Iggy Makes the Hall

For anyone still giving a damn, the Stooges are now officially Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, along with Genesis, ABBA, Jimmy Cliff and the Hollies.

And Kraftwerk sits, bikes, and waits...

I can see all of those being worthwhile selections, except for Abba.

Don't get me wrong; I truly love Abba. But to me, they're just not "rock & roll." Pop, yes; superb music, yes; but not rock & roll. That's a different sound, style and sensibility. I like Madonna just fine, too, but she was never rock & roll either.

Oh well ... wonder if Abba will actually show up. From what I've read, you could count on one hand the times all four of them have chosen to appear together. And I think a performance by them, after all these years, probably would be embarrassing.

Either Bennie or Bjorn puts the odds of all four ABBAs showing up at 99-1. Agnetha apparently refuses to fly, which makes trans-Atlantic travel a bit of an obstacle. And whichever B-boy it was that said that also said that in all honesty, they're probably doing their fans a favor by not appearing together again.

Tony Banks says that Genesis is in talks with Peter Gabriel to actually show up and perform with them at the ceremony, which would make that show worthwhile if nothing else, and would be only right, since it's the Gabriel led line-up that deserves induction more than the Collins version. (Though I would contend that they were still mostly good as long Hackett was with them, then still had a few decent moments up through a couple of tracks on Abacab - "Keep It Dark," at least - then got pretty blah after that.

Which leads me to another question:

Setting aside attitude about the HoF — come on, give it a try, you might find it relaxing for a little while — let's consider the evening's musical performances. Sometimes an inductee's music will be performed by another artist/group. That usually happens when the induction is a posthumous one. It also can happen when a group that's being inducted can't all be there (e.g., Van Halen) or just isn't up to performing for reasons unknown (Sabbath).

Let's assume Abba isn't up to performing at the ceremony. Who would you like to see playing a tribute to them?

How about the other inductees? If any of them opt not to perform at the ceremony, who would you like to see play in their stead?

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If any of them opt not to perform at the ceremony, who would you like to see play in their stead?

I think the Decembrists would be pretty interesting filling in for ABBA, as long as they brought the Diamond girls (Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond, Shana Worden from My Brightest Diamond) who were their auxiliary vocalists on their last tour.

Costello should do the ABBA tribute.

If the artist(s) can't/won't play a the gig, who decides on their fill-in(s)?

Does Paul Schaffer get a vote?

In any event, I'm pretty sure (in the words of Phil Collins), "I don't care any-mo-oh-oh-ore."

Fucking finally.

Now they just need to induct the MC5. I'm surprised they haven't considering Dave Marsh has such a big influence on the nominating committee.

I'm pullin for the induction of Van der Graaf Generator into the Hall.

ace of base should play for abba... or grizzly bear.

speaking of genesis (and this may have been covered in these pages before, if so i apologize) but what is 'art rock'? is it just prog from england or is it something else?

"but what is 'art rock'? is it just prog from england or is it something else?"

As is typical in these matters, there aren't any real parameters, but I wouldn't say it's synonymous with prog--i.e. Laurie Anderson is "art rock." I think art rock is a more general, wishy-washy designation (which can include prog) for rock/pop music with avant-garde tendencies. I've heard Television described as "art rock" as well. Not sayin' it's right; just sayin' it IS.