Well today was that day that happens every year when the R&R HOF gets announced and the blatant insane disrespect for so many rock and metal bands is once again on full display. It is infuriating for so many of us. I know I said I will chill with this because it has become so absurd it actually shouldn’t even be given attention. But many have said it is important for me and others to continue to call this out and shed light on what a joke it is. You see so many have NO IDEA how many bands have been snubbed for decades. They just assume bands like Deep Purple and so many more are already in! Alice Cooper told me when he finally went in after being snubbed like 15 years his friends had just assumed he was in already! Nothing against Green Day but for them to go in 1st ballot 1st time while Deep Purple sits for 20+ years is so insane you can’t even begin to figure it out. Deep Purple actually showed up a couple times on the ballot and this year weren’t even on it at all! I guess Joan Jett finally scored enough points with the Hall to get in but it seems like it took her singing a Nirvana song last year for them to realize it. She is a pioneer for female rock, why it took that is anyone’s guess but trust me, that’s what made them wake up. Nothing against Dave Grohl but they are counting the minutes before they can put him in again with Foos. There are just those acts like Green Day, etc, you can just feel are deemed cool enough (meaning Rolling Stone and critics love them) to get right in. Guns goes 1st time 1st ballot off of let’s be honest one iconic record, Kiss waits 15 years. They are actually putting Lou Reed in a second time now as a solo artist. Perhaps they can get him in a third time for his work with Metallica? I don’t mean to shit on any artists here. Many are deserving even if I’m not a fan. But as I often say when they finally get it right and get someone in it is still so wrong. The fact that Stevie Ray Vaughn is now just getting in is mind blowing! So the private club of the clueless roles in while Purple, Priest, Maiden, Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, Dio, Journey, Motorhead, Foreigner, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Motley and so many others get snubbed. The entire thing has become amazingly irrelevant and has zero positive impact on an artists career after they do go in. No bump in ticket or album sales. So you have to just kind of shake your head at the whole thing and think how cool it could be if it was done right. It is important to call out and I’ll keep doing it until it gets fixed or someone lends me a few mil to do one the right way!
And a quick note on the Grammy’s, they are just as bad and as lost. The difference is they don’t intentionally snub hard rock and metal like the HOF does. They just don’t know better. As a result it’s a spin the wheel process to see who they give a Grammy to with no real sense behind it. As rock or metal act winning a Grammy means nothing in any real way. When they give one to Motorhead for a cover of a Metallica song or nominate Anthrax for an AC/DC cover how serious can you take it? And of course they don’t dare televise the metal category! I get an artist thinks it’s cool to have the award on a shelf, but because of they are so clueless in their process and nominations again there is zero impact on sales or tickets for those artists. A true shame that two of the biggest mainstream institutions are beyond lost when it comes to our kind of music.
41 Responses
You tell em Eddie. I guess if yer not good buds with Jann Wenner.
Wondering how much it would cost to create a “Real” R&R HOF. Wish I would win the lotto because I would use the $$ to build a proper one.
Ya know.. at this point, I don’t think doing anything whether it’s calling them out or ignoring them, will get the R&R HOF or the Grammy’s to change anything about their process. They have set a precedence in their process that is set and acknowledged and has a certain credibility and they don’t want to stray from that or else they think thatvthey will lose all credibility. But they have failed to realize that they have lost all credibility within the hard rock and metal world and even in the classic rock world too.
Eddie, have you thought about this.. What if the RRHOF is snubbing artists and bands on purpose because of people like you calling them out and the more you call them out, the more they will snub these great bands that aren’t in yet. What do you do in a case like that? Quit calling them out.
