Tuesday, October 16, 2007

This year’s artists nominated for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2008:

Afrika Bambaataa
Beastie Boys
Chic (were on last year’s ballot)
Leonard Cohen
The Dave Clark Five (were on last year’s ballot)
Madonna
John Mellencamp
Donna Summer
The Ventures

Five artists out of this list will be inducted into the hall in March 2008. Out of that list, Madonna is a lock, with Beastie Boys, The Dave Clark Five (2nd year in the running), and John Mellencamp being strong contenders.

ALOTT5MA does this interesting exercise where they determine whether a band/artist or musician is worthy of inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame using the “Keltner” list, which is usually used to evaluate whether a given baseball player belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1. Was the band/artist ever regarded as the best band/artist in pop music? Did anybody, while they were active, ever suggest that the band/artist were the best band/artist in pop music?

2. Were the band/artist ever the best band/artist in pop music in their genre?

3. Did the band/artist have an impact on a number of other bands?

4. Were the band/artist good enough that they could play regularly after passing their prime?

5. Are the band/artist the very best band/artist in history that is not in the Hall of Fame?

6 Are most bands who have comparable records in the Hall of Fame?

7. Do the band's records meet Hall of Fame standards?

8. Is there any evidence to suggest that the band/artist was significantly better or worse than is suggested by its records?

9. Is it the best band/artist in its genre who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?

10. How many #1 singles/gold records did the band/artist have? Did they ever win a Grammy award? If not, how many times were the band/artist nominated?

11. How many Grammy-level songs/albums did the band/artist have? How many Rolling Stone covers did they appear on? Did most of the bands who played in this many Rolling Stone covers go into the Hall of Fame?

12. If this band/artist was the best band/artist at a concert, would it be likely that the concert would rock?

13. What impact did the band/artist have on rock history? Was it responsible for any stylistic changes? Did it introduce any new equipment? Did it change history in any way?

14. Did the band/artist uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

Band/artists run through the Keltner already:

The O’Jays (merits induction – inducted in 2005)
Rush (not worthy – never nominated)
Phil Collins (as a solo act, not worthy, but would be in the running as part of Genesis)
Patti Smith (merits induction – inducted 2007)
Depeche Mode (borderline – New Order and The Smiths would be ahead of them in the line, followed by The Cure and Depeche Mode; never nominated)
Chic and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (worthy as pioneers in disco and hip-hop respectively both nominees in 2006, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five were inducted. Chic is on the ballot again this year)
The Replacements (worthy – eligible but never nominated)
R.E.M. (worthy and inducted in 2007)
John Mellencamp (worthy - nominated for 2008, vote pending)
Duran Duran (worthy – never nominated)
Metallica (worthy – eligible this year, not nominated)
Madonna (worthy - eligible this year and nominated)
Bon Jovi (worthy – eligible next year)

According to FutureRockHall.com, among those artists eligible for the first time this year -- but denied -- are Metallica, Sonic Youth, The Cure, Don Henley, 10000 Maniacs, Ice-T, Janet Jackson, Michael McDonald, Wham! and the Violent Femmes.

Artists are eligible for nomination 25 years after their first album released. In the next few years, we're going to see more nominees that reflect the rise and fall of arena rock (Metallica, Guns and Roses), the increased popularity of rap (Run DMC), and the rise of indie music that would pave the way for grunge (The Pixies, Flaming Lips, and Sonic Youth).

Eligible in 2008: Billy Bragg, Run D.M.C., The Smiths, Bon Jovi
Eligible in 2009: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave, Pet Shop Boys
Eligible in 2010: Stone Roses, Whitney Houston, L.L. Cool J, The Flaming Lips
Eligible in 2011: Crowded House, Guns N’ Roses, Yo La Tengo, Poison
Eligible in 2012: Pixies, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Soundgarden, Sinead O’Conner, Jane’s Addiction
Eligible in 2013: De La Soul, Massive Attack, Fugazi
Eligible in 2014: Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Pavement
Eligible in 2015: Smashing Pumpkins, Moby, Mariah Carey, Blur, A Tribe Called Quest
Eligible in 2016: Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey
Eligible in 2017: Beck, Radiohead, Dr. Dre, TLC, Rage Against the Machine

(source:
FutureRockHall.com)


Wiki - Inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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2 comments:

Jen said...

If influence is a criteria then Cohen should be a lock. If I hear one more version of Halleluah...

jpbenney said...

I have recently been doing this work myself to extend Throwing Things'. Have though confined analyses to artists who have never been considered by the Nominating Committee (ie. those which have Previously Considered: No on their Future Rock Legends pages.

I have already created pages for:

- The Smiths (don't merit induction; eligible in 2008)
- Slayer (merits induction; eligible in 2008)
- Sonic Youth (merits induction; eligible in 2007)
- Janet Jackson (borderline; eligible in 2007)

I intend to do quite a number of further artists completely ignored by the Rock Hall's Nominating Committee in reverse chronological order of eligibility. If you look on my site, you can check for updates.