beasties, and their music should have earned a place.
Trey
The Beasties will definitely have to make it someday. It's a bit of a let-down to hear that they haven't.
Their influence is apparently under-rated.
I mean, how does that even work?
"I'm trying to bring you coffee but I'm not allowed to look at you. Oops!"
Will there be a point in time in the future when every "Rock star" will be in the RRHoF?
The piano has been drinking gris-gris. That's as racist as I can get. Diamond ain't no diamond.
WV: swiliz
What really we need here is a Blog and Roll Hall of Fame.But could they revoke your award for later going wobbly? I nominate Trooper York in the comedy category, and of course Mrs. L. Meade for the Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, and also in the Best Snow Skiing in a Wisconsin Genre while Quoting Bob Dylan category.
The Jewish Elvis has left the building.
Lol. That was the first time Rialby made me laugh. I owe him.
Yanni has one of those clauses. I know that for a fact. My wife used to work for the local public TV station and booked him as one of their Festival acts.
"I'm trying to bring you coffee but I'm not allowed to look at you. Oops!"
From what I have read, Paul McCartney only allows a certain group of people to actually hand things to him. And there are special rules as to what can be given to those people to hand to him. I think it's more paranoia than attitude in his case though.
Love the Beastie Boys. Making words that don't really rhyme, rhyme.
Root Down.
Because I've Got The Flow Where I Grab My Dick
And Say Oh My God, That's The Funky Shit
So I'm Going To Pass The Mic And Cause A Panic
The Original Nasal Kid Is Doing Damage
Every Morning I Took The Train To High Street Station
Doing Homework On The Train, What A Fucked Up Situation
On The Way Back Up Hearing Battle Tapes
Through The Underground, Underneath The Sky Scrapes
Neil Diamond in the RRHoF? I guess there's still hope for Herb Kohl.
Yanni, that's funny. It's like the movie Pittsburgh when Moby is a sex maniac.
darlene love? Who? What? Huh?
Tom Waits, one of the greatest quotes ever, "I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
The RRHF is a joke and always has been. Don't be surprised if Pat Boone gets a nomination some day. (or maybe he's already in?).
"Shot through the heart,
"And you're to blame,
"You give Dems
"A bad name..."
Neil Diamond did some good stuff in the 60s (Solitary Man, etc.), but slid downhill afterwards.
As to the clause, Diana Ross was supposedly manic on the subject.
From the book "Rock Stars Do the Dumbest Things" -
Some concert, somewhere (find the book if you're curious; I'm too lazy to get up and find it). Neil Diamond goes on stage. Does his shtick. He comes backstage, finds Bob Dylan waiting there.
Diamond: "You'll have to be pretty good to follow me."
Dylan: "What do I have to do, go out there and fall asleep?"
Love the Beastie Boys. Great treadmill and roadtrip music.
Bon Jovi, I do not get.
Carol Kaye still not in as a sideman. Shame. Too many Motown old boys keeping the woman down.
RRHOF is simply a corporate shrine to the record industry. All of the talk of "the spirit of rock and roll," rebellion and counterculture is pure marketing hype. Led Zep in a Cadillac commercial. The ought to have a huge statue of Tom Parker at the front door. For good and bad (and there were some good aspects of the Col.) that's what the HoF represents.
Oh, and since we were remembering Lennon's murder a couple of days ago it's worth remembering that the line between paranoia and reasonable caution is in a different place for some of these guys than it is for us. (Though Neil Diamond is surely still a dick.)
BGTDOY said...
The Beasties will definitely have to make it someday. It's a bit of a let-down to hear that they haven't.
Their influence is apparently under-rated.
It was sabotage.
They really should rename it to "The Music Hall of Fame" if they're going to keep picking artists like this.
Tom Waits and Neil Diamond rock, but only in a metaphorical sense.
Some concert, somewhere (find the book if you're curious; I'm too lazy to get up and find it). Neil Diamond goes on stage. Does his shtick. He comes backstage, finds Bob Dylan waiting there.
Diamond: "You'll have to be pretty good to follow me."
Dylan: "What do I have to do, go out there and fall asleep?"
The concert was "The Last Waltz, which was The Band's farewell concert.
Diamond just denied saying that in a Rolling Stone Interview - at the bottom
I didn't know who Dr. John was so I YouTube'd him. That cat is g-o-o-o-d.
What about Rush?
Darlene Love did lots of things, including recording the lead on songs credited to other people (the lead part, that is, not the songs).
Example.
Your rock trivia of the day!
Love Dr. John. I was fortunate to see him live a few times. Great shows.
How in the world is Alice Cooper getting in and the group Chicago hasn't been even nominated? Come on--I mean, I have the Album Billion Dollar Babies (with the babies in mascara on the liner) but really, to compare Cooper with a group that created rock classics over the course of 30+ albums is ridiculous. Supposedly Jann Wenner hates "progressive rock" but if enough people write maybe he'll back down. Start writing letters to the Hall ,Chicago fans!
The RRHF is a joke and always has been.
