From SOTI:
“The Rock ‘N Roll Hall Of Fame is as legit as the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Tangential thought: Let’s assume that you had the option of selecting the very first ten entrants — performers separate from non-performers — to the RRHOF, which would they be (order not important)?
Mine are below the fold.
Performers:
Beatles
Rolling Stones
Chuck Berry
Beach Boys
Elvis Presley
David Bowie
Led Zeppelin
The Kinks
Bob Dylan
Aretha Franklin
Non-Performers:
Phil Spector
George Martin
Ahmet Ertegun
Brian Epstein
Sam Phillips
Berry Gordy
Nile Rodgers
Quincy Jones
Jerry Wexler
Clive Davis
I will not make a list, but I will note that Dolly Pardon is in the RRHOF and King Crimson is not – demonstrating that it has nothing to do with rock and roll music.
Agreed. Once an entity becomes big enough they turn to ticket taking then the agenda is the goal. Why is Bowie listed twice?
Well, considering Bowie’s many different incarnations, perhaps I should ask, “Why is Bowie listed only twice?”
Quite right. I meant to write “The Kinks” but the phone rang, and when I got back it was a “where was I?” moment.
Fixed, thankee. [/1984]
To be fair, Dolly tried to “opt out” because she recognizes her niche. She was “not allowed” to withdraw her name from contention.
My wife visited the RRHOF several years ago and was unimpressed.
The Country Music HOF on the other hand has an incredible array of artifacts on display and great interactive exhibits throughout.
Maybe because the Country Music HOF is in Nashville and the R&R HOF is in Cleveland fucking Ohio instead of Memphis?
In recent years I have come to appreciate Roy Orbison a great deal.
I was unimpressed by the Rock and Roll Hall of fame as well even though I was well lubricated. I’m a little younger than you so I would have U2 on my list, but I can really disagree with any of yours. And, yes, Rock and Roll now seems to mean popular music not what I would think of
as Rock and Roll. Very nice record store at the RnR Hall of Fame, and I didn’t notice the prices too much because of the lubrication.
Have never been impressed with the Pop Music Hall of Lame.
That being said, I noticed the lack of Alan Parsons on your Non-Performer list. I know it’s a limit of 10, and I have no idea who I would bump to put him in. But that’s what jumped out to me.
I vote for Brenda Lee.
Having been to the RRHOF a few times and being of roughly the same age as our host, I found the city dioramas to be the most interesting. They were like a walk back in time reminiscing about my adolescent years. Another interesting exhibit was that of the local (Cleveland) music scene. Most of the rest of it, i.e. costumes and instruments, was meh. Although I will say I was somewhat surprised by how small David Bowie seemed to be by the size of his costumes.
Carl Perkins.
Here, as I mentioned in the comment section of an identical video, Mister Perkins illustrates the ‘up’-grade from the formerly-standard performances of lesser musicians:
* “Carl, playing rhythm guitar and lead guitar while entertaining us with his vocals and Interpretative Dance.
Mister Perkins is a Man For The Ages!”
https://youtu.be/Ua5KxjAd3ys?si=rtalpjmyoeItUCLd
Non-performers:
* Boudleaux Bryant — composer of ‘DREAM’ by the Everly Brothers, plus about a thousand other compositions.