I spent my morning writing time reading this list, with critic Bill Wyman (no relation to the bassist for the Stones) ranking the acts in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from best to worst. I could write about this topic for days, but because I was too busy reading to write anything today, I'll just have you click the link and have a look for yourself. At first glance, I'd say he overrates the Ramones and Nirvana and underrates the Yardbirds, but your mileage may vary. Even though I believe the Hall of Fame to be a dubious venture, rock history matters. You could start a hundred arguments with this list. And you can start in the comments section.
5 comments:
Not too impressed by this list. There are too many things on it that admit under gentle cross-examination, "Nope, I'm not rock 'n roll at all. No sirree." Maybe if they called it, "The 2nd Half of the Century Century Popular Music Hall of Fame (Except for Country - We Hate That)"?
Wenner is/was a parasitic opportunist. Somehow these types often end up as gatekeepers. Hunters S. Thompson's seething disdain for the man no doubt influences my opinion.
There are some acts in there that are very good and talented, but I don't know that I'd call them "rock and roll" in the way I interpret the genre, but perhaps its enough to acknowledge that the freedom/rebellion of rock laid the ground for other genres to come under this tent (though pre-Alan Freed blues and folk music are the real parents of the "rock" attitude in my opinion, and jazz swing and western swing are the older siblings). I'm not going to worry too much about it, though. I'll accept that the essence is - to paraphrase the Stones - "but I like it."
Don McLean - The meaning of American Pie :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsZFiMo8TIc
I'm not sure that Narvarnar can be overrated. It's possible, but not too likely. With the Ramones it could be possible, but Gino would be more of an expert on that one. And the Yardbirds would be debatable as key members leaving, and going on to other projects that had a higher impact on the industry, and culture for that matter. I'd use the Runaways as an example as one could argue that the Yardbirds were a male version of them that preceded Joan Jett and company
Wenner is/was a parasitic opportunist.
Couldn't agree more.
Maybe if they called it, "The 2nd Half of the Century Century Popular Music Hall of Fame (Except for Country - We Hate That)"?
Wouldn't have fit on the marquee. But I take your point.
And the Yardbirds would be debatable as key members leaving, and going on to other projects that had a higher impact on the industry, and culture for that matter. I'd use the Runaways as an example as one could argue that the Yardbirds were a male version of them that preceded Joan Jett and company
That's really selling the Yardbirds short, I think. You can listen to Roger the Engineer on YouTube. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. And any band that employed Clapton, Page, and Jeff Beck is streets past the Runaways.
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