The new nominations for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 elicited the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth — even amongst us. More on that in a second.
First, here’s the list of nominees Beastie Boys, The Cure, Donovan, Eric B. & Rakim, Guns ‘N Roses, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rufus with Chaka Khan, The Small Faces/The Faces, The Spinners, Donna Summer and War.
Winners will be announced on April 14, 2012, at the 27th Annual Induction Ceremony, held in Cleveland, Ohio. Visit rockhall.com for more details on the nominations and induction ceremony.
Here’s a look back at our thoughts on a few of the nominees. Click through the titles for expanded coverage — oh, and scroll to the bottom for our thoughts on the 2012 class. Hint: There will be complaints. Many …
HEART – GREATEST HITS (1998; 2011 AUDIO FIDELITY REMASTER): The distractions when it comes to Heart (gender politics, obvious curtsies to Led Zeppelin, wall-to-wall 1980s power-ballads, etc.) are swept away with this single turned-up-to-11 instrumental interlude during “Magic Man.” I’m struck all over again by guitarist Roger Fisher’s ever-increasing distortion, just before a smeared prog rock-influenced keyboard descends from the heavens. Reportedly caused by the natural deterioration of a blown guitar amp, the sound begins to take on a ragged life of its own as this sparkling 24-karat Audio Fidelity remaster spins. Heart’s “Magic Man” (a No. 9 hit in 1976) has, right there inside of it, this brilliant piece of in-the-moment, well, magic — unlikely to happen again in the age of auto-tune, but buried for decades in a muddy pre-digital mix.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – I’M WITH YOU (2011): Though they often play with a familiar steely aggression, the Red Hot Chili Peppers seem nevertheless to be rounding the corner into middle age. I’m With You, the band’s first project since the 2006 double-album Stadium Arcadium, is often focused on departures — of youth and of old friends, perhaps a direct reaction to the exit of guitarist John Frusciante. The longest layover in band history, clearly, gave them time to think. Still, this being the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and thunderous bassist Flea being, well, thunderous on the bass, you’d expect most of these ideas to be buried deep in the group’s trademark whomping frat-boy funk, right? Not so fast. This Rick Rubin-produced efforts ends up as the most layered, complex offering in a Peppers’ catalog dating back almost three decades.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – GREATEST HITS (2003): The Chili Peppers is one of those bands that I resisted. They were getting airplay from Mother’s Milk (“Higher Ground”, no doubt) and I just did not get it. Then Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out. This was the Peppers’ London Calling, their Dark Side Of The Moon (and hopefully not their Frampton Comes Alive). The funk was undeniable: killer guitar riffs and powerful in-the-pocket drumming, all anchored by Flea’s kinetic and soulful bass. So one day at work I’m listening to BSSM and a co-worker asks me if I’ve heard the ‘real’ Chili Peppers. He offers up his LP copies of Uplift Mofo Party Plan and Freaky Styley. Cripes, this stuff is nuts!
LAURA NYRO – LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE (1988): You may already have an idea of Laura Nyro’s music, which has been covered by the likes of Blood Sweat & Tears, 5th Dimension and Three Dog Night. It’s got a lot of soul, with dashes of folk, jazz and even a Broadway showtune occasionally thrown in for good measure. Sometimes she can be confused with Joni Mitchell or Carole King, even though she slightly preceded them both as stars. Todd Rundgren has built much of his solo career around trying to duplicate the intricate, yet sweet-sounding melodies that was this lady’s stock in trade. But none of that makes a great live record. What does is a tight band, great arrangements, good vocals (supported superbly by Diane Wilson), song selection and good rapport with the audience. It’s all here.
ONE TRACK MIND: THE SPINNERS, “I’LL BE AROUND” (1972): From the first chunky guitar chords, the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” is a different kind of a song about getting dumped, and still loving her anyway, and thinking to yourself — and then saying out loud — that you’ll wait for as long as it takes for her to return, since there’s always a chance, no matter how remote, that these things work out in the end. A lean bass signature enters next, then the soaring strings required of any soul effort of the period, and some sly conga work by Larry Washington. Bobbie Smith cries then winks — “now it’s up to me, to bow out gracefully,” he sings, though you somehow know from the start that he won’t — in a performance as nuanced as the brilliant arrangement. It’s Philly Soul, personified — even if the group started out as four high school students in Ferndale, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
THE BEASTIE BOYS – SOME OLD BULLSH-T (1994): Some interesting early sides, featuring the Beastie Boys’ Pollywog Stew (an eight-song punk-thrash thing from 1982) with the “Cooky Puss” 12-inch from 1984, a surprise regional hit. Having already broken up and reformed several times, the Beasties had by then landed a studio gig recording commercial jingles. That knob fiddling led to a new complexity in their sound, with “Cooky Puss” and then “Bonus Butter” moving into a house-rap synthesis — but, this being the early 1980s, with a heavy disco vibe. Everybody knows what happened next.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B005CVTV84″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0000C1733″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B000008J1R” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00122MUAS” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B000002UST” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Rock + Pop): Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Jackson, Toto + Others - January 18, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Blues, Jazz + R&B): Boz Scaggs, Gavin Harrison, Alabama Shakes - January 10, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Reissues + Live): John Oates, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Faces + others - January 7, 2016
Additional thoughts on the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees — and who got left out …
S. VICTOR AARON: This is actually the best list I’ve seen from Rolling Stone in a while, but geez, if a guy like Freddie King is eligible, then let’s also include Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Hubert Sumlin and call this “The Rock ‘n’ Roll and Blues Hall of Fame.”
