Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees - The Good, The Bad, & The Questionable?

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a place where musical Icons are celebrated, adored, and worshiped by fans from every continent on the planet. An multi national time capsule for all future generations to peruse. A place to admire the creators and innovators of this music genre who blazed a scortching trail to the very sacred halls of this monument. A brief history is certainly in order, but then on to comments, opinions, and criticisms regarding this growing institution. You may agree or disagree with my observations but I think certain critical aspects of this hall need to be addressed by the general public. It may seem insignificant at first glance however I can't think of another medium which influences our younger generation more so than music, especially Rock and Roll music

HISTORY & LOCATION

Created April 20, 1983 and now located in Cleveland Ohio on the shore of Lake Eerie, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was conceived and built as a monument to music artists, producers, and others who in did their small or large part to influence or forge a new musical path through their imagination and or vision.

The physical location was not chosen solely by the developers as is the case with most ventures of this nature but rather through a trifecta of aspects which all came together to make this domain of Rock & Roll music magic possible. Civic leaders in Cleveland presented a plan and offer of $65 million in public investment for actual construction costs, a petition signed by 600,000 music enthusiasts who prefered Cleveland over another candidate Memphis, and the final element which annointed and sealed Clevelands fate as the first and only venue for the R & R's Hall of Fame was the result of a rather large poll conducted by USA Today in which the public overwhelmingly favored Cleveland over all other candidates by 100,000 votes.

Some in the business will argue that radio personalities such as Alan Freed, a Disc Jockey in the area who was credited with coining the phrase "Rock and Roll" and who also lobbied aggressively for the Cleveland area was another deciding factor, also Cleveland, apparently the venue for the first ever rock and roll concert, may have been another factor at play. I personally think the drafting and waving around of such a sizable check was the true deciding factor but we really can't discount the raw power of effective lobbying especially when you have thousands of loyal radio listeners at the ready. In any event, everything was in place, the financing, the petition, and public support as expressed via the public poll. And the rest is history as it relates to the how and when this particular venue was chosen.

The GOOD

In this segment I will offer an opinion as to the artists whom I feel are deserving in one way or another to adorn the sacred rock n roll walls of the Hall of Fame. This is of course my personal opinion, an opinion which will emanate from a lifelong history of music involvement, mainly performing on stage with various bands playing a variety of different styles. I've personally performed on both the right and left coast of the U.S., and of course this certainly doesn't crown me 'King' of music knowledge so once again just to reiterate, this is my perspective as it relates to the those who I feel have significantly impacted rock and roll music and who have rightfully earned the accolade and deserve their induction. Here's my list of distinguished honorees. They are annotated by the year in which they were inducted.

• 1986- Chuck Berry - James Brown - Ray Charles - Sam Cooke - Fats Domino - The Everly Brothers - Buddy Holly - Jerry Lee Lewis - Little Richard - Elvis Presley 1987- The Coasters - Eddie Cochran - Bo Diddley - Aretha Franklin - Marvin Gaye - Bill Haley - B.B. King - Clyde McPhatter - Ricky Nelson - Roy Orbison - Carl Perkins - Smokey Robinson - Big Joe Turner - Muddy Waters - Jacki Wilson 1988- The Beach Boys - The Beatles - The Drifters - Bob Dillon - The Supremes 1989- Dion - Otis Redding - The Rolling Stones - The Temptations - Stevie Wonder

