JJ's Big Time Bloga tumblelog

reedwatson:

This article sums it up quite well, but I’d like to add a few thoughts:

1. Letting rappers in and denying entry to bands like Rush and KISS is an absolute farce.  I don’t even like KISS.  But they should be in the Hall of Fame, even if Gene Simmons is a complete and utter tool.  Rush is a massive influence and a still-vital juggernaut.  They should be in.  Hell, they left Steely Dan out for long enough to completely invalidate the entire operation.
2. Did I mention letting rap artists in?  Cause that’s ridiculous.  If you want rap, create a rap hall of fame.  Rap music is not rock-and-roll music.  That’s just my opinion, but it’s a strong one.  That’s not discounting rap music as a genre— it’s valid and it’s spot in history is indisputable— but it’s not rock-and-roll, and to lump it in that category is a pretty large misunderstanding of the music (if you ask me).  
3. Of course, these are the same idiots that laud the Aerosmith/Run-DMC collaboration as a “groundbreaking mega-moment” in music history.  Well you know what I think?  The song blows.  Just my opinion.
4. If you want to know why the Hall is lame, just look at who’s on the selection committee… and look no further than the lamest of the lame, Jann Wenner— founder and editor of Rolling Stone.  Wenner is a man who started an excellent and risk-taking publication, then turned it into a rag that chases shock value and is a parody of it’s former self.  The magazine is now a total embarrassment.  No surprise there.
5. The people that sit on that board are the types that think the Black Eyed Peas are the most relevant and cutting-edge rappers on the planet.  They think Will.I.Am is a genius.  For that reason, they should all be kicked off in swift fashion.
6. My biggest grief with the Hall is it’s location.  Cleveland is a joke of a town to host the Hall of Fame.  A joke.  Wenner wants it in New York, because like most snobby critics, he’s discounted what THE AMERICAN SOUTH has brought to rock-and-roll music (oh wait, we created it).  The Hall of Fame should be in MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.  PERIOD.  There should be *zero* discussion on this.  The fact that the Hall is not in the South is the biggest joke of all.

Acts that should be in the Hall that aren’t:

• Rush
• KISS  (not a fan, but no doubt about it)
• Randy Newman (one of the greatest to walk the planet)
• Cheap Trick
• The Zombies
• Link Wray
• BIG STAR  (unquestionable)
• The Cars
• Hall & Oates (yes, I firmly believe they should be in)
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Professor Longhair
• The Meters

That’s all I got.  I’ve been to the Rock Hall, and it’s a remarkable place.  For a music dork, it’s sensory overload in a magnificent way.  With that being said, I hate what it stands for and I wish it didn’t exist.

Leave Hall of Fames to things where people die.  The great thing about music is that if you are great, you live on forever and you are reborn every single time someone plays your record.  If you make a classic, you’ll live forever.

Rock and Roll is too important for a Hall of Fame.

Mr Watson sums it upmarket well.

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