Althouse: "The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2015 are in, and the list includes Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A, the Smiths, Lou Reed and Sting."

October 9, 2014

"The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2015 are in, and the list includes Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A, the Smiths, Lou Reed and Sting."

"The rest of this year's hopefuls are the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Chic, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, the Spinners, Stevie Ray Vaughan, War and Bill Withers."

Reading all that, the first thought that came into my head was Beechwood 4-5789, you can call me up and have a date any old time...

ADDED: Of this list — Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A, the Smiths, Lou Reed, Sting, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Chic, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, the Spinners, Stevie Ray Vaughan, War, Bill Withers — your humble blogger has seen only 3 in concert. One twice. Can you guess which?

69 comments:

Anthony said...: I'm philosophically opposed to this whole Hall of Fame thing for rock/pop. That SRV wasn't in by now makes its uselessness pretty clear.; 10/9/14, 4:52 PM
El Camino Real said...: The fact that Green Day is on the same list as Lou Reed makes me throw up in my mouth a little.; 10/9/14, 4:53 PM
Yancey Ward said...: How is Green Day and Nine Inch Nails on this list? I like Nine Inch Nails, and figure they should get in some day, but Green Day is about as bland as it gets. In any case, they are just too recent.; 10/9/14, 4:58 PM
Curious George said...: No, no, no, no, no, and no.; 10/9/14, 5:00 PM
Curious George said...: SRv yes. Bill Withers. He should be banned forever for "Lean on Me."; 10/9/14, 5:02 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Only a few of these artists did "Rock and Roll".

We really need a Post-Punk Commercial Pop Hall of Fame, a My Guitar Only Plays With This Distortion Setting Hall of Fame, and and a bunch of others.; 10/9/14, 5:17 PM
FullMoon said...: No Paul & Paula?
Say, how many druggies on that list?

Gotta go, I'm waitin' for my man...; 10/9/14, 5:19 PM
Mark Nielsen said...: No credibility. They've previously denied the Electric Light Orchestra, the Moody Blues, and last year, Yes. But the Beastie Boys somehow made it.; 10/9/14, 5:48 PM
traditionalguy said...: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is my guess.; 10/9/14, 5:52 PM
traditionalguy said...: Joan Jett is a hard driver like our Professor. And Joan certainly loved Rock and Roll and was not afraid to tell everybody.; 10/9/14, 5:57 PM
J2 said...: Lou Reed; 10/9/14, 6:00 PM
eddie willers said...: My guess for Althouse:

Lou Reed, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, & Joan Jett; 10/9/14, 6:05 PM
SteveR said...: Yeah you saw Lou Reed- the Rock 'n' Roll Animal Concert; 10/9/14, 6:05 PM
averagejoe said...: I'll guess that Althouse has seen Paul Butterfield, Bill Withers, and Lou Reed twice.; 10/9/14, 6:06 PM
John Althouse Cohen said...: Green Day is ... just too recent.

Really, making it big 20 years ago after putting out a few albums before that is "too recent"? How old does an inductee have to be?; 10/9/14, 6:07 PM
sean said...: Hmm, Lou Reed is the only one I've seen.; 10/9/14, 6:07 PM
J2 said...: Lou Reed twice. The other two: Paul Butterfield and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Because I too was born in 1951.; 10/9/14, 6:09 PM
Carol said...: Did Paul Butterfield ever have a hit? I used to listen to them when they were very UG. I didn't think there was a hit until some of the members went to Electric Flag.

Proud to say I saw both live. '68 baby!; 10/9/14, 6:16 PM
madAsHell said...: I'll guess that you've seen Lou Reed twice.
If it wasn't Lou Reed, then it was Sting, or Bill Withers.; 10/9/14, 6:16 PM
MadisonMan said...: I will guess you've seen Stevie Ray Vaughan twice. Maybe Lou Reed.

