2014 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees (Nirvana, Kiss, Deep Purple, Yes, Zombies, Linda Ronstadt...)

Is there consideration for previous years' nominees who did not get in?

 

Interesting list. It would be nice to see Yes, Deep Purple, Linda Ronstadt, Peter Gabriel and the Zombies get some recognition from the R&RHOF. But should they be again ignored I won't care.

 

Some of the nominees this year are acts that have been previously nominated.

 

Really? You don't think there was any interest in live PJ through 1994? (They didn't exist until 1990.)

Whether you like them or not, they became huge in 1992 and continue to have a pretty big, very intense fan base. Sorry this appears to bother you so much...

 

I'm a much bigger fan of PJ than of Nirvana, but IMO, PJ never put out an album that compares with "Nevermind". That one's just a killer from top to bottom...

 

Imagine looking back 100 years from now - an institution created to enshrine a couple select decades of contemporaneous (& already popular) pop-music artists. Inherent obsolescence.

 

I think it's a good list of acts. The only one I kind of disagree with is Cat Stevens. I never thought that James Taylor really should have gotten in either. I like the music of both of those guys, but I can't see why people would complain about Madonna or rap acts getting in but are OK with the mildest of soft rock singer-songwriters getting the nod.

 

Yeah, really - why not? They should've been nominated years ago...

 

I recall reading a quote from Kurt Cobain somewhere along the way that their aspiration when signing with DGC was "to be as big as the Replacements," or something to that effect. I'd argue that Nirvana took what the Replacements and Hüsker Dü had been doing in the 80s, added a dash of heavy metal to it, and the rest is history. Of course, the larger world doesn't necessarily see it that way, and, even though Nirvana are not my cup of tea, you can't argue with the impact and influence they had in their own right, and they deserve first-ballot induction, but if they get in and the Replacements don't, something is seriously wrong, in my opinion.

 

Still no Monkees...

 

I think all of the rock nominees besides the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Cat Stevens have pretty solid cases to make.

It's absurd that Deep Purple, Yes, Linda Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, and the Replacements aren't already in.

 

As I've mentioned in the past, the "that ain't RnR" argument became moot the first year - unless people really want to argue Sam Cooke, James Brown and Ray Charles was "rock artists". Non-rockers have always been a big part of the Rock Hall...

 

As an aside: it's odd that DP so often seem to get lumped in with prog, even though they're about as "prog" as the Allman Brothers and arguably less so than the Beach Boys. Most of their studio material is pretty straightforward heavy rock. Maybe it's Jon Lord's fault, what with his organ being prominent in the mix and that Concerto album.

 

Transalation: because I don't agree with the RRHOF's choices, there should be no RRHOF at all.

 

I didn't really mean to imply that they were prog, though they sometimes incorporated some proggy elements into their sound, particularly Lord. I think they were similar to Led Zeppelin in this regard. I just assumed that it was the same kind of objection that critics often make about the Hall: "Jan Wenner hates Prog/Deep Purple, so that's why they keep getting excluded."

Now Beach Boys as proto-prog--that's an idea I can get behind!

 

So says you...

 

They said seven of the nominees may be inducted, so I think they'll induct the following:

Linda Ronstadt
KISS
Deep Purple
Chic
Hall and Oates
Cat Stevens (Donovan paved the way for this nomination)
Nirvana (the only one that seems obvious from the list)

 

By the same token, someone like Joni Mitchell is even farther musically removed from Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry than those early influences, or even than "rap artists" such as Run-DMC, I would argue. Yet I don't often see the same wringing of hands over the inclusion of folkie singer-songwriters such Mitchell or James Taylor as I do over the inclusion of rap artists.

 

It's the same old argument: "rap isn't music, disco was noise, KISS was a gimmick (though that's partly true about them)..." blah blah blah. I definitely see them nominating Moody Blues. If KISS and Deep Purple both get in the same year, it'll pave the way for them. Watch.

 

No - not quite. Its a bit different than that. I love the museum concept, really. I only disagree with the notion of 'ranking' acts. To me a good museum, like a stereo, is 'invisible' while presenting a theme / story / image. In a neutral light and ideally, covering different perceptions including minority viewpoints.

That being said, the Hall Of Fame part is inherently redundant. 'Fame' is normally not dependent on an institution advertising that 'fame'.... right?

 

Like I had mentioned before, nothing against them, but...pretty lightweight. A good clutch of pop singles, but nothing groundbreaking, and I don't see them as a top-flight act, either in terms of impact or influence. It just seems odd to me that they would be chosen, as I don't see them standing out from the pack in any great way. I don't doubt their talent, but others seem more worthy.

 

Gene Simmons should buy the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame and close it down.

 

I do believe they are the best selling duo in music history (citation needed). Also, they pioneered the Rock & Soul concept which has influenced bands that follow the Rock & Soul concept.

 

Eye/ear of the beholder. I think H&O had a decent impact on pop music - they led "blue-eyed soul" in the 70s/80s and I suspect they made it easier for white R&B-based acts to be taken seriously in later years.

IIRC, they're also the most successful rock/pop duo in terms of record sales - I believe they sold more than S&G.

I'm not gonna cry and pout if they don't get inducted - I don't expect them to make it this time - but I think they're a quality nomination...

 

That's one thing that Hall gets right.