2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Yellfest

Randy Newman - He'll eventually get in.
Public Enemy - Absolutely.
N.W.A - Definitely.
Donna Summer - Sympathy vote on her side, not that she's undeserving.
Rush - Absolutely
Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Probably not.
Chic - No.
Deep Purple - Maybe, need some more cowbell though.
Heart - I think they'll eventually get in.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I could see it going either way. She definitely has enough hits to get in, and her stuff holds up, but most of her best songs were covers.
Albert King - Probably not.
Kraftwerk - Loved "Tour de France" back in the 1980s, but I don't see them getting in.
Marvelettes - No.
Meters - No.
Procol Harum - I don't know if it's fair, but they seem to be known for just one song, even though it's a great one...

 

If we're down to Kraftwerk and Chic, can Starland Vocal Band be next? ... Paper Lace, anyone?

 

By-tor and the Snow Dog keeps them out again

 

Randy Newman - No.
Public Enemy - Yes ... should be a shoo-in.
N.W.A - Yes, but I'd put Dr. Dre and Ice Cube in before.
Donna Summer - Yes. Very important figure in disco era.
Rush - No. No. NO.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Who?
Chic - Perhaps, but Donna Summer should get in first.
Deep Purple - I'm on the fence.
Heart - No.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - No, though the Runaways were an important group.
Albert King - No.
Kraftwerk - An important group. If anyone from this genre gets in, it should be Can.
Marvelettes - No.
Meters - Good group, but no.
Procol Harum - No.

I know everyone talks about the HOF omissions of Kiss and Rush, but where is Todd Rundgren? He put out some great albums in the 70s, produced one of the better selling albums of all-time (Bat Out of Hell) and was at the forefront of Internet music delievery in the 90s.

 

That's an interesting point about Joan Jett. Would she have a better chance if it was just her nominated, for her work with both bands, and her solo stuff, rather than just the stuff with the Blackhearts?

 

Every single part of this makes me feel just fine for thinking Rush should be in.

 

Really, Kraftwerk = Starland Vocal Band?

You should get your ears out more.

 

Time for my annual letter:

Dear Jann Wenner,



Cordially,

CK

 

For Jann Wenner and all the other haters: Here's how Rock is supposed to sound ...

 

This is an interesting debate. Dr. Dre has had more influence on rap as a solo artist, and Ice Cube was (excluding a few N.W.A. staples, substantially) better as a solo artist. But they're five and three years from being eligible for the Hall.

N.W.A. were seminal, but were they that good? By any objective measure, Straight Outta Compton was their only very good album. They fell apart when Cube left, largely because he had been writing for Eazy E and Dre.

Of course, there's the legacy factor. Has any group ever had a more fascinating split? Suge Knight threatened to kill N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller if he wouldn't let Dre out of his contract. The dis tracks were everywhere in the early 1990s.

I think I'm one of rap's biggest advocates on this board, but I think Cube and Dre should get in for solo work and N.W.A. should be omitted. They weren't the first gangsta rappers; Ice-T predated them and arguably had a better rap career. And one great album, an album that doesn't measure up to the consistency and quality of Cube's first two or Dre's first, doesn't seem like enough to get a group in. Joy Division had two classics and paved major roads for post-punk and goth that followed, and they haven't whiffed the Hall.

Moreover, there are so few rap groups in the Hall. I don't think N.W.A. can claim the actual influence on the genre that Rakim had, though N.W.A. had a much greater influence on pop culture. Rakim was eligible this year for the first time. I'd like to see him make it. I'd like to see De La Soul make it in two years for more than 20 years of true excellence. I'd hate to think late-1980s and early 1990s rap would only receive credit for gangsta.

Dre should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Cube should get in. I'm on the fence about N.W.A., though their influence in bringing gangsta rap to the mainstream probably gets them in eventually. I don't see two rap groups getting in this year, and Public Enemy is the obvious top tier of this class.

 

I think you have to look at NWA's influence. Yes, Dre and Cube were more successful as solo acts, but that was one hell of a supergroup. Straight Outta Compton was one of the best albums of the 1980s and it holds up today.

Does it hurt Public Enemy's chances that none of them had the success as solo acts that NWA did? I don't think so. Public Enemy had more top albums than NWA. I think both bands will get in this year.

Dre will definitely get in eventually as a solo act. I don't know if I would say the same thing about Cube.