The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....

It's just about that time of the year where the Rock and Roll Hall of fame holds it's induction ceremony. This year the inductees are Madonna, The Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp and The Ventures. Supposedly Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna, Tom Hanks will induct The Dave Clark Five, Billy Joel will induct John Mellencamp and Lou Reed will induct Leonard Cohen.

I've said it in the past I have have a problem with the whole concept of the rock and roll hall of fame. My problems with it are this;

1) It's Jann Wenner, lawyers and CEO's making all the decisions on who gets nominated and gets in. And Jann and his cohorts are patting each other on their backs each induction ceremony...we're so cool we hang out with rock stars! To quote the Sex Pistols fame at $25,000!? It's not the fans choosing who gets in! And it's not the fans at the induction ceremonies.

2)Isn't the concept of a hall of fame an athletic one?? There are basketball, baseball and football halls of fame...and aren't most rockers are the farthest thing from jocks??

3)There are so many more deserving performers who have yet to be inducted..i.e. Iggy and the Stooges.

Ozzy Osbourne, said it best the rock and roll hall of fame award didn't mean anything to him because it wasn't voted on by the fans and the fans weren't part of the induction ceremony.

Rockstars get awards and accolades through their careers and Ozzy is right if this was something that was voted on by the fans and the fans were part of the induction ceremony it would be special and relevant. I've read that the Dave Clark Five have had fans petition the rock hall for years trying to get them in and the RHOF committe only took them into consideration when high profile people such as Little Steven got behind the petition. And last year the DC5 were up for induction yet again but passed over for acts that had more of a "name" despite getting more votes then those acts who had a "name" and were inducted in '07. It's Jann Wenner and "rock experts" who as mentioned above basically are CEO's and lawyers voting on who gets in and who get to hang out at the induction ceremony. And so it's their musical tastes, their clients and the artists that have been signed to their labels! To quote Johnny Rotten once more "it's the place where old rockers go to die...it's the rock and roll hall of shame", the whole idea and the whole process is so far from the spirit of rock and roll and what rock and roll is about and what it represents.

While I'm still on a rock hall diatribe, I like Madonna and I admire her for what she has done, but honestly (and not because I'm on a Kate Bush kick).. I think Kate Bush should be in there before Madonna!! Enjoy her video for "Running Up that Hill"...I so dig her music, her dramatic videos with her interpretive dancing and the awesome 80's new romantic fashions!!



I've also thrown some Nina Simone singing "I Put A Spell on You" in for some good measure! Love her too!! Now why isn't she in the RHOF..she certainly should have been in way before Madonna!