R.E.M., Van Halen, Stooges On Rock Hall Ballot

Billboard ^ | October 30, 2006, 10:30 AM ET | Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

[weegee]

R.E.M., Van Halen, the Stooges and Patti Smith are among the nine acts on the ballot for the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, to be held March 12 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Also on the ballot are the Dave Clark Five, Chic, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Joe Tex and the Ronettes.

Five artists will be chosen for the final list of inductees, to be announced in January. To be eligible for induction, the 2007 class had to release their first single no later than 1981.

Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie, Miles Davis and record moguls Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were enshrined in the Hall earlier this year.

[weegee]

Rock and Roll PING! email Weegee to get on/off this list (or grab it yourself to PING the rest)

[doodad]

REM just got inducted at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. They all showed up (miracle) and even did a short set.

[Trampled by Lambs]

I thought the Sex Pistols told them to uh.. p*** off?

Also, Miles Davis (for example) was great but wasn't rock n roll, same with a lot of others I see inducted to the RRHoF.. then they skip bands that definately belong like Deep Purple, Rush and Alice Cooper.

The hall of fame is a joke, IMO.

[JRios1968]

Think they will make it to their Induction?

[NonValueAdded]

Moe, Larry, the Cheese?

[pissant]

There should be no such thing as th R&R hall of fame as far as I'm concerned.

[t_skoz]

First let me say I'm glad Seger is in. We were gonna have to burn that place to the ground!

Now as far as this years' nominees: where the hell are Rush and Yes? Where are Alice Cooper and The Cars?

My top 5 out of this 9 are (in no particular order):

Joe Tex
Patti Smith
The Stooges
Van Halen
Dave Clark Five

[vetvetdoug]

One name omission by the R&R Hall of Fame makes the Hall of Fame a joke, Johnny Rivers.

[weegee]

The HOF will always be a joke. They'll have some "cool stuff" inside but they've inducted more for sales than influence.

If an artist got 50 INDUCTED artists to pick up a guitar, I think that artist should be in the hall.

Link Wray is in as a "one hit wonder" (but not an official inductee) and died last year. The Ramones got shunned until Joey died.

Gene Vincent may have been a bigger influence in England than America but certainly inspired the men who became the Beatles.

[Skooz]

Scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

[j_k_l]

I used to live in Cleveland and I will never understand why anyone would pay $15 to smell Grace Slick's boots.

[weegee]

I had no doubt that REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or U2 would get in the Hall. I am surprised to see REM as the first nominated from that group.

Musically I don't care about any of them (all were considered "underground" initially but have been considered mainstream acts since 1988 and yet they STILL try to play up the "indie" sound label). But for sales and lasting ability, I knew they'd all get in.

What other acts from the past 25 years (1981-now) will get first round nominations? Pearl Jam and Nirvana (as their time comes) MAYBE the Butthole Surfers. But I don't see much else modern stuff getting a nod. There are worthy acts but they won't get noted.

[murdoog]

I'm really surprised The Stooges are just now getting nominated. How could the guys that did "Search And Destroy" get overlooked for sooo long?

[Rakkasan1]

Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read. - Frank Zappa

[zook]

"There should be no such thing as th R&R hall of fame as far as I'm concerned."

You're right. A museum maybe, but not a hall of fame. But as long as there is one, I WANNA SEE IGGY AND THE STOOGES IN IT!

[dfwgator]

Iggy and the Stooges invented punk. The rest of the so-called "punks" are nothing but posers.

[RabidBartender]

Which Van Halen, though?

[zook]

I had the privilege of seeing the Stooges and Iggy several times over the years, starting back in 1968.

[My Favorite Headache]

Still no:

Rush

Kiss

Yes

Heart

Cheap Trick

Genesis

The Cars

XTC

Electric Light Orchestra

The Zombies

The Hollies

Love

Procol Harum

Television

Graham Parker

Nick Lowe

Tom Waits

Squeeze

The Specials

The Mekons

Irma Thomas

Fairport Convention/Richard Thompson

Big Star


Peter Gabriel

The Spinners

Gram Parsons

Alice Cooper

Jethro Tull

Nick Drake

ABBA

Styx

Journey

REO Speedwagon

Moody Blues

Chicago

Iron Maiden

Judas Priest

Kansas

King Crimson

ELP

Todd Rundgren

The Tubes

Pat Benatar

The Go-Go's

Supertramp

Jimmy Buffett

Los Lobos

Foreigner

Joe Walsh

Alan Parsons Project

The Monkees

Dire Straits

Jethro Tull

Doobie Brothers

[Mike Bates]

It's about time for the Dave Clark Five to make it.

