2021 Rock & Roll HOF induction nominee screechfest

"the greatest female pure vocalist in the history of rock ‘n’ roll"

this needs some thought, lots in play here.

 

I mean, Aretha Franklin was a thing.

 

Eh.

She could sing. Powerful voice, great range. I think her voice was pretty devoid of character and there are any number of singers who I think are far better, but she could absolutely sing.

She wrote virtually nothing.

The band could not possibly have been more generic. Neil Gerardo was a pretty good guitarist but that's the extent of it.

(Favorite fact about Neil Gerardo: That's him playing the guitar solo on "Jessie's Girl" because the producer wouldn't let Rick Springfield do it himself.)

 

Taking this sideways, I heard "Voices Carry" by Aimee Mann today for the first time in years.

 

The third ‘Til Tuesday album is absolutely wonderful and I think I’m one of like 3 people who bought it. It’s “Everything’s Different Now.” She can get pretty mopey but her best stuff is terrific.

 

I saw Pat Benatar at Maple Leaf Gardens on the Precious Time tour and it was awful, she didn't have the stage chops in a venue like that and to me there was nothing noteworthy about her band, generic is a good way to put it (unlike Hall and Oates, for instance, who had a terrific band). Saw the Go Gos in 1984 and they were really good, tons of energy.

 

The Go Gos had what, 4 songs? They were a sensation for a very short period but for me are barely worth a nomination.

 

I think of Aretha as Soul/R&B, but that counts as Rock in the HOF context.

Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde jump to mind, and I think Stevie Nicks would for many people.

 

Part of me wants to know the name of the man who inspired “Voices Carry” but part of me thinks the song tells me enough about him to fill in the blanks.

 

A name is thrown around at Songmeanings.

 

Kathy Valentine was scheduled to visit our city last year during a tour promoting her memoir. In anticipation of that visit, I drove to Austin to interview her for a magazine story that would come out shortly before her stop here. We met in a grocery store community room in a high-dollar part of town, and she couldn't have been nicer.

 

Being reacted to on YouTube > being inducted into RRHoF?