In lieu of nothing worthwhile to post, read or share on social media (nothing but negativity, bad news, doom and gloom -- probably for good reason), I decided I would do a little something different today.
This time of year always lights a fire under my backside. The 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been released and I am always astounded at how many artists are still not in the Hall of Fame (and how many are in the Hall who probably shouldn't be there).
I know my opinion doesn't mean squat, but this is my site and I pay the annual domain fee, so I will speak my mind. For the first time ever, I am going to cast my vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Class of 2022. I will try to make this an annual thing, since it gets sand in my craw every year.
I can vote for FIVE of the below list of 17 nominees:
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Disclaimer:
One name that immediately caught my eye is Dolly Parton. Let me first say that Dolly Parton is a national treasure. I will never talk shit about Ms. Parton. She's an American icon. She's not only a brilliant songwriter and musician, she's an incredible philanthropist. Her Imagination Library is a beautiful gesture to humanity. But there's nothing about Dolly that's rock and roll. After learning she was a nominee, Dolly herself said, "I've never thought of myself as rock and roll in any sense of the word." So I am sorry, Dolly. You can't get my vote, but I will always love you.
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Buckle up and get ready to argue with me. Here are my five inductees into the Class of 2022:
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| The classic Judas Priest lineup. Leather and studs. That was the look. |
1. Judas Priest. So here we are in 2022 and it occurs to me that the most influential heavy metal band of all time is still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How does this stuff happen?
Judas Priest was formed in 1969 and they are still rocking to this day. Their look, sound and attitude defines what we now know as heavy metal rock and roll. Judas Priest's dual guitar attack has influenced every heavy metal band on the planet (that's not hyperbole) and lead vocalist Rob Halford is considered the genre's quintessential vocalist. Priest has never had a Top 40 hit in the U.S. pop charts (true to heavy metal form), but they have had 11 records in the U.S. Top 40 album charts and their worldwide album sales exceed 50 million. British Steel, released in 1980, is considered one of the greatest metal albums of all time. Songs like "Breaking the Law," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and "Living After Midnight," although never considered commercial "hits," have become an indelible part of the rock and roll landscape.
To me, Judas Priest was the first and most obvious inductee on this list.
Fun Fact: Lead singer Rob Halford was considered the ultimate "heavy metal alpha male" in the 1980s. In reality, he is a gay man who loves cats. I can't make this stuff up!
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| Pat Benatar |
2. Pat Benatar. This is Pat Benatar's second nomination in the past three years. Can we PLEASE get this woman into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? This is ridiculous.
Benatar was a feminist trailblazer in the 1980s, when true rock and roll (not Madonna-bubblegum pop) was an all-boys club. Her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, was released in the summer of 1979, and she set the rock world on its ear with the hit single "Heartbreaker."
As the 80s rolled on, so did the hits: "Love Is a Battlefield," "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Treat Me Right," "Fire and Ice," "We Belong," "Shadows of the Night," ... I mean, come on! Six Top 20 albums, fifteen Top 40 hits, four Grammy Awards and albums sales in excess of 35 million. And she's got pipes that will peel paint off the walls. Enough of this nonsense. She's in the Hall.
Fun Fact: Benatar's maiden name is Andrzejewski. It is pronounced exactly as it's spelled.
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| Duran Duran... a bunch of guys named Taylor and Simon Le Bon |
3. Duran Duran. Okay, I will admit it. Duran Duran deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I try not to overstate things, and I don't think it is too much to say that, by 1986, no band since the Beatles had influenced music culture and fashion as much as these five guys from Birmingham, England.
As a teenage boy growing up in the 80s, I didn't mind Duran Duran because of one simple fact: if their music was playing, it was guaranteed a bunch of cute girls were nearby... but I digress. The good news is the band had substance to their style; these guys weren't just pretty, they could actually play. More than that, their songs have stood the test of time: "Rio," "Hungry Like the Wolf," "The Reflex," "Is There Something I Should Know," still sound fresh. The band has scored fifteen Top 40 hits and they have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best selling music groups of all time, yet they've never seemed to get the respect they actually deserve. Well, they check all the boxes for me. They're in.
Fun Fact: In the 1980s, Duran Duran included John Taylor, Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor. None were related.
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| Lionel Richie |
4. Lionel Richie. This is the most obvious shoo-in on the entire ballot. Actually, I was shocked to learn that neither Lionel Richie nor the Commodores were in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Yet Jay-Z is? Jesus, just shoot me.)
Richie was the principal songwriter for the Commodores before going on an off-the-Richter-scale successful solo career. "Three Times a Lady," "Hello," "Truly," "Endless Love," "Sail On," "Brick House," "Deep River Woman," "Say You Say Me," "All Night Long," "Dancing on the Ceiling," "Stuck on You," ...oh, "We are the World," (you may have heard of that one)... these are just some of the songs Richie has written in his 54 year career in music. As a solo artist alone he has recorded thirteen Top 10 hits, including five #1 hits. He will be given the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress later this year (the country's greatest honor in the performing arts). He's a Kennedy Center Honors recipient. He's won four Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. He's enshrined in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor one can receive as a songwriter. He was also the first artist to ever receive the RIAA Diamond Award, which is an album selling over 10 million copies (1983's Can't Slow Down). You know what? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seems a step down, doesn't it?
Fun Fact: Lionel Richie wrote and produced "Lady," for country music legend Kenny Rogers. The song went to #1 on the Billboard pop and country charts. It was probably #1 on Mars and Saturn, too.
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| The New York Dolls, 1973. |
5. New York Dolls. I admit, this is a tough one. It's my last vote. But I must go with seminal. That's the key word.
I'm inducting the New York Dolls, at long last, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The New York Dolls were true pioneers of the punk and glam rock movement. Without the Dolls, there would be no Sex Pistols, Ramones, Green Day, KISS or Guns 'N Roses (all members of the Hall of Fame), just to name a few. The New York Dolls were not commercially successful and they were only active from 1971-1976 (not including a reunion some 40 years later -- only two of the original five members were still alive). Despite being a working band for only five years, they left a deep imprint on rock and roll and they are considered by rock historians as one of the most important and influential bands of the pre-punk era. It is time they are enshrined.
Fun Fact: Most people know the New York Dolls best by lead singer David Johansen, who changed his image and stage name to lounge singer Buster Poindexter in the late 1980s. He recorded a cover of Arrow's dance tune "Hot Hot Hot" in 1987 which was a massively successful single. It was Johansen's only hit of his 50+ year career.
