QUESTION OF THE WEEK: WHO WOULD YOU HAVE NOMINATED FOR A KENNEDY CENTER HONOR AND WHY?

Although, Judas Priest is my favorite band, I would nominate John Sykes.

I could write, endless reasons why, he is deserving of the honor, being under appreciated, would be one of the biggest. Also, any excuse to post a picture of him šŸ˜‰ .

Actors:

Gary Sinise (who also has a band, and for all of his work with Veterans and Vet causes), Philip Seymour Hoffman (posthumous honor), Michael Madsen (also posthumous honor).

22 Responses

    1. RPS,

      I do not believe, that nominees have to be, only American. British actor, Michael Crawford, is being honored this year.

  2. With criteria being Lifetime Achievement, Artist Excellence, Impact, etc….I’d select the band Aerosmith and actor Clint Eastwood as my nominees. IMO, Aerosmith should be in before KI$$.

  3. Black Sabbath.

    Do I really need to explain why?

    The pioneering godfathers of Heavy Metal. Taking chances and doing things that weren’t being done at the time. Whenever somebody told them that they couldn’t do something, they did it and proved them wrong. Tony Iommi in particular went through this:

    “I need an amp that distorts.”

    “Oh no; you can’t have that – it has to be clean. Nobody will buy a distorted sound.” (Thank god for Laney Amplifers for taking a chance and giving him what he wanted – along with the Dallas Ringmaster Treble Booster).

    “I would like a guitar with 24 frets.”

    Most guitar companies: “Oh, you can’t do that.”

    So he invests money into a small company and gets one made.

    “I need to down tune to help slacken off the strings because of my fingers.”

    “Oh no, you’ve got to be tuned up to E – that’s all that music is. Nobody else is doing what you want to do and nobody will buy it or understand it.”

    So on and so forth.

    Today, most guitar players buy an amp based on its distorted sound. 24 fret guitars and readily available if you want one and almost every new Metal band is down tuned to C# or lower; and yet you’d think that this is a new idea.

    Tony Iommi did it in 1971!!!!!

    Then there’s all the bands, whether they’ve hit the big time or are just playing at local bars and clubs, that categorically state that if there had been no Black Sabbath, they themselves wouldn’t have existed. Then there’s all the many different Metal sub-genres: Where can they all be traced back too?

    BLACK SABBATH!!!

    There are bands that have come along since and have taken things further. Judas Priest took what Sabbath had done and removed whatever last shards of the blues were left and created a new sound. Metallica then comes along and takes things a step further and faster. In fact, Metallica in the early years was a lot of Black Sabbath just sped up.

    Here’s a little thing for you to try to see what I’m saying. Here is a link to the song Symptom of the Universe.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qDYa2aIBxw&list=RD4qDYa2aIBxw&start_radio=1

    Play it at 1.75 speed and tell me you don’t hear the early Metallica sound.

    It’s all come from the same place – Black Sabbath.

    (Not surprised that you put Mr Sykes forward Dana!)

  4. Considering that inductees have to have contributed significantly to American culture….for strictly music:

    The Rolling Stones – besides the Beatles, no other band has had a bigger influence in American pop music, post-1960.
    Burt Bacharach – an icon of the contemporary American Songbook, working with everyone from Perry Como to Elvis Costello to Dr. Dre. It’s ridiculous that they never gave him the honor.
    Aerosmith – they’ve had just as much impact – if not more – on American music as KISS.

    For acting: George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger – you can’t argue with the grosses of their films.

    1. Well, I really meant only the music acts.

      However, at my mistake of being too general, I will now add my acting choices to column, as well.

  5. I can’t stand Madsen, he’s so overrated…but Hoffman is great; The Master, and he’s really great in Before the Devil Knows Your Dead when his world is just crumbling around him and he’s so stoic about it…lol.

    1. That’s okay, it’s all personal taste. I have heard Madsen, be referred to, as the poor man’s Tom Sizemore (another great actor who died before his time). I happen to love Madsen, and thought he was great in both Kill Bill movies.

      I also used to love Kevin Spacey, however, his scandals kind of ruined him, for me. Speaking of Spacey, two other actors that I love Russell Crowe and Guy Pierce. L.A. Confidential is one of my all time favorite movies.

      But in general, I lost respect for Hollywood, a loooong time ago. Could care less about any of it. Although, I did see Maverick, and semi enjoyed it. Only because I love the Navy pilots, God bless them, they are AMAZING.

    2. Hoffman, though, he’s in a class by himself…playing that guy on heroin who trusted his dimwitted brother (Ethan Hawke) to heist their own parents; you get the subtlety of him resenting that his parents always favored his dimwitted brother, plus his brother is having an affair with his wife behind his back, and it took him so long to finally snap…lol..Hoffman just gets it, none of those other actors come close. I actually watched Before the Devil Knows Your Dead twice. Madsen, Sizemore, they might as well could be the same guy…lol…

    3. The only movie, I think I saw him in, was The Talented Mr. Ripley I immediately knew, no pun intended, he was very talented.

Leave a Reply