NICK DERISO: I guess they’re drawing a line from the Freddie King sound toward rockers like Eric Clapton. But, though I love him dearly, he ain’t no Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
FRED PHILLIPS: The rock and roll hall of shame is a joke. Always has been. You have Donna Summer nominated, yet bands like Deep Purple, Rush and Judas Priest are not in. Metallica was certainly deserving, but how can you have them in and not Judas Priest? The New Wave of British Heavy Metal acts spawned by Priest are Metallica’s primary influences. And look how long it took to get Sabbath and Alice Cooper in. Both of those acts created a genre of rock music.
S. VICTOR AARON: Heart — a tough band who went soft in the ‘80s. What was the reason again why Chicago never gets nominated?
NICK DERISO: Good point on Chicago. I think I’d also rather see Rush, and KISS, and King Crimson, and Yes — really — before a lot of these other names. To your point on Heart, if we start deleting everyone who turned to crap in the 1980s, we’re quickly going to stumble upon some pretty big names. McCartney, for one. Bowie, for another. Elton John. The list boggles the mind, really.
MARK SALESKI: I can never decide about Guns. I mean, they were definitely huge but for a relatively short period of time. And yes, Rush and Kiss most definitely. Oh, the howls on Kiss getting in before Guns.
TOM JOHNSON: I thought the biggest thing was basically “long-lasting influence,” which makes KISS’s exclusion so appalling. I don’t give a crap about KISS but they are the ones who really kickstarted merchandising outside of the music itself, and that certainly has been a HUGE thing.
FRED PHILLIPS: There are a few acts on this list that probably warrant consideration and deserve to be there, but there are bands that are much more deserving that are not nominated.
TOM JOHNSON: What was fantastic about Metallica getting in was that they got up there and pointed out the glaring omissions in their speech.
S. VICTOR AARON: Rush is a no brainer. The longer they get held out the more obvious it is that
Jann Wanner just simply hates them because they’re not cool in the way he thinks of cool. Same goes for Crimson and Yes.
TOM JOHNSON: Rush is, of course, another sore spot, but the band truly seems not to care, so I’m not too concerned myself. I don’t even know what it would mean at this point to get in. I think they aim at the very lowest common denominator music fan most of the time, and for them, a band like Rush gets a big question mark because they can’t pinpoint their influence even though we all know how much influence they’ve had. (That still leaves me scratching my head about KISS, however.)
NICK DERISO: GNR is probably a hall of fame band, but I’m not sure about first ballot. How long did Axl screw around with the deeply deeply disappointing ‘Chinese Democracy’? Maybe that’s how long they should wait …
TOM JOHNSON: If GnR gets in, it will be solely for ‘Appetite’ and nothing else, and really, that album deserves it.
FRED PHILLIPS: I don’t think one record should be enough to get you in. Appetite was great, but there was probably one decent record’s worth of material between the Illusion albums, and don’t get me started on ‘Chinese Democracy’ with Axl and four other guys.
MARK SALESKI: What, exactly, is Wenner’s relationship to the hall of fame? Geezuz,Crimson and Yes aren’t in there either?
S. VICTOR AARON: Wenner is the head of the nominating committee, or something to that effect. The RRHOF is bascially a Rolling Stone Magazine creation. That being the case, you can bet that the Dead is in there. They probably got in before Elvis did.
MARK SALESKI: Hmmm, I’m never really quite sure what it means to be in the Hall of Fame. I mean, there’s the “they were huge!” factor, longevity, and influence … the last thing being something that people overlook when they’re going nuts about particular nominees. This is why i can kinda see Donna Summer being in there. Don’t really know enough about Laura Nyro to comment. In my head, Donovan is only “Hurdy Gurdy Man” and “Mellow Yellow,” both of which I could really go the rest of my life without hearing.
S. VICTOR AARON: Laura Nyro was an outstanding singer-songwriter whose songs were made hits by
others: “When I Die,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Eli’s Coming,” and “Stoned Soul Picnic” are all her songs and she wrote them all around the age of twenty.
NICK DERISO: The more I think about the Spinners, the more I like them in there. They had a lot of hits, and across a lot of different platforms. They could sing sweet soul, and they could funk you up.
TOM JOHNSON: The Cure should already have been in, period. Another band like Rush that may never get their due, but they’ve made a massive mark on music, regardless of whether you like it or not. The Cure’s influence may be more obvious than Rush’s, actually.
NICK DERISO: For the current musical generation, I’d say the Cure were basically the Beatles.