I'd like Kraftwerk to get in. And the Marvelettes. But it seems like the Hall of Fame isn't really resonating with me any more.

Does that mean I've aged out?; 10/9/14, 6:16 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Lou Reed twice is correct.; 10/9/14, 6:18 PM
David53 said...: Ours was ULysses2-1608. Back in the day.; 10/9/14, 6:20 PM
Irene said...: I guess Nine Inch Nails was the third.; 10/9/14, 6:20 PM
Patrick said...: My guess is she saw Sting, Lou Reed and Paul Butterfield.

If she had seen SRV, it likely would have been the show right before he died, and it seems that would have come up on the blog.; 10/9/14, 6:21 PM
J2 said...: The Smiths once; 10/9/14, 6:22 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Lou Reed, twice, Paul Butterfield and SRV.

SRV not getting a nomination till now? Pathetic.; 10/9/14, 6:27 PM
Joe said...: Where are The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull (& Ian Anderson), Styx, Sweet, Kansas, Foreigner, America, The Cars, Three Dog Night, Warren Zevon, Todd Rundgren, Doobie Brothers, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Harry Nilsson, The Carpenters, to my thunderous disbelief, Supertramp and many more.

(If any of these are on the list, I missed them. Sorry.)

But, the Beastie Boys and [nominated] Green Day?; 10/9/14, 6:31 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Thanks to Lollapalooza, I saw NIN and Green Day. Liked NIN. Saw The Smiths, Lou Reed, SRV (Multiple times...), Joan Jett, Kraftwerk and Sting as part of The Police. Not bad.; 10/9/14, 6:33 PM
Bob R said...: I was at a conference in Cleveland and went to see the RRHoF. As a museum it was OK: if you like looking at old instruments, costumes, posters, album covers (and I do) it was work the price of admission. The connotative dissonance is awful: we are immensely profitable corporate products/ we are rebels who don't play by the rules - a family friendly celebration of sex and drugs.

The most glaring omission in the hall is Carol Kaye in the side(wo)men category. One of the great studio bassists of all time. She has a great resume, but it looks like she included a few things she shouldn't have, and the old boys from Motown resent that. Evidently, you can be a wife beater, pederast, thief, or a junky, but padding your resume is a bridge too far.; 10/9/14, 6:46 PM
Bob R said...: connotative = cognitive; 10/9/14, 6:47 PM
fivewheels said...: Lou Reed twice for Althouse was kind of a gimme. I'll guess that the others were in a chaperone capacity.

I've only seen NIN and SRV (six times, which was not even close to enough).; 10/9/14, 7:10 PM
Robert Cook said...: Lou Reed deserves to be in the R & R Hall of Fame...but I've never liked him.; 10/9/14, 7:17 PM
jr565 said...: NWA does not deserve to be in the Hall Of Fame,. If they're in why not 2 Live crew while we're at it.?; 10/9/14, 7:19 PM
lgv said...: I was about to type Lou Reed, when I saw you had provided the answer.

Green Day?

It's a shame more people have not experienced SRV.; 10/9/14, 7:21 PM
Robert Cook said...: "How old does an inductee have to be?"

I believe performers have to have had their first records released no less than 25 years before the first year they can be considered for induction.; 10/9/14, 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...: It's 25 years from first release, so 1989 or 1990?

NIN has been around forever. I've liked them since the beginning and it's been a loooong time. Green Day I thought was a bit later, but I just checked and it was 1990 for their first release. The rest should have gotten in earlier and are on the wallflower bench.

Soon it will be silly to call it rnr however. They should stop inducting new ppl at that point and just play catch up with all the old ones, then shut it down and let it continue as a true museum of the past.; 10/9/14, 7:25 PM
Brando said...: There's something weird about inducting people and bands into a hall of fame while they are still performing. Like sports, it should only be eligible for retired or dead acts.

