It is that very exciting time of year again. Yes indeed, folks, why most of you look forward to the month of September. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Nominating Committee met on the 12th to determine this year’s ballot, which should be made public by the end of this month. My fellow Rockhall obsessives have been making their predictions on their various blogs and websites, so I guess I should throw in my 2 cents. Go to Future Rock Legends for links and more discussion. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily who I want on the ballot (although quite a few are ones I would agree with), it is who I think the NomCom will actually put on the ballot. Predicting these is always a crapshoot, because we know little of the inner workings of this very secretive group of insiders. The ballot in recent years has been growing, so I will stick with 15 slots (with 5 eventually getting into the Hall for 2012). My thoughts:
As for the newly eligible artists this year (25 years after the release of their first single or album), I think that Guns ‘n Roses is the only sure thing. They will be nominated and inducted. The Rockhall would love the buzz surrounding “will they / won’t they” reunite and play for the induction ceremony (they won't).
I think that this is the year Stevie Ray Vaughan (and hopefully with Double Trouble) finally gets nominated. Whenever they do nominate him, he will be inducted that year. But I have been sure he would be nominated every year since he was first eligible, and it has not happened yet. Seems a no-brainer to me. But that does not mean much with the NomCom of the RRHoF.
They’ve been pushing several artists hard for the past several years, and they will continue to do so. Look for Beastie Boys, Chic and Donna Summer to appear yet again on the ballot. Perhaps they will give Donovan another shot as well.
Rumor has it that they are finally warming to the long neglected alternative 80’s scene, so it may finally be time for Sonic Youth to lead that charge. Their record on the 80's in general is just shameful.
I’ve got a feeling also that this may finally be the year they give up on their Rush ban and finally put them on the ballot as the prog representative. Hey, they finally relented on KISS, who may also get another shot.
Steven Van Zandt has to get his requisite 50’s or early 60’s pick on there. I’m thinking, along with many others, that it may be Johnny Burnette and His Rock and Roll Trio this time around. Which would be fine with me. Burnette rocked.
I think that they may throw a bone to the country crowd and give Gram Parsons another nomination.
For the last four slots, your guess is as good as mine. I’ll say Deep Purple, Kraftwerk, J.J. Cale and Roxy Music, just shooting in the dark there.
So, my predictions for the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ballot are:
Guns ‘n Roses
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Beastie Boys
Chic
Donna Summer
Donovan
Sonic Youth
Rush
KISS
Johnny Burnette and His Rock and Roll Trio
Gram Parsons
Deep Purple
Kraftwerk
J.J. Cale
Roxy Music
Now, that looks like a decent ballot. We’ll see how correct I am by the end of the month, and then I will give you my predictions on who will make it into the Hall from the actual ballot.
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5 comments:
I feel like it's time to really address your RRHoF obsession. And I know it would be foolish to just suggest better uses of your time: reading great books about music, listening to great music, fine dining, vigorous walking, fertile daydreaming, napping, systematically pulling subscription cards out of magazines at the local Barnes & Noble... So instead, I'm going to suggest that you take this obsession and create your own, online version of the HoF, with your own rules, your own annual rituals, etc. Maybe you do things every four months or so at first, until you build up past all the most obvious entrants. The site could be designed really nicely and have lots of well-curated information about the bands inducted, and maybe eventually the goal would be to have some kind of ceremony, etc., in the flesh. Maybe you could even build enough legitimacy so that some act(s) long neglected by Wenner et al. would show up and play a gig for you. This would be a lot of work, of course, but it would be also be cool and fun. Whereas thinking about this imbecilic institution as it really exists is really not worthy of Dez Time.
I already participated in a mock Rockhall over at the Future Rock Legends site with a group of fellow obsessives. It is under the tab Rockhall Revisited. We used mostly the same rules as the regular RRHoF. I feel that our Hall is far superior to the real one. I also do the other things that you suggested, when I can.
More of this exchange, please.
Variations of this exchange have been ongoing since our freshman year at college.
Yes, I know you've been active with that other group, and you did a mock hall. And I know you write about music a lot (and well) on here. I'm imagining something even grander, more formal, more entrenched, more of a People's Hall over which you would reign, and in the face of which Wenner et al. would tremble. I'm just giving you the recipe. You've gotta bake the cake.
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