The list of new inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame was announced, among them Tina Turner, Carole King, Foo Fighters, and the Go-go's . . . yeah, I had to do a double take on that too.
Tina is way past due to be inducted; she doesn't need induction to validate her talent, that's for sure. Carole King, sure . . . great song writer and talent. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters--he's already been inducted once with Nirvana--the man is cool as can be and talented without question, therefore deserving in my opinion.
The Go-Go's? Seriously? I'm not saying they don't have talent--you can't top the charts and have the success they had without talent, so that's not the question. They will be inducted as the first three females in their category/class. Again, not that their not talented, but given who have been left off . . .
Rush was only recently inducted, a long-term oversight (or snub) which has finally been corrected. Heart took a long time to be inducted as well, two of the greatest rocking ladies on the planet, Ann and Nancy Wilson. There is a band still around, many of whose members have been session players for countless artists; that band is Toto. Say what you want about Toto, but their musicianship is widely respected. They backed up Boz Scaggs back in the day; Steve Lukather (along with Eddie Van Halen) played on Micheal Jackson's Beat It--Lukather did a number of other tracks on Thriller as well. Among others are Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Alice Cooper, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Earth, Wind, and Fire . . . and so many others.
This kind of talent doesn't deserve to be in the RRHOF?
Chuck Berry belongs there (is there), Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Aretha Franklin . . . all are in and all are deserving of the honor for their contributions and influence.
ABBA is in there . . . and I like some ABBA, and I would argue they have been influential. Electric Light Orchestra is in there . . . they were my boys growing up, but I'm not entirely certain of their overall influence on rock--Jeff Lynne, absolutely.
Every year I find it harder to wrap my head around how such an incredible group of musicians is kept an outlier by the very institution they helped grow.
Tina is way past due to be inducted; she doesn't need induction to validate her talent, that's for sure. Carole King, sure . . . great song writer and talent. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters--he's already been inducted once with Nirvana--the man is cool as can be and talented without question, therefore deserving in my opinion.
The Go-Go's? Seriously? I'm not saying they don't have talent--you can't top the charts and have the success they had without talent, so that's not the question. They will be inducted as the first three females in their category/class. Again, not that their not talented, but given who have been left off . . .
Rush was only recently inducted, a long-term oversight (or snub) which has finally been corrected. Heart took a long time to be inducted as well, two of the greatest rocking ladies on the planet, Ann and Nancy Wilson. There is a band still around, many of whose members have been session players for countless artists; that band is Toto. Say what you want about Toto, but their musicianship is widely respected. They backed up Boz Scaggs back in the day; Steve Lukather (along with Eddie Van Halen) played on Micheal Jackson's Beat It--Lukather did a number of other tracks on Thriller as well. Among others are Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Alice Cooper, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Earth, Wind, and Fire . . . and so many others.
This kind of talent doesn't deserve to be in the RRHOF?
Chuck Berry belongs there (is there), Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Aretha Franklin . . . all are in and all are deserving of the honor for their contributions and influence.
ABBA is in there . . . and I like some ABBA, and I would argue they have been influential. Electric Light Orchestra is in there . . . they were my boys growing up, but I'm not entirely certain of their overall influence on rock--Jeff Lynne, absolutely.
Every year I find it harder to wrap my head around how such an incredible group of musicians is kept an outlier by the very institution they helped grow.