So true. We stopped in Cleveland on vacation a few years back just to go to the RRHF. My daughter liked it for the history. My wife, son, and myself were incredibly disappointed. So many of the bands aren't anything that could be considered "rock", the exhibits were hard to view, some were just hard to get to. It's a Pop Music Museum - not really a hall of fame.
I don't have a problem with any of these picks. Diamond's 60s sides were very good and he's in for his songwriting, too. Go listen to "Kentucky Woman" or "Cherry Cherry" if you doubt Diamond's rock credentials.
I still have Diamond's Hot August Night and think it's one of the best live albums ever (you know, in a group of about 30).
I would say it's not so much the Music Industry HoF, but the Punditocracy HoF. Critics hated progressive rock, which is why they've ignored Rush all these years. Ditto Chicago, although I'm really not sure why they're so dismissed.
I'd get all worked up over this, but I recall someone saying once that a R&R HoF is kind of antithetical to the whole rebellious nature of R&R in the first place. I think the whole concept is kinda stupid.
Good to see Dr. John on the list. The doctor is looking frail these days, but elegant and magnificent as ever. I've never seen him out without him being suited up, looking sharp. But the Night Tripper tops it off, in the fur-collard cape with little gris-gris adornments, and his wicked wooden cane.
There's a seafood place here, Jaeger's, whose foyer is lined with old photos of him playing guitar in some 50s soul/blues bands, all slicked hair and hep cat, before he was the Night Tripper. I love looking at those while I wait for a table.
ha! collared, not collard. Nothing wrong with collards, though.
I once had a boss who insisted we use Neil Diamond as background music for our Power Point presentations. You can't make this stuff up.
I saw both Neil Diamond and Tom Waits in the late 1970s play Madison (separately of course).
I wish them both well.
Oh and Alice Cooper too. Anybody else in Madison remember that show? December 1973? An unknown band called ZZ Top opened it up.
What Keith said... "What about Rush?".
I thought that after their excellent documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage" was released to great critical acclaim, and even got a Grammy nomination... OK, that's not such a big deal anymore. Still, as a musician, I've played the music of both Neil Diamond and Rush. If you ask me, and many of the other musicians I know scattered across the United States, to name the top ten artists who influenced your playing, well, I'll just say I suspect one of those acts would not be well represented on the list.
I just started a survey on my Facebook page on this topic. Here it is:
OK my musician friends - Here's the quiz: Name ten bands / artists who have influenced your playing. There is a purpose to this, which will be revealed after a while. I'm won't add mine yet, as I don't want to influence the choices. My non-musician friend can chime in too!
Ready... Set... Go!
I'll post the results in a few days.
Came here to say what Keith said at 11:43 AM.
Loved it when the band was on Colbert and he asked, paraphrasing, after all the platinum records, sold out tours etc., you're still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Any chance your next album will be called This Is Bulsh--?
Of course, when Colbert said it it was spelled correctly.
B-Boys, making with the freak freak, with the freak freak.
J Geils "First I look at the purse". What a great line that was in a rock song and had a good beat too.
In high school, me nephew worked on a Habit for Humanity project led by Bon Jovs. My nephew is only 21 and barely knew who he was but he & the other volunteers said Bon Jovi resembled the cigarette cartoon character Joe Camel!
On a serious note, Rush was bashing Bon Jovi's selection by the White House but Rush was wrong and uninformed IMO- Bon Jovi has done a lot for the poor and less fortunate for many years.
You people are going to have to I.D. your "Rush" so I know who the hell you're talking about. Is Neil Peart bashing Jon Bon Jovi? That would be kinda cool. But unlikely. But cool.
I think Rush should hire Rush to play his birthday party. Or his next wedding. Tom Sawyer. That would be funny. Mean, mean pride.
Listen to Sixty Grit, because he (she?) is correct. 'Fess lives on in New Orleans music.
Start herewith a clip from "Piano Players Rarely Play Together," a film by our friend Stevenson Palfi. Stevenson shot himself a few months after the storm; perhaps because his house flooded and he lost much of his work, including an in-process film on Edwin Edwards. There's no knowing why people do that, and dammit, I'm still angry at him.
There's some other great stuff in the Suggestions list that comes up on the right on that YouTube page: Big Chief, Go the Mardi Gras - and also something from James Booker. Booker tutored Harry Connick, Jr. and anything good Connick has done is traced to Booker. I can't stand Connick when he imitates Sinatra, but he certainly can play piano.
Dr. John is rock and roll but he shows its roots in R&B. Neil Diamond reveals another side, the Tin Pan Alley history.
But for every Hot August Night (a favorite of mine) there's a Jonathan Livingston Seagull. For every Sweet Caroline there's I am, I said (and on one cared at all, not even the chair.)
Why are Gershwin songs called standards, and Neil Diamond hits called classics?.....Nothing against Neil Diamond, but he's never had an OD or married a supermodel. Writing songs is his trade. He could just as well be a CPA. Don't let the sequins fool you. It's office attire for him.
NEIL DIAMOND????????
nyet.
Dr. John, yeah. Gris Gris for the peoples. Tipp-ah-teena, trah la la la......
And Waits.
Alice, eh.
My favorite Christmas song ever is the Dr. John / Leon Redbone version of
Frosty the Snowman
Merry Christmas!
Post a Comment