25 Worst Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: Cleveland.com article

Joan Jett rocks. Joan Jett has always rocked. Joan Jett earned her place in the rock n roll HOF.

 

But people say that Stevie suffices from Fleetwood Mac's induction (like the arguments that nobody is rushing to induct Sting, Phil Collins or Don Henley in because their famous bands already are in--- all three belong as solo artists more than Ringo), you could say the same about Ringo, right? John, Paul and George earned their solo inductions outside of The Beatles, Ringo had a few big hits in the 70s but its pretty arguable he never quite reached the same levels outside of the band the other three did. I think they just wanted a Beatles spoogefest, which to me would be like inducting solo Keith Richards or Mick Jagger just to keep the love for their respective band alive and pay homage yet again.

 

Agreed. The only Beatles that even bear consideration as solo artists are John & Paul.

 

The article is a typical flame piece on the RNRHOF. Everybody has a list of worthy candidates that are probably better than some who are already in, myself included. At the end of the day, the RNRHOF is really a museum that has a yearly induction in order to get new pieces into their collection and to honor some great musicians. However, even trumping that, their job is to induct acts that will bring people to Cleveland in order to actually go to the museum. I believe that is why some very worthy acts are overlooked for ones that are/were more popular. I'm not going to denigrate certain bands but not too many people are going to want to see artifacts from an "artsy" band, whereas they might be more motivated to go see them from an arena-rock type of group. When all is said and done, the RNRHOF is a business, first and foremost.

 

Johnny Nash got in before Ronstadt. Bonnie Raitt too.

 

It is rather astounding that Jethro Tull are not in the HoF. And I thought King Crimson were inducted? That is perhaps the biggest sleight of all if they're not.

 

This.
And put Duran Duran in the "Hair Style Hall of Fame" instead.

 

KC is not in. Jethro Tull is not in and I cannot imagine that they ever will be.

 

The Concert for Bangladesh gets George in by itself.

 

Jethro Tull will get in under the new category.................................Heavy Metal

 

In the current political climate they will probably soon introduce a 50% quota of female inductees so it's only a question of time until Britney Spears will be inducted.

 

I know some people are iffy about George, but I think All Things Must Pass and Concert For Bangladesh (as well as how he had a late career renaissance with Cloud Nine and the Wilburys) do make an argument in his favor. Kinda like how Stevie Nicks had a few great solo albums and a nice late period career renaissance, about 12 years after eligibility she got in. At least they waited about 10 years after he was first eligible to induct him. To me, Ringo is like inducting solo Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Roger Daltrey or Brian Wilson, which would essentially just be "we love the band so much we want to just stress how awesome they were by inducting the solo work of the guy in the band we love so much".

 

Silly article that put up false choices. In many of the examples both acts should be admitted, and other examples neither one should be admitted. Pure click bait.

 

if Cher isn't even in (and one could make a halfway decent argument in her favor), what makes people think Britney Spears will get in? Beyonce is the female pop star of that generation who will be the Madonna/Janet that actually gets in. Even Whitney Houston and Diana Ross (as a soloist) aren't in and they're both way more legendary. Britney is pretty low on the diva totem pole in terms of respect.

 

ahem, 50% female?..................no, no, no.............30% male, 30% female, and the rest split up amongst :
Transgender
Two-Spirit
Cisgender
Non-Binary
Genderqueer
Gender expression
Gender fluid
Gender neutral

 

Ringo shouldn't have been inducted - he got in because the Rock Hall thought it looked bad to have 3 Fabs inducted and 1 not.

He also got in via the "Award for Musical Excellence", not for "Performer", which comes with different guidelines...

 

Which to me is like putting solo Jagger or Richards in, just a way to wax how much they love The Beatles and not so much about the actual validity of his solo career.

 

I don't think Stevie Nicks should be in, either.

 

Baseball writers pick Rock Hall inductees? That's messed up!

 

"Cherry Bomb" is very well known.

The average Joe can't name a single VU song, so I don't think basic song popularity is the be-all...

 

Steve Jordan -

I was a kid in 1967, but I had a vast record collection. The unique thing about Ringo’s drumming from that period really started in ’66 with Revolver and when they stopped touring. He was already laying the foundation for a new, groundbreaking approach.

There was no doubt that Ringo was listening to his influences, and that’s what came out in his playing. And this is when they, as a complete group, started changing the landscape of recording. The songs they were writing really dictated his new style of playing and what the drums did. It wasn’t solely based on the Mersey beat anymore, with that open hi-hat and driving beat, which had been the hallmark of their sound. That was the major change in Ringo’s drumming. And then you add the sonic experimentation with the drums, which was also pioneering. In the recording process they now used compression, limiting, phasing, and backward recording. And then there was the use of the tea towels on his drums. So you combine those elements and you have sounds and playing that no one had ever heard before. All of this was brand new.

 

That’s not right. His first two albums, two of the most important albums in rock history, essentially what many consider the birth of rock and roll, are virtually all cover songs.

Jett on the other hand began writing when she was 16 in the Runaways, and continued - she wrote 50-60% of most of the 14 studio albums she released, although her biggest hits were covers. She gets extra points for being one of the few rhythm guitarists (and few women) to have a signature model - the white Gibson she bought from Eric Carmen of the Raspberries should be in a museum for all of the great riffs it’s given us.

 

When I saw some of their suggestions like Donovan, and Loving Spoonful, I stopped taking it seriously.

 

I don’t see popularity as a key factor at all, plenty of the artists receiving nominations have never been particularly popular.

Furthermore, both Genesis and Yes drastically changed their style in the 80s, moving away from progressive rock towards the mainstream. Not something King Crimson did. So your argument is unpersuasive there also (not to mention it seems to confuse popularity with influence)

 

Joan ended up covering Cherry Bomb herself though and releasing it as a single in the 80s, so even that doesn't really count since she reclaimed the song as a solo artist and placing her version on all of her Greatest Hits albums to date so a lot of people just associate it as a Joan Jett song