Here's a chance to help a Hall of Fame voter

My ballot:

ABBA
Patti Smith
Kraftwerk
Black Sabbath
Clash
Elvis C.
Police
Sex Pistols

I like the fact that the Hall has a very broad definition of rock & roll.

 

ABBA
Black Sabbath
MC5

 

Here's my choices:

AC/DC (Since Sabbath doesn't want it)
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Chic (if your gonna have Disco it might as well be good Disco)
MC5 (kick out the Jams!)
The Police
The Righteous Brothers
Sex Pistols or the Clash (flip a coin)
The Patti Smith Group

 

You people have good tastes.

 

Yes, he means the group CHIC! You know, "Good Times", "Le Freak", "Want Your Love", "We Are Family", "Upside Down", Like A Virgin"...Bernard Edward's thumping, expertly played, innovative bass playing...

MY choices include:

ABBA
Chic
The Clash
The Police

Also, I notice most folks on this thread voted for their favorite musc.

 

My vote would be (with highest ranked first)...:

Elvis Costello & the Attractions
The Clash
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sex Pistols
Black Sabbath
The Patti Smith Group
AC/DC
The Police

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

All in all, not a great list of choices. Here's my take:

Abba - No (To me this is saccharine pop drivel, not rock)
AC/DC - No
Black Sabbath - Yes
Chic - No (Disco, not rock)
The Clash - Yes, definitely
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Yes, definitely
The Dells - No
Kraftwerk - No
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Yes, though not a resounding yes
MC5 - No (not enough of a body of work)
The Police - Yes, but not enthusiastically
The Righteous Brothers - Maybe
Sex Pistols - No (see MC5)
The Patti Smith Group - No (see MC5)
Steve Winwood - No (though Traffic should be in)

 

My vote goes to:

Elvis Costello & the Attractions
The Righteous Brothers
The Patti Smith Group
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sex Pistols

 

I'd go in this order:

Obvious choices:

1. Police
2. The Clash
3. Elvis Costello & The Attractions (those first three albums just rule)
4. Black Sabbath

Solid nominees:
5. AC/DC
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd

On the bubble:
7. Patti Smith Group
8. Steve Winwood (not necessarily for solo work, but for Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Traffic)

I think Chic is great, but there just isn't enough work there. Same goes for the Sex Pistols. Kraftwerk is amazingly influential, but if influence is the criteria, than The Stooges would have been in ages ago.

 

I agree.

Agreed. As some others have mentioned maybe Abba could be in the Pop Music Hall of Fame.

Maybe there could some sort of special entry for Steve Winwood but based on his combined work with Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Go, and Blind Faith. Folks, While You See A Chance is about as rock and roll as Bruce Johnson on the Beach Boys - Sunflower album. When you hear Johnson's songs, you realise he doesn't have a rock and roll bone in his body.

My preference in order:
1. Elvis Costello and The Attractions (A no brainer! Disappointing to see a few voting no on this one.)
2. Sex Pistols (They shook up the music industry. I may have mentioned this in another thread but if it wasn't for punk rock/new wave, we'd be listening to Have A Nice Day - Volume 145 now. )
3. The Clash
4. The Police
5. Patti Smith Group
6. MC5 (small discography but major influences on many alt.rock bands of the 80s and 90s.
7. Kraftwerk (godfathers of the whole synth/techno genre of music)
8. AC/DC (Is this entry for the Bon Scott lineup? I would chose AC/DC based on the Bon Scott years, and to respect Ozzy's request.)

 

The reluctance or refusal of many to pick ABBA or Chic reinforces that the majority of the active members are more familiar with and listen more to hard rock.

 

I also like the broad definition of rock the Hall of Fame has. Rock has never been an easy definition for me, anyway. It always seemed like the offspring of so many popular music forms that has continued to mutate and give birth to other ideas and sounds. Chic and Kraftwerk may not fall in an easy rock definition the way, say, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Tom Petty does, both great bands that are more traditional in their music, but think of the cross-pollination that's gone on between electronic music, disco, and rock. Bowie's collaborations with Eno, "Miss You" by the Stones, etc.

Anyway, I think disco does have a place in the rock and roll hall of fame, as long as it's really good disco. Even if there was a separate institution of equal stature dedicated to disco (which is very unlikely to ever happen), I'd still put a vote in for Chic. Just too damn good, in my book.

Still waiting for the Stooges and the Dolls to get that call (and the Mekons, and Roxy Music...)

 

My picks from the list, in order and with brief commentary:

Steve Winwood--a great soul singer. I don't care much for his 80's pop stuff, but his singing was always a marvel. Pretty dab hand at the B3, too.
The Police--an astonishing band, truly greater than the sum of its parts, and one whose legacy can be heard, loud and clear, today.
Elvis Costello & the Attractions--I'm hard to please with singer-songwriters, but Elvis gets through to me on that level AND as the frontman for a superb band. Like Winwood, Costello is a musician's musician.
Black Sabbath--I don't know why Ozzy doesn't want to be on the ballot, but they certainly deserve this honor.
The Clash--brief but intense career that made a permanent difference in the musical conversation that followed.
Chic--Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers made catchy disco music, but they did it in a very interesting, even avant-garde manner in many cases, and pushed the envelope in a way that leads directly to Prince and to a lot of the more experimental dance stuff today.
Lynyrd Skynyrd--When I listen to their music, they're always more interesting and provocative than I remember. Tough guys with a real sense of irony, a great sense of humor, and reach-for-the-stars guitar fireworks.
The Righteous Brothers--When you say "blue-eyed soul" you have to have them in mind. They didn't do all that much to change the world, other than "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," but in the latter case, especially, they're a textbook example of rock-and-roll sublimity. And how many of those do you need to be immortal?

The rest are either deserving but not as deserving, or I'd like to give them a little longer on the "test of time" exam.

Gardo