First, like music critics, I think a Hall of Fame for music is a very strange concept, who is to say what is good? But just focusing solely on commercial success I can see some reasons for the way the Hall does things. Now, while I do agree with you on most things regarding the Hall, I do think the one thing they seem to get right more often than not, at least recently ,are the artists who make it on the first ballot. Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Nirvana, Green Day are all no brainer first ballot hall of famers. They all have at least one DIAMOND record, and all have multiple number 1 albums on the Billboard charts. Look I like all the bands you listed, but with the exception of Bon Jovi, I don’t think any of those bands came close to reaching the commercial heights in the United States as any of those 4 bands I just mentioned, certainly not for the extended period of time that Green Day and Metallica have done it. Some of those bands you listed should have been first ballot(KISS, Alice Cooper to name a few) but just because the voters screwed up before that doesn’t mean they should continue to screw up by not putting Green Day or GNR in first ballot. Bands like Maiden, Priest, Motorhead and Dio appeal to such a niche audience, a lot of the general population of music fans couldn’t name one song by any of them. There are very few music fans on this planet who don’t know the song “Good Riddance(Time of Your Life”) is a Green Day song or “Sweet Child O Mine” is a Guns N Roses song. Those bands had crossover appeal where they had songs that even people who didn’t listen to that genre bought their albums. Have Maiden or Priest ever sold a record to a someone who didn’t like heavy metal? It’s not surprising to me they are having such a hard time getting in. Now, I think there are some bands who are in the Hall of Fame who have no business being in there compared to some of the bands you listed, but it’s hard to argue against GNR or Green Day being first ballot inductees. Also, on a side note, whats with the “one iconic” album thing for GNR? The “Illusions” sold a combined 14 million copies in the U.S alone and hit the charts in a way that hadn’t been seen since the Beatles. They were also the records where a band did the most important thing a band could do, which is evolve their sound. Those were the records that helped get them into stadiums, not just “Appetite.”
John,
I see where you’re coming from and don’t really disagree on your points about the commercial success angle, but I think even that can’t be counted on by the RRHOF. There are many, many artists already inducted that were far less commercially successful than many of the hard rock and metal artists we often complain about. Hell I think there are songwriters that have been inducted that didn’t even perform their own songs, that the general public has no idea they even wrote the songs that other popular artists performed. You mentioned Bon Jovi, and yes they’re massively successful commercially, but at least in the 80’s Journey and Def Leppard were pretty much just as big. Bands like Priest and Maiden are certainly far above underground or cult status, and have been for decades. Has Joan Jett really done anything that “went big” since “I Love Rock and Roll”? Actually, can most people even name any other songs of hers? And I mean no disrespect to her by saying that. Ultimately, I think it’s a no-win situation. If commercial success was the primary consideration, then we’d complain that the real pioneers and risk takers that advance the art form are snubbed. If they focused on the pioneers we’d complain about ignoring the successful artists. As it is, there is actually a mix of both, but the choices are usually perplexing. It’s so subjective, and has been expanded to encompass such a broad spectrum of genres (far outside of “rock and roll”) people will always feel like they’re doing it wrong. I used to get all worked up about it, I still do to an extent but I feel like it’s just too far gone and will never “get it right”. I think it’s become a genuinely impossible goal for that institution.
Just a tad too much credit to Green Day.
They’re f-ing Green Day not The Clash or The Ramones. I think in terms of total album and ticket sales, Bon Jovi most likely casts a big shadow over Green Day. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
I personally think Bon Jovi has more music cred to be a first ballot HOF’er than Green Day.
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Deep Purple – you want to measure them by cross over appeal? WHAT?!
To think that Deep Purple, Yes, Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, Journey, Def Leppard, The Crue, Judas Priest and many others got left out again. Maybe you should get yourself and all your guests to stage a coup at the Hall. Maybe start a House That Rock Built. Copyright the name and put it where CBGB’s used to be. Ask for donations. Be the curator. Leave out the bullcrap acts. One time nominations only. No solo acts allowed after getting famous in a band. Once you are in you are in. All accomplishments recognized. If you are on a record by a band you get in, whether you died , were fired, or quit. Take a random fan vote on an inaugural class, then left that class vote for the next year and so on. That way the media has no say in it other than maybe getting a nod to be in it from an artist. My votes for the inaugural class would be KISS, Rush, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden & Heart. 10 groups or artists each year. No industry execs, producers, promoters, non artist types. If any one person can get this done it’s you Eddie!