Huey Lewis & The News Worthiness For Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

Finally Found A Home rocks.

 

Madonna has songs that could be considered "complicated." Consider "Like a Prayer." There's a lot going on in that fantastic song.

 

A lot of what going on?

 

Shakin'. She's really got the bull by the horn. Further, I would venture that she got chicken in the barn. Whose barn ? What barn ? My barn.

D.D.

 

You’re wasting your time. He’s decided that Huey Lewis and the News are genius creators who will continue to influence musical history for generations to come. I stopped debating. Perhaps you should too

Ed

 

OP is trolling.

Here is a previous thread that I'm sure he is proud of:
Poison 1986-1991: Virtuoso Musicians and Great Chemistry

 

There are plenty of bands in front of them but yes, they should be in.

It’s a Hall of FAME, they were huge in the 80’s, and there’s already been multiple inductees no more deserving than them.

Not every single band has to be the most groundbreaking band ever to warrant appreciation/recognition, God. Hard to imagine why people quickly tire of snobs.

 

Just induct everyone who ever put out an album and be done with it.

 

Thank goodness we have a Rock & Roll HOF -- so people can argue over who belongs there, and then have their feelings hurt when somebody disagrees that their favorite band isn't good enough for the stupid hall.

 

See, here's the thing : The name is indeed the Hall of Fame but they try to pawn it off as more than that. Ever read the induction criteria ? Here's your chance :

"Artists—a group encompassing performers, composers and/or musicians—become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll."

Not a damned word about "fame " but lots of high-minded talk about "unquestionable musical excellence" and "significant impact" so "huge in the 80's" doesn't necessarily cut it. If some of the acts that were "huge in the 80's" got inducted, your head would likely explode. Are there indeed multiple inductees no more deserving than Huey Lewis & The News ? May well be but if the floodgates should just be flung open to any chucklehead that can hold a mike up to his or her kibble chute and ululate, maybe they should just drop the facade and just make it the Rock & Roll Hall of Unit-Shifters. If there's any snobbery going on in terms of who is or isn't inducted into this tourist trap, it's on the part of the self-styled rock gurus who are running the grift. And I'd be cautious about calling people who don't share your Huey-love "snobs". It kinda opens doors which are best left closed...

D.D.

 

yes, it's a joke so it doesn't matter...

 

unless you consider the cesspool it is and take it all lightly...argue? never worth the trouble. Rollingrag has no credibility worth arguing about...

 

I do not, and have never, understood the criteria for the Hall Of Fame...critics seem to love Velvet Underground - okay. But the masses are for sure more familiar with acts like The Monkees, the Moody Blues, Neil Diamond, War....only 2 of which are in, and even then, after a long, long wait... Not knocking the VU, but when you constantly hear from the critics how "influential" they were? Nary a soul heard them when they were current... Huey Lewis is in the same position as the Monkees, et. al., except he hasn't gone through any sort of "hip" critical renaissance, so the chances of him being inducted are nil, I'm afraid

 

that's why it's a joke...like a high school popularity contest...

 

Exactly...

 

AFAIK, the News did not perform on "Cruisin'".

 

Led Zeppelin is just a basis for comparison in terms of innovation. The Hall has inducted them, so they are a good yardstick for who and who is not worthy of the Hall. I'm throwing it out there for discussion, since the "anti-Huey in the Hall" contingent hasn't suggested any artists by which to compare Huey Lewis and the News, in terms of innovation.

Led Zeppelin grew their popularity on the backs of uncredited Jake Holmes ("Dazed and Confused"), Anne Bredon ("Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"), Willie Dixon ("Whole Lotta Love" and "Bring It On Home"), Chester "Howlin' Wolf" Burnett ("The Lemon Song"), and Ritchie Valens ("Boogie With Stu"). Huey Lewis and the News, on the other hand, never took credit for other artists' innovations. They also properly credited composers when they relied upon other writers.

 

You have also yet to show a single innovation that came from Huey & the News. They served up pleasant tunes with decent radio hooks, had some hits, and went away. They never had a great singer (decent but not great) or a great instrumentalist in the band. Heck, most only know Huey's name and have no clue who the others are. I assure you I can't name most of them off the top of my head. They did nothing to take their chosen mode of music forward in any way.

I couldn't care less about Led Zeppelin but Robert Plant has been long hailed as one of the best rock n' roll front men in history, Jimmy as one of its best guitarists, John Bonham as one of its best drummers, and John Paul Jones as one of its best bassists. Innovation be darned when you have a collective this strong. In leaning heavily on the blues for their brand of hard rock, many bands were influenced by them - Whitesnake/David Coverdale & Guns N' Roses chiefly among them. Heck, most hard rock bands site Led Zeppelin as an influence. I'm fairly certain even Huey would be cringing at your attempt at comparison.

Not a good comparison at all, really.

Ed

 

`

Earlier in the thread, I already discussed the band's innovations in the three rock 'n roll pillars of writing, recording/performing, and producing. As a self contained band, they always had their hand in these aspects and often accomplished it all themselves, which is rare as a hen's tooth in rock 'n roll.

Also, Huey Lewis and the News have lasted longer than Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was the act who "went away" in addition to their steep decline in recording new material and garnering acclaim after 1974. Led Zeppelin's acclaim leans heavily on the 1968-1974 period, when the band wasn't properly crediting other artists for their songs. From 1975-1980 the band only recorded two albums of brand new material. It isn't surprising that once Led Zeppelin stopped using other artists' material for their albums, their fanbase and
rock 'n roll fans in general are divided on how important that later material is to rock 'n roll and to the band's own legacy.

Zeppelin had a six year window of a heavy recording career that we base their acclaim on, while Huey Lewis and the News had an eleven year period in which they innovated in writing, recording, and producing hits on the rock 'n roll and pop charts. The reason why we need to give Huey Lewis and the News their proper respect is that it is difficult and rare for artists to do what they did for eleven years. Neither the Beatles, Nirvana, CCR, The Police, Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds, The Doors, The Clash, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, nor the Velvet Underground had the ability to work collectively to write, record, and produce their own music over an eleven year period. Huey Lewis and the News' staying power speaks to the power of the band's love for music, for each other as fellow musicians, and for fans of rock 'n roll.

 

LOL!!!!

Ed

 

You don't think Hall & Oates was a worthy entrant? They are the single-most successful recording duo of all time, and they had strong material through two decades plus an additional 3 decades of ongoing success as a touring and occasional recording act. And Daryl's "Daryl's House" project has been an utterly unique and influential thing in the last 10-12 years. I thought they should have been in easily at the very first opportunity. (Although I do agree they are more of a singles act than an album act).

 

Sports and its predecessor, though, were decidedly NOT mediocre.

 

You know that this discussion was created as a joke and to start arguments. But, Huey is no less worthy than Madonna or Abba or Chic. Same thing to me. Can't belive Abba is in there. And Bon Jovi by overwellming popular demand. People really dig Bon Jovi. What's the difference between Jovi and Huey nothing to me.

 

Huey is much more qualified than Madonna, Chic, and Abba, given that Huey regularly charted on the Billboard mainstream rock 'n roll chart and those other artists were disco artists or (Chic) a R&B artist.

 

Yeah, Hall & Oates are in the upper echelon of the artists inducted so far.