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Hall of fame nominations and oversights
The nominees for 2008 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced today and, woefully, Doug Sahm is still not on the list. Shockingly, neither is Metallica, who basically invented hardcore heavy metal.
Five of these nine will make it into the Hall in March 2008: Afrika Bambaataa, Beastie Boys, Chic, Leonard Cohen, the Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer and the Ventures. Ballots will soon be sent to over 500 voters, but everyone knows Rolling Stone editor/publisher Jann Wenner’s really the one who decides.
Here’s who should make it: 1) Madonna 2) Leonard Cohen 3) Beastie Boys 4) the Ventures and 5) the Dave Clark Five. “Jack and Diane” should’ve made Mellencamp ineligible, but he won’t get in and neither will Bambaataa (too short a career) or Donna Summer and Chic (this ain’t the disco hall of fame).
Notably un-nominated were Randy Newman and Tom Waits, the two greatest songwriters of the past 25 years (sorry, Conor Oberst fans) and the Stooges, Nick Lowe, Gram Parsons and the Monkees, who are all more important than the former Johnny Cougar.
To be eligible, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination, which means Stevie Ray Vaughan is a shoo-in next year.
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Comments
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By lynn
September 28, 2007 1:09 PM | Link to this
Didn’t Metallica release their first album in 1983? That would make them eligible next year, not this year.
By Bill
September 28, 2007 1:53 PM | Link to this
You apparantly have no clue and disqualify yourself from credibility when you state Randy Newman, Nick Lowe, etc. are all more important than the “former Johnny Cougar”. Waits and Parsons are fine lyricists but barely listenable. You obviously haven’t listened to Mellencamp’s body of work.
By Michael Corcoran
September 28, 2007 2:11 PM | Link to this
Note: Although Metallica’s first full-length album came out in 1983, their first recording, “Hit the Lights,” came out on a Metal Blade compilation in 1982, therefore they’re eligible to be on this year’s HoF ballot.
By JIMMY LIMO
September 29, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
‘BOUT TIME FOR THE VENTURES. THEY SINGLE HANDEDLY CREATED THE GENRE OF SURF GUITAR 47 YEARS AGO. IT’S NICE TO FINALLY GET SOME RECOGNITION FROM THE HALL WHILE MOST OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE. THEY’VE SOLD NEARLY 100 MILLION RECORDS WORLD-WIDE (FAR MORE THAN ANY BAND), AND INSPIRED MILLIONS OF YOUNG BOOMERS TO LEARN GUITAR. THEY STILL SOUND GREAT “LIVE” AND ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A 41-DATE TOUR OF JAPAN, WHERE THEY ARE WORSHIPPED AS “GUITAR GODS”…. ROCK ON VENTURES !!!! www.JimmyLimo1.com
By greg
October 8, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
The Ventures, although charting 14 singles in the 1960s, were among the first rock acts able to sell albums on the strength of a style and sound without needing hit singles. From 1960 to 1972, they charted 37 albums on the Billboard chart, plus a top 10 Christmas album. They rank 6th among album performers for the 1960s decade (Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Albums), 4th among rock genre performers for that period. The only rockers ranking ahead of them for the decade are Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Ray Charles.
They were the first group to chart five albums simultaneously (1963).
Among their chart albums was 1965’s “Play Guitar with The Ventures”, the first musical instrument instruction album ever to hit the Billboard chart. That’s influence.
Encyclopedia Brittanica on-line says that the Ventures served as the prototype for all the guitar bands which followed.
They were the first act to go ‘Top 10’ with 2 different versions of the same song; Walk Don’t Run (2) and Walk Don’t Run ‘64 (8).
Their 1962 “2,000 Pound Bee” was the first single ever to chart using the fuzz tone (distortion box) on the electric guitar, more than 2 years before the Stones “Satisfaction”. Fuzz/distortion was used in many subsequent 1960’s rock hits and became the basis for all classic rock, power rock and grunge. While the Ventures are known for a clean reverbed sound, they used a variety of effects and pedals very early. They used them selectively, while maintaining their basic sound, so they’ve received little credit for early use.
Their influence on “surf rock” is undeniable, having played that style, among other styles (ballads, power guitar rock), two years before the Beach Boys first national hit and a full year before Dick Dale’s first regional hit. ‘Guitar Player’ magazine said the Walk Don’t Run album presaged the coming surf trend which was still a couple of years away. If the Ventures didn’t pioneer “surf rock”, they were certainly a key building block.
Among artists listing the Ventures as a favorite or an influence are George Harrison (Beatles), Joe Walsh (James Gang, Eagles), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Stephen Stills, Peter Frampton, Roger Fisher (Heart), Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits). Blondie, the GoGos, and the B52s are groups that list the Ventures in their roots. More recently, Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith have added their names to the list. Keith Moon (the Who), Max Weinberg, and Allen White (Yes) have identified the Ventures as a percussion influence. Even Elton John, in his Starbucks Christmas collection, pays homage to the Ventures.
By Sahm Fan
October 9, 2007 3:21 PM | Link to this
Hey — anybody heard about a Doug Sahm tribute concert happening in Worcester, MA in early November? I can’t find anything online. I heard it’s November 3rd, that it has something to do with Gram Parsons, and that it will be arranged by Worcester’s legendary Bob Jordan. Anybody know anything?