News

Who Should be in Rock n Roll's Hall of Fame?

• 1st Oct 2010

Who should be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? That’s a question which is debated every year in the US when a new list of nominees is announced.

Americans love their lists and statistics, nominations and best ofs. Every sport has its Hall of Fame; it’s really no surprise that music does too. And if you ever find yourself in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, I’m told the museum is a great place to visit for any music fan.

The first group of inductees came in 1983 and included many great names: Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and so on. And every year since, more of music’s luminaries have taken their place with the legends.

But there are some names that make you wonder about the process. Are the Bee Gees, Grandmaster Flash or ABBA really rock n roll greats? They have all been inducted in recent years. ABBA – c’mon! Great pop band of course, but …

And missing from the Hall of Fame are the likes of Kiss, Rush and Genesis, all of whom have lengthy, and very successful, rock careers that make a strong case for their inclusion.

This year’s list of possibles contains some that seem destined for inclusion: Alice Cooper, Tom Waits and also Bon Jovi, who are not one of my favourites, but I can see the reasons for their being on the list.

Slightly harder to understand are Donna Summer and Chic. They are disco, surely? And in my mind, that simply isn’t rock n roll.

Any process like this one inevitably has an element of subjectivity to it. Although there have to be some sort of basic criteria for inclusion.

When I look at the greats who are included, from Elvis to Janis, the Beatles to the Doors, Cash to Springsteen, I just wonder who could possibly have thought that Donna Summer deserves to be in there too.