12/16: THE R&R HOF AND THE GRAMMY’S AND HARD ROCK & METAL
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.
For as many Hard Rock/Metal artists that you mention, I can name just as many Alternative Rock bands that aren’t in that should be. Thus, I don’t really care about it and no one else should either.
Eddie, I think this year is more maddening than any other on both fronts. I’m sorry, but Tenacious D’s cover of Last in Line is better than the hundreds of songs put out on the dozens of metal albums this past year??? Holy sh*t.
I made the big mistake of reading Rolling Stone’s top 40 songs and albums of the year. And then they put out the top metal album list. All 3 made my want to puke. I can’t read those lists anymore because I truly believe that entire staff is completely brain dead and paid off by the music companies.
Anyway, yes, we do appreciate you going to bat for metal every day and every year, so I’m behind you on voicing your outrage every year over this nonsense.
Really though, how long has it been since Rolling Stone Magazine published anything of substance with regards to hard rock or metal?
You’re absolutely right. I just hadn’t paid much attention. And I fell for the con when I saw the links to the lists and thought “Ooh, maybe Priest and Machine Head will be #1 and 2….” Stupid me.
Hey Eddie – I couldn’t agree more with every point you made. Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the biggest reasons I started playing guitar and he’s influenced a ton of great musicians over the years and he’s just now getting in?? It’s almost better NOT to get in. The list of super talented, influential, trailblazing monsters of rock and metal that are NOT in the HOF is mind boggling while the list of people that really did little or nothing for the rock world, but like you said are the darlings of Rolling Stone and MTV, are cluttering up the Hall. I’ll keep bitching to anyone who will listen if you will.
Spot on with the comment about G&R really only having one iconic album! I am so glad someone is saying that.
Green Day getting in really is the nail in the coffin for me when it comes to the RRHOF.
The same argument for so many other snubs – how does a band like Green Day get in when even their biggest influences aren’t even in?? You don’t have Green Day without Cheap Trick if you ask me.
All that being said – hail to SRV and Double Trouble !
Use Your Illusion 1&2 were excellent albums. And, frankly, Appetite was one of the biggest albums of the 80s, hands down. And considering how massive that band became, I think it’s absurd to criticize the accolades they received.
What’s absurd is that Axl is allowed to continue using the name…
The reason why I don’t think Use Your Illusion I and II are that great is because I think after one play, you put the album away. Yeah, some good things here and there but not albums I could re-listen to with any regularity.
Hands down, their Mona Lisa is definitely Appetite.
Dittos all the way around, here.