Re: Hall of Fame inductees

Pistols, Blondie, Sabbath, Skynyrd, Miles Davis

I sure hope Ronnie James Dio gets to be on stage with Sabbath.

Miles Davis is curious ... I guess he gets inducted on the strength of his late '60s/early '70s fusion material, but that's kind of weak. I always thought Skynyrd was overrated. I'm happy to just have their greatest hits collection, and even that could be pared down to just one vinyl disc (don't know whether or not it's a one- or two-CD set.

I do hate the whole concept of a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Like Ron House, I think it should be blown up.

> Like Ron House, I think it should be blown up.



why do you want to blow up ron house?

He hasn't had the most distinguished career, but I have to agree that wanting to blow the poor guy up seems excessive.



Post Edited (11-28-05 22:12)

Not excessive at all. Ron House is one of those sacred cows that the record industry uses as an excuse to reissue back catalogs.

Hey, G.G. Allin qualified this year. What gives, Rock Hall voters?

I have loathed Lynyrd Skynyrd ever since the then-still-breathing Ronnie Van Zant for no reason other than pure stupidity hurled a cymbal and then a full bottle of Jack into the audience at a Who concert they were opening in Largo MD. The Zildjian nearly scalped me.

Skynyrd's plane crashed on my birthday.

What a coincidence: Ron House crashed my birthday party.

what a coinkydink: I crashed trying to watch Run's House and had a dream about Ronnie or Johnnie or Donnie or some Van Zandt scalping tickets for the Who...............................
BTW I saw that same tour when Skynyrd opened up for the Who and supposedly "blew the Who off the stage"......yeah, didn't happen at the show I attended, and when they dropped the Southern flag at the end of the 27 minute "jam" on "Free Bird" they barely got off the stage being pelted with rocks, garbage and shoes. The whole Southern tough guy shit didn't fly, Van Zandt was barefoot fer chrissakes, shades of dirty hippie. I tried to cut 'em a little slack since the guitar player used to be in the Strawberry Alarm Clock even.

Ahhh, there's more to Skynyrd than meets the eye, my friends. Notwithstanding the deplorable attempt on Ira's life, RVZ's ongoing dialogue with Neil Young showed wit. (Even a cursory run through their catalog demonstrates that whatever these guys were, they were NOT racist Dixiecrats.) And "Saturday Night Special" is a Jeanne-Claude-Van-DAMN cool song.

On a tangent, what are the odds that a surname like "Van Zandt" would pop up so frequently in the rock pantheon? Intriguing.

FWIW, my own attitude(s) about the incoming crop of inductees:

Black Sabbath - A deserved induction, for the greatness of the band's classic work and the undeniable influence it had on subsequent generations. Tony Iommi ended up sullying the band's reputation, in the long run, by continuing to record and tour under the name even though he was the only original member on board. At least the original quartet was eventually able to get back together. (And frankly, Rhett, I'd be pleased if Dio was there to accept the award along with Iommi, Osbourne, Butler and Ward. I saw Sabbath on its first post-Ozzy tour, and I thought the band was great with Dio in the vocal slot. It sure went downhill fast after Dio left, though.)

Blondie - A richly deserved, long overdue honor. The band's best work holds up beautifully. I saw them on the *Parallel Lines* tour, and thought they were terrific. I saw them again a few years ago, on the *No Exit* tour, and they still had the magic.

Miles Davis - A curious choice, IMO. Surely one of the most important American musicians ever, and yes, his late '60s/early '70s work did have its influence on rock, but I think Patti Smith (who was one of the semi-finalists) would've been a more deserving selection. (That said, the one time I saw him perform, he gave a stunning show.)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - A band that may have had their great moments, and may even have had their influence. Like Iommi, though, Gary Rossington didn't know when to call it a day. He ended up dragging the band's reputation through the dirt by continuing to tour, bringing an endless parade of ringers on board, long after it had become nothing more than a job to him.

Sex Pistols - We can all talk about whether the whole idea of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is worthwhile or even good, but just for the moment, let's set that aside and acknowledge that the Hall of Fame exists. And let's assume, just for the moment, that one of its *ostensible* purposes is to honor the rock & roll artists who have undeniably enriched and advanced rock & roll, as a whole. (I can almost hear Paganizer coughing, even as I type these words.) Given those assumptions ... If anyone on this board thinks the Pistols don't belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I sure would like to hear it.

Now, all that having been said ... The fact that Cat Stevens was even on the semi-finalists' list does an awful lot to refute the assumptions I outlined above. If HE'D been inducted, I might have gone so far as to blow up Ron House, or throw a Zildjian cymbal at his head, or something.

BTW, just out of curiosity ... is anyone on this board among the RRHF voters? Anyone?



Post Edited (11-29-05 14:41)

what is rrhf?

"what is rrhf?"

The angry sound my German Shepard makes when he finds out Patti Smith and The Stooges have been passed over again.

Speaking of which.......who gets to go up and accept the award?
Mighty big stage to hold all of the Sabbaths ( including Terry Chimes of the Clash, half of Deep Purple, even Rob Halford sang with 'em fer chrissakes, not to mention every drummer who recorded with a "supergroup"). Which Blondie group gets the award? How many Skynyrds does it take to screw in a light bulb?
And when the hell are they going to put The Stooges, Patti Smith and the Dolls in?

Who accepts the award is, I guess, up to the inductee(s). When The Clash were inducted, four people were on stage: Jones, Simonon, Chimes, and Lucinda Strummer, Joe's widow. Chimes mentioned Topper Headon, and gave him credit where it's due; I understand Topper's health problems precluded him making the trip.

It's fairly common to have relatives of a group's deceased members join the surviving bandmates onstage during the induction ceremony. AC/DC were joined by two of Bon Scott's nephews, and Led Zeppelin had John Bonham's two childred on the stage with them ... and my, what a freak show those two were.

Of course, that's just optional. When the Pretenders were inducted last year, only two members of the band took the stage: Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers. They did give tribute to James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, and did say thanks to their current bandmates -- who've been in the Pretenders' line-up for 15 years.

I suspect that at this upcoming induction, the line-up of Blondie that steps up to get the award will probably be the current core line-up: Harry, Stein, Destri and Burke. They tour with sidemen, who probably won't take to the podium with them. The "classic" and current line-up of Sabbath are one and the same: Butler, Ward, Iommi and Osbourne. I doubt that anyone other than those four will step up on stage that night to share Sabbath's moment in the spotlight.

I imagine that Lydon, Jones, Cook and Matlock will step up to get the award for the Pistols; I don't know who they could invite up to join them to represent Sid. If I recall correctly, the actress Cicely Tyson is Miles Davis' widow; she will probably accept the award on Davis' behalf. (Maybe she can accept the Pistols' award on Sid's behalf, too, while she's in the neighborhood.)

As for Skynyrd, that band has so many deceased members and has included so many ringers over the years that all bets are off. (It wouldn't surprise me if Gary Rossington simply accepts the Skynyrd award by himself ... since relationships among the former members and their families have become very contentious and strained over the years.)

The Stooges and Patti both were semi-finalists on this go-round. I don't know if the Dolls ever have even been nominated.

I don't think there will be any problems on who shows up when the White Stripes get in in the year 2024

Agreed. By that time, Meg will have to be up there by herself, because Jason Stollsteimer will have finally risen up and taken Jack White out. What goes around comes around.

i'm a HOF voter. Blame me for all of it.



Post Edited (12-01-05 07:31)

> i'm a HOF voter. Blame me for all of it.
>


jerk!