• 1990 - Hank Ballard - Bobby Darin - The Four Seasons - The Four Tops - The Platters - Simon & Garfunkel - The Who 1991 - The Birds - John Lee Hooker - Wilson Pickett - Ike & Tina Turner 1992 - Booker T. & The M.G.'s - Johnny Cash - The Isley Brother's - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Yardbirds 1993- Cream - Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Doors - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Etta James - Sly & The Family Stone 1994 - The Animals - The Band - Duane Eddy - Grateful Dead - Elton John - John Lennon - Bob Marley - Rod Stewart
• 1995- The Allman Brothers Band - Al Green - Janis Joplin - Led Zeppelin - Martha and the Vandellas - Niel Young - Frank Zappa 1996- David Bowie - Gladys Night & The Pips - Pink Floyd - The Shirelles - The Velvet Underground 1997- Bee Gees - Buffalo Springfield - Crosby, Stills & Nash - The Jackson 5 - Joni Mitchell - Parliament Funkadelic 1998- Eagles - Fleetwood Mac - The Mamas & The Papas - Loyd Price - Santana
• 1999- Billy Joel - Curtis Mayfield - Paul McCartney - Bruce Springsteen - The Staple Singers 2000- Eric Clapton - Earth, Wind & Fire - James Tayor - Bonnie Raitt 2001- Aerosmith - Solomon Burke - Michael Jackson - Queen - Paul Simon - Richie Valens 2002- Isaac Hayes - Brenda Lee - Ramones - Talking Heads - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Gene Pitney 2003 - AC/DC - The Clash - The Police - The Righteous Brothers - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
• 2004 - Jackson Browne - George Harrison - Prince - ZZ Top 2005- Buddy Guy - Percy Sledge - U2 - Pretenders - The O'Jays 2006 - Black Sabbath - Miles Davis - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sex Pistols 2007- Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Ronettes - Patty Smith 2008- The Dave Clark Five - Leonard Cohen - John Mellencamp - The Ventures - Madonna 2009- Jeff Beck - Little Anthony & The Imperials - Metallica - Run D.M.C. - Bobby Womack 2010 - Genesis - Jimmy Cliff - The Hollies - The Stooges 2011- Alice Cooper Band - Darlene Love - Dr. John - Leon Russell - Neil Diamond - Tom Waits

The BAD?

OK, First of all, to make sure were all on the same page with the following vernacular, 'Bad' means 'Bad' not 'Bad Good'. This category for the most part should be self explanatory. My opinion as it relates to the worst artists ever to be inducted, an artists or group who absolutely does not belong in the same galaxy let alone the same pedestal or building as the aforementioned maestros of their craft. I sometimes wonder how certain artists made their way into such a prestigious and elite very small group of what should be the best of the best. The criteria or 'bar of excellence' to grace this venue with your presence should be far above the average or norm, it should be at nose bleed levels. Just as the Baseball Hall of Fame inducts only those players who have achieved a certain lofty threshold of accomplishment, I believe the same high standards should be met by rock and roll artists. And yes I do know 'It's only Rock n' Roll', however this genre of music is one of the most influential to our children, and if we set the bar of achievement for induction at 'Mediocre' or 'In the right place at the right time', what kind of message does this send to the kids? You don't have to strive for excellence to be acknowledged as the best, just be mediocre and hope for the best?

So enough said, here's my list of artists whom I believe absolutely do not belong in the same building as the true greats. Who honestly believes ABBA as entertaining as they are, should be ranked right up there with the likes of The Beatles, or Chuck Berry, or even Bob Dylan. Do any of the following artist's body of work really stack up to all the truly great artists listed in the previous paragraph? You be the judge. And I would be very interested in hearing your feedback if indeed you have a different opinion.

• 2000- The Lovin' Spoonful
• 2001- Steely Dan
• 2002- R.E.M.
• 2010 - ABBA

The QUESTIONABLE?

And here we have the last category which once again should be self explanatory, "The Questionable", those artists who in my opinion are performing an imaginary balancing act on the invisible border line somewhere between legitimate & illegitimate inductee. My first nomination for this illustrious semi climatic award is Van Halen. Yes, I realize Eddie Van Halen is a superb guitarist and innovator who developed a unique style all his own and to this very day students are working tirelessly to emulate this lightning fast guitar virtuoso, but then again, Steve Vaiwho in my opinion is heads and shoulders above Mr. Van Halen has yet to garner a second look for induction. Van Halen as a group did produce two phenomenal albums or "CD's" but do they honestly deserve to be in the same prestigious venue as the Beatles? Or the Rolling Stones? or Chuck Berry? Or even Elvis? I think you know what my thoughts are on this. And then we have Blondie, a new wave group fronted by the adequate vocal talents of Debra Harry. Sure they were on the cutting edge of the new wave movement but I certainly don't think they were in the same league as say The Clash or The Police, nor to my knowledge did they produce as many substantive songs. The remainder of the list I think speaks for itself and once again, if you have a different opinion please let me know, I would certainly like to hear from you.

• 1990 -The Kinks
• 1991 - LaVern Baker - The Impressions - Jimmy Reed
• 1992 - Bobby Blue Bland - Sam & Dave
• 1993 - Ruth Brown - Van Morrison
• 1996 - Jefferson Airplane - Little Willie John
• 1997 - The Rascals
• 1998 - Gene Vincent
• 1999 - Del Shannon - Dusty Springfield
• 2000 - The Moonglows
• 2001 - The Flamingos
• 2004 - The Dells - Bob Seger - Traffic
• 2006 - Blondie
• 2011 - Dr. John - Tom Waits