And Green Day sucks.; 10/9/14, 7:25 PM
chickelit said...: The only act I saw from that list is SRV. Twice in fact. I'd like to have seen Joan Jett when she was in The Runaways.; 10/9/14, 8:26 PM
RecChief said...: SRV and Joan Jett should be shoe-ins; 10/9/14, 8:35 PM
Mark said...: Without reading the comments: Lou Reed, the Smiths, and Joan Jett.; 10/9/14, 8:35 PM
Phil 314 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/9/14, 8:36 PM
Phil 314 said...: "Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn"

The summer I was introduced to pot.; 10/9/14, 8:38 PM
William said...: My personal hall of fame is the music I put onto my playlist. I've got one song from Lou Reed on it. Yeah, that one. I was never sure if the target audience of his music was recovering drug addicts or people who thought that drug addiction gave one useful insights into the mechanics of the universe. Velvet Underground. Lou Reed. They were as sentimental about drugs as Irving Berlin was about love in June. It's all gilded crap.......Next to John Lennon, I like Marianne Faithful's rendition go Working Class Hero best. I recently learned that, on her mother's side, she is a Hapsburg and even entitled to claim some kind of Austrian title. A Hapsburg knows things about being a working class hero that are hidden from the rest of us.; 10/9/14, 8:48 PM
Bob R said...: I had guessed Lou Reed twice on a time and place basis. Althouse was young and in NYC at a certain time, but with law school and young kids to force concert-going into a fairly random pattern. I put Joan Jett in for the same reason, but I'd have to roll dice for the fourth choice.; 10/9/14, 8:54 PM
Patrick Henry was right! said...: Stevie Ray Vaughan is not in already? ???????? How is this possible?; 10/9/14, 8:56 PM
Malesch Morocco said...: The Butterfield Blues band & the smiths; 10/9/14, 9:05 PM
Babaluigi said...: Wir fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn...; 10/9/14, 9:18 PM
Babaluigi said...: Ah, Phil3:14 you beat me to it with the Kraftwerk lyric, that one line has just stuck with me!

I have never taken the time to try to understand the parameters used in the selection of nominees--but it always is such an interesting mix! The thing is, some of them seem like they should be getting in before others just out of seniority or something....I guess Lou Reed is a sure bet this year...; 10/9/14, 9:23 PM
Ben Calvin said...: I've seen three as well, but probably not the three Althouse has seen: Spinners, Kraftwerk and Lou Reed. And I did see Joan Jett several times, but that was when she was in The Runaways.

Out of all the nominees Kraftwerk had far and away the most influence, at least if you discount Lou Reed as the Velvet Underground is already in the hall.

It's impossible to think about Electronic music without Kraftwerk. Of course at this point it's not really a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but who's counting.; 10/9/14, 9:39 PM
Revenant said...: Joan Jett didn't make it? Bah.; 10/9/14, 10:25 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Only one I've seen from that list is NIN--only one worth seeing.

There's something weird about inducting people and bands into a hall of fame while they are still performing. Like sports, it should only be eligible for retired or dead acts.

Then you'd have a R&R HoF without the Stones, which would be preposterous. Speaking of which, I saw them in Toronto last year--Keith is starting to show his mileage a bit (though he came alive for Jumpin' Jack Flash) but Mick has still totally got it.; 10/9/14, 10:30 PM
chickelit said...: Late-breaking SCOTUS news for "Wississippi"* link
________________

*h/t: gavage mahal; 10/9/14, 10:47 PM
mccullough said...: Love Straight Outta Compton but when did gangsta rap qualify for the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame?; 10/9/14, 11:42 PM
Joe said...: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts will get in for the simple reason that the so-called hall of fame is desperate for woman acts and anyone who peaked outside the range of the mid-sixties to mid-to-late-seventies.

