In defense of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Do I agree with every decision the Rock Hall has ever made? Absolutely not, and probably never will. However, some people are way the heck out of line in the way they criticize the hall of fame. They get really personally offended and allow their own personal biases to cloud their judgment. Today, I’d like to share my opinion about the Rock Hall, and defend it to some extent. Because though it isn’t perfect, its far from a reality of the accusations people make.

First off, just because you’ve favorite band has been snubbed for a few years or, hey, a few decades does not mean the Hall of Fame is crap. Inversely, just because they let in someone you don’t like doesn’t make the Hall of Fame crap either. I know, Rush probably should have been in years ago, same deal with Chicago and the Dire Straits and KISS and Judas Priest and the Pixies and ELO and so, so many countless other bands. But the fact is just that, there are SO many acts out there, and the Rock Hall can only let in about half a dozen or so every year. So you’ve got to be patient, and realize that it might be many more years until you can call your favorite band an Inductee. For example, Phish has been my favorite band since I was 16 years old. They’ll be eligible coming up here in a few years. I know, given the fact that they’re not super mainstream, I might have to wait quite a few years until they make it in and in the mean time I’ll have to watch groups I don’t really care for get inducted. That’s just part of the life of someone who follows such things. The fact is that there’s so much music outside of one’s personal taste, which is why so many people vote for induction. Which is why, though I don’t agree with every induction, I can ALWAYS make a case that the person in question has influenced “a,b, and c” if you will and deserves it. I get tired of people thinking they know everything and can tell me exactly who DESERVES to get in and who doesn’t instead of who they WANTED to get in and who didn’t. I read an article the other day saying that of all the 2012 inductees, the author claimed that only Donovan (who was personally my bottom rung) deserved induction. Guns N Roses? Laura Nyro? Red Hot Chili Peppers? Really? NONE of those bands have had an impact on rock music? That’s a bold statement. He also went to slam some of my favorite bands like Steely Dan who I feel absolutely deserved it,  and at that point I stopped reading. The author, in my opinion, was an elitist moron who thought he was some kind of musical authority. That brings me smoothly into my next point (well, that sentence, and the fact that I didn’t mention the Beastie Boys yet)

Rock and Roll is a VERY subjective thing with COUNTLESS sub-genres and COUNTLESS outside influences. I get tired of people carrying on about how “that’s NOT rock and roll wah wah wah wah.” This especially comes up when talking about rap groups and pop groups like Madonna and ABBA. Now, if we’re going to apply this logic, lets say we remove anyone who isn’t purely “Rock and Roll.” Let’s start with anyone from Mowtown to start since really thats R&B and Soul, so bye bye Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, etc. Next, see ya Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff , you play reggae. Frank Zappa dips into jazz more than anything so he’s gone. Simon and Garfunkel were a folk group as far as I’m concerned and see ya Pete Seeger and Neil Young for the same reason. Pariliament-Funkadelic and Earth, Wind, and Fire, “funk” you guys, you’re out! (see what I did there) Now I’m sure I just pissed off a LOT of people with that, including myself because I LOVE all those artists. But hopefully you’re starting to see my point, even those who aren’t traditionally Rock and Roll have had a huge impact on Rock music through influence. The same can be said for a lot of artists people like to complain about. A lot of those pioneering rap groups influenced a lot of the Rap-Rock groups of the 1990’s. Now before you tear me a new one because you hate Limp Bizkit, look at things objectively for a second. Nu Metal was a huge thing, it was a chapter of Rock history whether you like it or not. So why shouldn’t people who had a major influence over that be recognized? Same with pop music, some of those bands have had colossal impact over many different genres, including rock. The fact is there isn’t a single person among us that can say for certain with absolute authority what is or isn’t rock and roll, its all a matter of opinion. And in my humble opinion, if we put in strictly bands that just about everyone on Earth likes and considers rock, it would be nothing more than a string of 60’s and 70’s bands with the same 3 guitar chords and snare drum on 2 and 4, how interesting would the Rock Hall really be? My guess: it wouldn’t be, at all.

My last point is this, to be completely fair, for every one band the Rock Hall has put in that’s been controversial; they’ve made the right choices that no one argues against about 95% of the time. For every one Grandmaster Flash or Neil Diamond, there’s been dozens of groups like The Beatles, The Who, Queen, and Aerosmith to name a few that no one doubts for a second deserve this honor. For every questionable decision the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame makes, they also make really really good decisions every single year. I know I’m sort of repeating myself here but I feel its relevant to this point, but for me, what would the Rock Hall be without controversial decisions? Those are the ones that keep me interested, and make me think. As a person who loves music, I really enjoy having to sit here and go “hmmm, I wonder what their thinking was on THAT choice” and work my way through it in my head. So really, in many ways, I give them kudos for that. They make the decisions they feel are right and keep enthusiasts like me fascinated. But also, for more casual music listeners, they really do a good job recognizing most important people in Rock history.

I do realize that theres a lot of politics in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction process. Some bands get snubbed for personal reasons and that isn’t fair. I will never claim for a second that the Rock Hall induction system is perfect. But in my opinion, it is the best system. People who live, eat, breathe, and sleep Rock and Roll have to really sit down and make decisions on who has contributed to the genre. I know I sort of touched on this already, but if any Joe Schmoe including myself could vote, people don’t seem to realize that it’d be more drab and dull than those people already think it is. Joy Division? Psh, please, they’d never stand a chance with their underground status, you’d better believe Bon Jovi would take their spot in a second. But, because the people with say typically have say for some REASON (mainly the fact that they know a hell of a lot about Rock and Roll music) who knows, maybe they will stand a chance some day. The fact is, any time one institution has to take claim for a whole massive subjective genre like Rock and Roll, people are going to be pissed off. But, if people are willing to calm down for a second, put their biases aside, and really look at things, I think they’d be surprised how reasonable the Hall of Fame typically is.