[wagglebee]

Great list! It's unbelievable that most of these groups aren't in there. I never really even liked Kiss or Rush, but when you look at their overall impact it's incredible. And groups like the Zombies, the Hollies, Procul Harum, Jethro Tull and Chicago are HUGE.

[Mr. Blonde]

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains will also get nods pretty quickly. Maybe Temple of the Dog, but they are kind of limited by having only one album. Of those Soundgarden will be the first to become eligible. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rage Against the Machine in there too. They were certainly originators in the rap/metal mashup.

[rintense]

Worst concert I've ever been to: REM's Monster Tour. I will never go see them again. Not only did they sound terrible live, but listening to Stipe and guest Patti Smith trash Republicans was just too much.

[doodad]

I can believe every bit of that. I got to meet Mike Mills recently though and he is a standup and I would think conservative guy. Plays golf as badly as I do; we have the same teacher.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Can David Lee Roth even appear on camera anymore without breaking the lens?

[rintense]

I coukld handle the bashing. But they sounded just horrible. Radiohead opened for them and I fell in love. Been a Radiohead fan ever since. In fact, the lead singer of Radiohead walked past our car in the lot. I flipped out and told my friends who it was and they said no way. Sure enough, when he took the stage, they all said 'you were right!'.

[wagglebee]

When Document went big it was the beginning of the end. They were incredible in the mid-80's on the college circuit though.

[doodad]

Where were they playing?

[dfwgator]

I liked REM better when you couldn't understand what Stipe was actually singing.

[wagglebee]

Like I was saying, pre-Document.

[weegee]

We don't see 4 bands of one modern era get in at the same time (or even nominated in the same year). Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Rage Against the Machine will be waiting awhile for their turns. I don't know Temple of the Dog but don't see them getting in. The industry tried to lock grunge at 5 bands (same as the subsequent swing band revival). For that reason, I don't see the industry suddenly warming up to grunge.

Nomination is based on sales and name recognition and then on impact/influence.

The Ramones got a lot of bands to join in and it was Iggy & The Stooges that got the NYC scene started (at least as told in the book Please Kill Me, people had to wait about a year at a time for Iggy to come to town so the New York Dolls and others got into it).

Without Poison 13 and Mudhoney, there is no Pearl Jam and so also goes the grunge movement but it is unlikely that either band will get inducted. Pearl Jam does acknowledge their origins though and a hybrid band (Monkeywrench) that features members of Poison 13 and Mudhoney opened for Pearl Jam for 2 nights at Wembley.

[rintense]

Breslin Center in Lansing, MI.

[Mr. Blonde]

Temple of the Dog was a one off band that is notable for a couple of things. One of the first to bring grunge to the mainstream, but more importantly membership. Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament. This is near the same time Vedder joined the others to become Pearl Jam. Cornell of course had his own thing goingon. And shortly after they released an album together they shot to superstardom with their own bands. One song that originated as a TOTD song became a song for Pearl Jam.

Because of the way the nomination process works they could all get in on the first try. They all released their first single in different years Soundgarden 1987, Nirvana 1988, Alice in Chains in 1990, Pearl Jam in 1991. So they will all become eligible at different times. Now the chances of them getting in seems to depend on how hard they want to push them. I would think they will at least get nominations if not inducted. If they are packed a bunch of other nominees they might not get in, but if it is like this year they would. Is their any doubt that Van Halen, REM and The Stooges are almost guaranteed on this ballot? Especially being that one of the nominees isn't even a rock artist.

[weegee]

They could but the Hall goes for diversity of eras and music styles.

And the most famous Jefferson Airplane songs are really Great Society songs (White Rabbit and Somebody To Love) but that still doesn't improve their chances for getting in the hall.

I'd wager that the Butthole Surfers as the new vanguard of psychedelia would get in the hall before Alice In Chains.

[Yossarian]

Another good reason to love Radiohead: their guest appearance in South Park's infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode:

Radiohead making fun of Scott Tenorman after he learned he just ate 'Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman' Chili