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BROWN: Suddenly, rock hall not so hallowed

This year's inductees make it clear that we're running out of rockers

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 8, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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At first, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a brilliant idea that needed to happen.

Despite some missteps, the Oscars and the Emmys generally honored the best in motion pictures and television. But as rock-hall planning was going on in the late '70s and early '80s, the Grammy Awards were a mess.

It's amazing that Elvis Costello was even nominated for best new artist but utterly unsurprising that he lost to Sweet Honey in the Rock. Christopher Cross was going home with armloads of Grammys. And when the first rock-hall induction ceremony occurred in 1986, the Grammys' Milli Vanilli debacle still lay ahead.

So when that first ceremony honored the likes of Chuck Berry, James Brown, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Little Richard, it was a sweet relief. The heavyweights of rock showed up to honor performers who'd been slighted in the past.

It wasn't on TV in those first years. It was a big secret party that the public got to see only when rough VHS footage leaked into collectors' hands. It always ended with a massive jam session where Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Axl Rose, Paul McCartney and anyone who could fit on the stage would tear through old rock numbers.

The only one who seemed unhappy was Bo Diddley, who ranted that he should have been in the inaugural class, noting that the Everly Brothers (who cited Diddley as a major influence) were in and he wasn't. But even that was corrected a year later when Diddley, B.B. King, Bill Haley, Roy Orbison and more joined the crew.

Over the years, it continued to be a raucous and controversial party. The one year I attended, 1993, had a surly Cream reunion, a Creedence Clearwater Revival induction where John Fogerty refused to play with his band mates and a no-show Van Morrison (subbing for him was an then-unknown band called Counting Crows).

That was then. Things are considerably different now.

Concert promoters openly wonder who will fill arenas in a decade when the likes of the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and the other giants of rock finally give up the ghost.

The promoters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame probably will find themselves in that same boat when it comes to inducting new acts.

Twenty-two years later, the hall is reduced to inducting Madonna (what, under the "best marketing" category?). And sure, the Dave Clark Five made some fine music, but how can they be in when Kiss and Alice Cooper aren't even on the ballot?

This year's five inductees:

* Madonna: OK, she sells a lot of tickets at a high cost, but if life is just a popularity contest, McDonald's is a five-star restaurant. She can't write well, she can't sing well, and she can't act well, but she's great at being Madonna. Give her a mirror - she'd rather have that than an award.

* John Mellencamp: At one time it would have been unthinkable, but Johnny Cougar morphed from a Spring steen-wannabe to a fine songwriter. No quibbles here.

* The Ventures: Absolute pioneers of surf music who should have been inducted the moment they were eligible - back in 1983. But the fact that the rock hall is trolling through oldies now shows how flawed the process is and confirms the dearth of latter-day talent.

* The Dave Clark Five: Again, arguably worthy, but if these guys are in, what about the Moody Blues and other bland pop tunesmiths?

* Leonard Cohen: The least rock 'n' roll of any of the inductees but arguably the most worthy, with his songs influencing modern-day songwriters the way the Velvet Underground did. Quality over popularity - what a concept. It's the one choice the hall inarguably got right this year.

Let's hope the hall bats better than 40 percent next year or it'll continue the Grammy-like slide into irrelevance that made the hall necessary to begin with.

brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

Hear the class

* What: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, aired live from New York City

* When, where: 6:30 p.m. Monday, VH1 Classic; also streaming live online at BestBuy.com

Comments

  • March 8, 2008

    11:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    lafhere writes:

    Besides being the most popular female in the music industry, Madonna IS a critically acclaimed musician and rightly belongs in the R&R Hall of Fame.

    Read on:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23298744/

    http://www.contracostatimes.com/enter...

    http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...

    http://www.cleveland.com/entertainmen...

  • March 8, 2008

    2:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    terryr55 writes:

    Madonna is NOT a crtically acclaimed musician!! She is a media creation...a modern-day Fabian. No MTV...no Madonna!!! She called being inducted "being in with the musical dinosaurs", even though she inducted David Bowie! I think she thinks the honor is beneath her, which it is vice versa...ten-fold!

  • March 8, 2008

    6:16 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    nmbronco1 writes:

    The Rock and Roll "Hall of Fame" has ignored some of the truly original and influential artists while focussing on really lame acts like the Dave Clark 5. Why haven't Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer been inducted? Both these groups were huge in the 70's and their concerts were the best of the era in my humble opinion. Each group has had some of the most talented musicians - it is hard to argue that Steve Howe is not one of the best overall guitar players ever, and Keith Emerson was simply amazing! Yes has spanned every decade from the 60's to the present. It is a shame that these fine groups are not in the "Hall of Fame" yet a bunch of one-hit wonders are.

  • March 8, 2008

    6:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    artinmyheart writes:

    What about the Freddi-Henchi band?

  • March 9, 2008

    9:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ColoradoDave writes:

    The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

    What a joke the last thing Rock and Roll needs is a Hall of Fame.

    Why not Madonna? Heck, why not Pat Boone?

    The whole concept of a Rock and Roll Hall of fame is oxymoronic. I might be an old fart but I do know Rock and Roll is not about awards.

    Here, go check out the statement the Sex Pistols put out refusing their induction. I would quote it here but it would never make it past the Rocky's content filters.

    http://www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk/

    Too bad Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger and Grace Slick didn't have the honesty and chutzpah of the Pistols. Gotta love the Pistols but at least Grace would have been able to spell.

    Anyone who cares who is or is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has no idea what Rock and Roll was about.

  • March 10, 2008

    10:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    I_Slay_The_Dragon writes:

    Madonna has not earned the right to be in the same STATE, much less, the same "Hall", as the timeless AND Brilliant:
    Mr. Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. PERIOD.

  • March 11, 2008

    9:06 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Roora writes:

    Madonna? Are you kidding me?

    Rush is not in the hall of fame? The Moody Blues? Shame on those groups for playing instruments and pushing the boundaries of sound.

    This institution is a farce, run by pinheads.