Rock n Roll hall of Fame-WHAT THE HELL? (1 Viewer)

[Jay_B!]

what's with all the Blondie bashing? Parallel Lines is as much a classic album as that of anyone else getting in this year has had IMO. They're by far my favorite of the 2005 inductees.

 

[Jay_B!]

well, while Rush has had some success, I would argue that Queen is the better known of the two groups. My dad is seventy and he has a copy of "Queen's Greatest Hits" even. I like Rush better between the two but they do not have a "We Will Rock You", "Another One Bites The Dust" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" style song that the entire world knows.

 

[Jan H]

The Sex Pistols belong in the HOF for the same reason Bill Haley and the Comets do (I suppose). They were the first bands to exemplify their genre of music. They were pioneers, and yet another example that the HOF does indeed recognize influential bands regardless of their actual artistic merit.

 

[Jan H]

Undoubtedly, Queen is more popular than Rush and they've sold more records worldwide (Sales are irrelevant??). But whatever Queen does, it ain't rock and roll. It's more like Broadway.

 

[Brian Perry]

Stu,

Unfortunately, you may be correct in your assessment; but I think you could rephrase the points and say that an entire genre of music (progressive rock) is being penalized for:

a) not being "black" enough
b) selling millions of records
c) being instrumentally proficient
d) inspiring other bands (for better or worse)
e) writing longer, non-radio-friendly songs

I just don't see any valid argument by which Blondie gets in over Genesis, Yes, or Rush.

 

[Robin_B]

Jeez I just read through this whole thread and now my head hurts.

What I think everyone is overlooking is that the HOF only inducts so many artists per year and there have been a hell of a lot of artists over the last 50 years. So eventually a lot of the groups and artists mentioned here will be inducted but it just takes time. I suppose you could argue over who gets priority but then you'll be arguing until the cows come home.

Personally I don't really care. Who is in the Hall Of Fame and who isn't doesn't change what music I listen to one iota.

 

[Greg Thomas]

I'm still trying to figure out how Blondie got in also. Actually I just looked at the list of inductees and I'm surprised not to see Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Genesis and Aerosmith already in there. No telling what the qualifications are.

But like somebody else said earlier, I don't think about the Hall until they announce the new inductees.

 

[Jay_B!]

since when Blondie suddenly become hated? The Pretenders are in and Deborah predated Chrissie for crying out loud

 

[Craig S]

Look again. Led Zeppelin & Aerosmith are in.

 

[andrew markworthy]

No - and anyone with a scintilla of knowledge of the history of popular music would disagree with you. The Sex Pistols were a necessary evil - they paved the way for the tighter guitar-based sounds of the bands that followed like Elvis Costello, The Police, etc, right through to REM. And they swept away the weaker elements in the existing music scene. The better prog rock acts (Floyd, Genesis, Yes, etc) all survived and indeed thrived - check their album sales if you don't believe me. What was kicked out were the also-rans like Greenslade, Badger et al. And also (praise the Lord) disco got booted out of the singles charts.

Going back on topic, I think that it's not so much the choices as some of the omissions that are perverse. I've no objection to the folks who have been inducted, but if they are going to be that all-embracing, then a heck of a lot of other acts should be in there as well. Progressive rock deserves its place just as much as e.g. R n B or soul (perhaps more so because R n B and soul are incredibly limited musically whereas at least prog rock tries to be adventurous). Although critics feign to dislike it now, try digging up what they were saying about prog rock in the seventies. The music that gave people pleasure in each decade should be given is due recognition, no matter what people think about it now.

 

[BrianB]

So disco should be in, then?

 

[Rachael B]

"What the hell"...The real Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is in HELL, not Cleveland...

 

[andrew markworthy]

Yes - it has just as much right as soul, which has as tangential a link to 'rock'. And if anyone can argue why e.g. Percy Sledge has had a bigger influence on popular music than Kraftwerk or the Bee Gees then I'd love to hear it. What I or others personally think about it is immaterial. E.g. not everyone likes Shakespeare's works, but only a complete ass would deny his importance.

 

[Philip Hamm]

The Rock and roll hall of fame is an irrelevant joke. Rock and roll artists kind of give it legitimacy by performing there and I suppose it is an "honor" for them. But it's an absolute laugh. A marketing thing.

Being in the R&R hall of fame is about as relevant to true greatness in rock and roll as having your name registered in the "Star Registry" is to serious astronamy.

 

[Jay_B!]

Queen weren't rock and roll at all? Keep Yourself Alive? Tie Your Mother Down? Fat Bottomed Girls? I Want It All?

 

[Jay_B!]

will someone answer me why it was okay for Pretenders to be inducted last year but Blondie getting in is similar to Milli Vanilli?

I mean, if you consider the two groups, you'd see a lot of similarities, except Blondie did it FIRST. I don't get why after years of being treated as legends suddenly the thought of Blondie in the Hall Of Fame is treated with the same type of scoff that Samantha Fox would get?

 

[Eric Peterson]

I don't get it either quite frankly. I do believe that they were a borderline act, but I also thought the same of "The Pretenders". Blondie definitely deserves their spot, but personally I feel there are more relevant acts still sitting on the outside looking in like Peter Gabriel & The Cure.

For those Blondie haters out there, you really ought to pick up some of their material and listen to it. As somebody already pointed out "Parallel Lines" is a significant album. I honestly didn't know much about them until I picked up the 2-disc collection about 8 years ago, and I was blown away by much of the material on there. There is much more to this band than "Heart of Glass".

 

[Henry Gale]

 

[Craig S]

It actually already is, IMO. I would argue that the Bee Gees got over the hump largely on the massive critical & popular success of their disco-era work, specifically the "Saturday Night Fever" tunes. They just beat other disco era acts because their career started back in the 60s. If the Bee Gees output had consisted solely of the gentle pop from that phase of their career, I doubt they would have made it in.

 

[Robin_B]

I would hardly classify the Bee Gees as a disco group. Four or five dancable songs in a career spanning over 40 years makes you a disco group?



I guess you could argue that a lot of artists/groups fall under the "significance" and "perpetuation" part of the criteria rather than the "influence" and "development" part.