2018 Nominees for Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Bathory · Apr 14, 2018

% 99.99999999 ???????

MikeVielhaber · Apr 14, 2018

Bathory said: ↑

% 99.99999999 ???????
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That's better.

x2zero · Apr 14, 2018

The HOF started well, it went off the rails years ago.

R. Cat Conrad · Apr 14, 2018

x2zero said: ↑

The HOF started well, it went off the rails years ago.
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Read Sticky Fingers for an overview of the HOF Wenner's and losers (pun intended).

Cat

longdist01 · Apr 14, 2018

Bon Jovi, Moody Blues Turn Out for Rock Hall Unveiling Ahead of Hall of Fame Induction

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Instagram: “Welcome to the Hall of Fame @bonjovi & #moodyblues thanks for being a part of our official dedication #rockhall2018”

Weezer's bassist to participate w/ The Cars stage performance.

zen · Apr 14, 2018

x2zero said: ↑

The HOF started well, it went off the rails years ago.
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I don't know about you, but early on....my friends and I could see this wasn't a good idea. Sure...everyone knew Chuck Berry/Elvis/Beatles inducted, etc.....Rock 'n' roll KINGS ...Check! But then where do we go and who is running the show....get my drift?

Dudley Morris · Apr 14, 2018

Bathory said: ↑

Dudley Morris said: ↑

Banned For Life:

TED NUGENT Bathory
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fixed
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refined

Dylancat · Apr 14, 2018

MikeVielhaber said: ↑

Hope so. That would be a real treat and the highlight of the ceremony for me.
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Still not certain if Pinder will perform.
First I heard that they will play two songs at the induction, and now heard possibly four.
Also read that the HOF picks the songs to be played.
Hopefully Pinder will be behind a keyboard for these songs.

SKean · Apr 14, 2018

Emerson

SKean · Apr 14, 2018

Lake

SKean · Apr 14, 2018

&

SKean · Apr 14, 2018

Palmer !!

Dylancat · Apr 14, 2018

Pinder appeared for photos with Lodge on red carpet at HOF.
But not at a pre induction interview with the other three after the red carpet.
So, appears not likely to perform.

Zoot Marimba · Apr 14, 2018

ampmods said: ↑

Here is my speech if I were to induct the Cars (which unfortunately I'm not):

Hello fellow rockers, industry parasites and various suck-ups and sycophants. I am proud to induct one of the greatest bands to ever play rock'n'roll, The Cars.

I can't think of another band in the history of music aside from maybe the Beatles that has as varied a fan base as the Cars. Weirdo kids like me loved them for their off-kilter approach to music and Ric Ocasek's lyrics about misfit kids like us. Pop fans couldn't get enough of their hooks and the magnetism of singer/bassist Ben Orr. New Wave afficiandos loved them for all those futuristic sounds and experimental embellishments of keyboardist Greg Hawkes. Classic rockers and Metalheads loved them for their technical prowess especially that of guitarist Elliot Easton. Punk rockers loved them for being different and having that defiant beat and punk pedigree of drummer David Robinson.

Everybody had their records in their collection. Everybody. There has never been a weirder band that has received constant airplay for decades. There has never been a better band than The Cars.

And tonight as we celebrate their legacy in Cleveland it's worth noting that the story of The Cars starts right here in the early 60s. Just down the road at WEWS channel 5, the Grasshoppers were the house band of a variety program called the Big 5 Show and featured lead singer, guitarist and Cleveland-area native Benjamin Orr. It was on that show that a recent transplant from Baltimore, Ric Ocasek, first saw Orr and the two became friends and later musical partners.

The two played together in bands until eventually making the big move together to Boston. There they played in various acts including Milkwood that recorded an album featuring multi-instrumentalist session player Greg Hawkes. The album and the act, fortunately for us, failed.

So Orr and Ocasek kept trying... as an acoustic duo in coffee shops and in rock bands like Richard and the Rabbits and finally Cap'n Swing which included guitarist Elliot Easton. Along the way Ocasek had amassed a collection of songs; some of which would end up as material for The Cars. In fact, the legendary WBCN in Boston and DJ Maxanne Sartori loved the material so much that she ended up playing their demo tape on air. But after even more rejection Cap'n Swing broke up and reformed with Hawkes on keys and former Modern Lovers drummer David Robison joining. Robinson suggested calling the new group The Cars... which in Boston is pronounced The Cahz. This was a group with a sense of humor.

So after nearly a decade of trying to make something happen, suddenly the Cars were an overnight success selling a million copies of their debut album in the first year. "Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "Bye Bye Love," "Moving in Stereo..." they were all over the radio then and they are still all over radio now... still sounding as fresh as they ever did.

That debut album was so successful that Elektra Records wanted to hold their 2nd album, Candy-O so they wouldn't be competing with themselves. When they did release it, it too was a huge success. But the thing with the Cars has always been that they would rarely ever repeat themselves. Sure they had a certain approach to how their songs were written and performed and produced. Those huge backing vocals alone would have been a signature sound for a lot of bands. But The Cars would always use the latest technology most evident in the work of Hawkes but also in sounds triggered by Robinson and various guitars and pedals of Easton. They tended to do something and then move on to something else.

And so they continued moving forward with the cold alienation of Panorama, the Buddy Holly meets Kraftwerk of Shake It Up and the pristine pop perfection of Heartbeat City. And maybe after all the success and the pressures and changes they were running low on fuel on Door to Door but there was still lots to love there too.

