Every year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its inductees, and every year, different groups of my friends explode in different types of outrage about who has, YET AGAIN, been left off. (I remember when Wanda Jackson was finally inducted. My rockabilly pals – including myself – were all like, “FINALLY. JESUS GOD.”)
Regardless of oversights, it’s always somewhat amusing to see the list of artists all together. Because it’s so bizarre and they all come from different worlds and make different kinds of music.
The 2016 list is no different.
N.W.A., Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Chicago, and Steve Miller. Try to imagine these guys on the same bill … Chicago and Steve Miller I could see. But the rest?
I love the quotes from some of the artists in reaction to the news. Rick Nielsen, Cheap Trick’s guitarist: “I’m verklempt … Live at Budokan wasn’t too bad. Getting our first record deal wasn’t too bad. Doing 5,000 shows, not too bad. But this might get moved right to the top of our résumé.”
And both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre expressing amazement not only that they are on the list – that their music (so controversial – then and now) has reached such a wide diverse audience (it was the thing that nobody expected – that mythical “crossover” thing that cannot be predicted or planned for, but is out there in the culture, waiting … for whatever combination of things: artist, song, zeitgeist, etc. to push it through to the other side). In their comments, you can also hear the amazement of artists who have reached the top of their own industry, and STILL can’t believe that they did it. Still can’t believe how far they’ve come from where they started. I think that’s one of the best things about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yes, they get things wrong, they leave people out. And yes, the whole thing is kind of silly anyway. BUT: it gives the audience a chance to see superstars in a place of emotional vulnerability, something that yet ANOTHER Grammy Award or whatever does not do. It’s the emotion of actually being present to a lifetime of accomplishment. None of these people were GIVEN anything. Privileged background or no. Art is tough. It’s not the most talented who survive and make it to that level. It’s the most dogged and the most driven. They had to carve their own path, choose the alternate route … over and over again, and then just keep going, in the face of insurmountable odds. Because that’s what being an artist is about. Think of all the great bands who remain just local phenomenon, or bands who have one good album and then flame out, or bands who tour and tour and tour, and have nice careers, but never explode into that other heady atmosphere. So to see these artists – in their 50s, 60s, and beyond, reacting to the approbation and appreciation of the entire industry for their lifetime of accomplishments … it’s emotional. I love it. I love the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts that go on every year.
NWA has had a hell of a year, with this and Straight Outta Compton. Imagine Eazy-E’s reaction to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Imagine how much he would have loved that. There’s a bittersweet feeling to the induction, but I loved Ice Cube’s comment that maybe Snoop Dogg will sit in for Eazy-E at the ceremony. Heart-crack.
And Cheap Trick. Who’s better than Cheap Trick?
I find the annual angst expressed over who’s in/who’s out to be equal parts frustrating and amusing. I think Dave Marsh nailed the RRHOF’s raison d’etre a long time ago. I don’t recall the exact quote but the essence was, “look folks, rock and roll has reached the point where it’s going to have institutions, the only question in whether they’ll be good or bad.” I’d add it’s also bound to have flaws because, last I looked, it’s a human institution. People who insist that “it shouldn’t exist” are too pure to live.
That said, an awful lot of folks (including the artists themselves) change their mind about just how valuable the whole thing is after they actually visit it. The museum itself is overwhelming and, once you’ve sat in the big hall up top and seen the highlights from every act, every year, watched (and heard) Led Zeppelin run into the Shirelles run into James Brown run into Joni Mitchell or the Band and on and on and on–once you realize that, when that sound system is cranking, a girl group number like “Tonight’s the Night” rocks every bit as hard as “Black Dog,”–you also realize there’s nothing else remotely like rock and roll and this is a pretty darn good and necessary place. Just sorry I can’t visit every year.
NJ – I’ve never been, can you believe it?
I just finished the Sam Phillips biography by Peter Guralnick – have you read it yet? Great stuff. When the Hall of Fame was starting to be planned out, Phillips really gunned for it to be in Memphis (which makes more sense if you think about it), and was really mad that things went another way.
And yet, of course, he accepted his award when it was given to him. If memory serves, he gave a kind of crazy rambling speech – which he was wont to do, scolding everyone in the room in that prophet way that he had. I’ll have to go back and check the book.
I’m glad that place exists too.
The angst about who “gets in” reminds me of the Oscar frenzy which seems (at this point) to just be an excuse for critics to have their own Super Bowl.
The problem is: Critics honestly believe – like, they LITERALLY believe – that someone can WIN. The Awards are an excuse for an industry to come together and honor accomplishments and pay tribute to stuff they think worthy. I’m not being naive. I really there’s a lot of money in it. But the people I know who actually work IN the industry – don’t feel as ferociously about it as the critics do. They’re too busy WORKING.
But critics honestly believe that one movie or actor or whatever does ACTUALLY win. And then it justifies them having championed that movie over the last year, and they get to do a victory lap in the end zone. I’m embarrassed for critics who act like that.
That being said: I really should go – maybe on one of my road trips to Chicago I could stop by.
I also want to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame – right now there’s a Sam Phillips exhibit going on.
Oh, the places I would like to go.
I managed to go three times between 1998 and 2000 and haven’t been able to go since (it’s a lo-o-n-n-g way from Florida!). But I think you would love it. One thing that was striking was how alive it always was. One day some guy from KISS is walking by you in full makeup (they were doing some sort of meet and greet and the line was out the door). One day a couple of twelve-year-old white girls are sashaying down the halls doing the hand motions to “Stop In the Name of Love” (music’s coming over the loudspeakers naturally). One day there’s a group of thirty or so six-year-old black kids on the ground floor, field trip from school obviously, and the Isley Brothers’ “Who’s That Lady” starts and when it reaches the chorus they all start singing along, just the one line, totally spontaneous. Everybody starts in perfect time, very softly. They sing the one line, the teacher says “Shhh,” and they stop in unison, in perfect time.
Yeah, I could see you getting into a place like that even if they didn’t have Buddy Holly’s glasses and the suit John Lennon wore on Sullivan!
Oh my gosh, you describe it so beautifully – it sounds wonderful!!