(The more I think about it, the biggest snub of all is Todd Rundgren. The man didn't just write and perform music, he engineered, produced and/or been consulted about recordings for dozens of major acts.); 10/9/14, 11:49 PM
Unknown said...: i was very lucky to have seen kraftwerk at the young age of 12, on a very rare american tour. i knew nothing about their music or cultural importance, but in hindsight it was a very significant musical experience.; 10/10/14, 12:10 AM
Douglas B. Levene said...: I'm guessing Butterfield, Lou Reed and Joan Jett.; 10/10/14, 1:28 AM
Douglas B. Levene said...: I saw the Paul Butterfield Blues Band play at a small club in Cambridge in 1967 or 1968. It was the second rock concert I attended. The first was the Blues Project, which was so long ago that men were required to wear ties or turtlenecks. I still can't believe that Danny Kalb never achieved guitar god stardom. The third was Moby Grape at the East Village Theater (later renamed the Fillmore East). Wow, that was an amazing band.; 10/10/14, 1:35 AM
WhoKnew said...: I envy all those who saw Paul Butterfield and I wish I had had the opportunity. I still listen to him regularly. The only one on the list I've seen live is Lou Reed and I was sorely disappointed that he didn't have any colored girls to sing 'doot doot doot doot doot doot" (did I get enough doots in there?). The show was in Milwaukee, so it's not like he couldn't of hired some locals to fill in. That's what Ray Charles did when he played there and didn't want to pay to bring the real Ray-lettes with him.; 10/10/14, 7:50 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Chic; 10/10/14, 7:53 AM
Robert Cook said...: I saw Joan Jett once...when she was still a teen member of the Runaways and they were opening for the Ramones on tour. Cherie Currie had left the band and it was continuing as a four piece, with Joan as primary singer.; 10/10/14, 8:03 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Lou Reed is the correct answer for the one I saw twice.

The other 2 are Green Day and Nine Inch Nails.

Don't forget that I had 2 sons and I was the one who drove them (plus their friends) to concerts when they were too young to drive. Of course, I attended the concerts myself, some of which were in Milwaukee.; 10/10/14, 8:10 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I saw Lou Reed once when he was great -- Rock and Roll Animal -- and then maybe only a year later when he was shamefully bad -- and I had caused others to go see him on my assurance that he was great. My credibility was shot to hell.; 10/10/14, 8:11 AM
Carter Wood said...: Saw Lou in NYC in '85. Eh. Was OK. Glad Robert Quine was on guitar, but Fernando Sanders destroyed Lou's sound for nearly a decade.

Saw him at the 9:30 Club again in 2011 (?). Just awful. The years and dope had caught up with him. And this was with Steve Hunter on guitar!; 10/10/14, 8:24 AM
Known Unknown said...: I was hoping it was N.W.A, but we all know the Prof is a white supremacist like the rest of us.; 10/10/14, 8:48 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I was hoping it was N.W.A, but we all know the Prof is a white supremacist like the rest of us."

It's a good question: What black artists have I gone to see in concert.

Offhand, I can think of: Koko Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Odetta, Richie Havens, Prince, Carmen MacRae, Smokey Robinson...; 10/10/14, 10:27 AM
Richard Lawrence Cohen said...: You saw Prince? Where was I, making chopped liver?

Charles Lloyd at the Village Vanguard.; 10/10/14, 10:35 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "You saw Prince? Where was I, making chopped liver?"

I don't know what you were doing. It was 2004 or 2005. In Chicago.; 10/10/14, 11:14 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Except for NWA, this list reminds me that, since the Grammy's, Macklamore and Iggy A are currently being sold as the two top Rappers in the world.

Sure they are.

Oh well:

At least in the RNRHOF, white supremacy has been giving way,...; 10/10/14, 2:18 PM
Richard Lawrence Cohen said...: A little late to see Prince, Ann.

I just mentioned Cassandra Wilson on another of your threads and I can't even remember whether I ever saw her or not. I have a visual image of seeing her in a club (for "New Moon Daughter"?), but maybe it's just her album covers. They're as good as most people's live performances.; 10/10/14, 5:13 PM