For me personally, I first really zeroed into the group after watching the 1979 movie Over the Edge on cable. That movie featured a couple Cars tunes as well as other favorites of mine like Cheap Trick and the Ramones. It was a movie about disaffected youth living in a planned community and the Cars and others were the soundtrack to their juvenile delinquency.

So unsurprisingly when I moved from Cleveland to a planned community in Florida the Cars became the soundtrack to my own juvenile delinquency. I first shoplifted a cassette of Panorama from Camelot Music. I palmed it inside my skateboard and walked out. I basically only listend to that album for months. Don't worry though I've purchased that album about 10 times over the years in various forms.

Although the first Cars album I bought was actually earlier at Uncle Bills in North Olmstead. It was Shake It Up on cassette to play on my new boom box. It was like magic to me. But we moved out of Cleveland and I left all my friends and extended family and rolled around the planned perfection of Coral Springs, Florida.

So when I was on my Panorama obsession lyrics like "I'm pullin my flag up 'cause I'm miles away with nothin to do 'cept think about you" it touched a nerve. And while so many of Ocasek's lyrics may be abstract, they were always so meaningful to me. They were fun to sing. They were perfect to hide behind. The music made me feel ok about not feeling ok. Just beyond the icy surface was a sweetness and understanding that was unlike anything else I knew. Something to strive for. That kind of cool.

My own music and songwriting are so in debt to them. They taught me about keeping a song interesting. Keeping it moving. And always keep moving forward.

I saw the Cars live twice. Once when I made a trip from Florida back to Cleveland to see them perform during the height of their success nn the Heartbeat City tour at Blossom Music Center. The stage set was huge with moving tvs and videos. It was such a huge production. Maybe a little too perfect in retrospect. Very different from the semi-live looking videos I saw on MTV of them performing "Dangerous Type" and "Double Life." My friends and I loved that concert. They performed an Ocasek solo song called "Jimmy Jimmy" which also felt like it was directly about me.

I next saw them after I too moved to Boston and they were supporting their fantastic reunion album Move Like This at the House of Blues. There was no stage set. And I went alone. I stood in the middle of the crowd near the front like a catholic tourist in Vatican City watching the pope. That night they seemed to be performing in kind of a seat-of-their-pants style. It was thrilling! Of course unfortunately it didn't include Orr who passed away in 2000.

I was lucky though in that I did get a chance to see Orr perform at a bar in Chelsea, Massachusetts at an event sponsored by the radio station I worked at. He was flawless in his performance. He did the Cars songs he was known for and solo material. His band seemed to consist of biker friends and amateur musicians from New Hampshire. After his set he sat outside on the deck near where I was drinking with friends and I was freaking out so much that he could sense I wanted to talk to him. And he nodded at me and I did come over and talk to him a bit trying to reign in my fanboy energy. He was very nice and answered my questions. Including when I asked him if the Cars might ever get back together again. He said it wasn't up to him.

A couple years later at another radio station event I couldn't go to there was apparently a reunion of sorts with everyone except Ocasek at the Paradise where they performed "Cruiser." Man I still can't believe I missed that.

But I hope that the Cars do record and perform again. And again. They have such a unique voice and their music has meant so much to me in my life.

Congratulations! Rock on
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Bravo!

Dylancat · Apr 14, 2018

Bon Jovi inducted first.
Thought they would be last.

Oatsdad · Apr 14, 2018

Dylancat said: ↑

Bon Jovi inducted first.
Thought they would be last.
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They do it alphabetically...

longdist01 · Apr 14, 2018

Cars, were next of course!

Oatsdad · Apr 14, 2018

longdist01 said: ↑

Cars, were next of course!
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Really? If so, crap - I was joking about the alphabetical thing but maybe I was right!

Bullis · Apr 14, 2018

It’s now like the baseball hall of fame. A big joke

Oatsdad · Apr 14, 2018

Bullis said: ↑

It’s now like the baseball hall of fame. A big joke
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The Rock Hall went downhill when they inducted known steroid users!

MikeVielhaber · Apr 14, 2018

longdist01 said: ↑

Cars, were next of course!
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And then Dire Straits?

Dylancat · Apr 14, 2018

No, it wasn’t alphabetical.
Bon Jovi, then Dire Straits, Sister Rosetta, then Cars...

Dylancat · Apr 14, 2018

Now Nina Simone

Murph · Apr 14, 2018

Dylancat said: ↑

Bon Jovi inducted first.
Thought they would be last.
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Least important first?

Bullis · Apr 14, 2018

Dire straits deserve the award

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2018 Nominees for Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Bathory 30 yr Single Malt, not just for breakfast anymore

MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

x2zero Forum Resident

R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

longdist01 Senior Member

zen Senior Member

Dudley Morris Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

Dylancat Forum Resident

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

longdist01 Senior Member

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

Bullis Forum Resident

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Murph Enjoy every sandwich!

Bullis Forum Resident

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2018 Nominees for Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Bathory 30 yr Single Malt, not just for breakfast anymore

MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

x2zero Forum Resident

R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

longdist01 Senior Member

zen Senior Member

Dudley Morris Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

SKean Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

Dylancat Forum Resident

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

longdist01 Senior Member

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

Bullis Forum Resident

Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Dylancat Forum Resident

Murph Enjoy every sandwich!

Bullis Forum Resident

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