The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 nominees have been announced, and, sure enough, Jethro Tull have not been nominated. This was to be expected, because the pop critics who run the place hate Ian Anderson, and Anderson doesn't think much of them either. Also, he has that Best Heavy Metal Record Grammy from 1988 to live down.
But come on - no nomination for the late Joe Cocker? Still??
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's new director, John Sykes, is a veteran of the music business who helped get MTV up and running, and he is looking to include more "diversity" - that is, including more women and people of color in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations, even if their music doesn't fit the basic definition of rock and roll, which may explain why Whitney Houston is a nominee this year. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against Whitney Houston - she was one of my people, that is, she grew up in Essex County, New Jersey, like I did, and where I still live - but her music was not rock and roll. Her energetic songs were pure pop, and her ballads were throwbacks to 1970s MOR. But just because Sykes is aiming for more diversity doesn't mean he's shutting out white guys entirely. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 nominees include classic rockers such as the Doobie Brothers, Todd Rundgren, T. Rex, and Judas Priest, and the Dave Matthews Band and Depeche Mode are among the more modern rockers on the list. Diversity is represented by classic rockers Thin Lizzy, whose frontman, Phil Lynott, was half black and half white, and Rufus, which was fronted by Chaka Khan. They indeed belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But not The Notorious B.I.G, because rap isn't rock (and isn't even music), and, even though she's a woman, Pat Benatar doesn't belong in it either. She was and remains a hack,; her classic rock records were the sort of corporate rock that is the sonic equivalent of diet soda.
Most of the nominees this year make sense (a full list is available here), but the continued snubbing of the late Joe Cocker (below) is an unacceptable outrage. He's been eligible for induction for longer than it takes to become eligible. Conventional wisdom suggests that Cocker is routinely shut out because a) he ripped off black singers like Ray Charles (although Charles loved his singing) and b) he mostly recorded cover versions of songs, particularly R&B songs, so why settle for copies when you can have the originals? By that criterion, Linda Ronstadt should never have been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but she's in it. Anyway, those are stupid reasons not to include one of the greatest blue-eyed soul singers - maybe the greatest blue-eyed soul singer - ever. The Hall can go ahead and snub Jethro Tull, but if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can't acknowledge Joe Cocker's greatness, then to hell with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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4 comments:
Joe was great..re did the songs in his own way and was very true to the blues base of the music...check out the Mad Dogs tour video if you want to see a band both having fun and making great music..kudos toLeon Russell as well.
Excellent article as it tells it like it is—not the way THEY want us to think it is. How anyone can have respect for the R&RHOF organization is beyond me. It really doesn’t mean a whole hell of alot to be included with all the snubbing going on—for me it would be most notably Connie Francis as she was one of the first female Rock & Roll singers starting w/her popularity in the late 1950’s. Brenda Lee was already inducted & take note that both of these female singers did sing other genres as well as Rock & Roll but Whitney Houston did not sing Rock & Roll what-so-ever. Bending rules to be politically correct or not to offend? Same w/Rappers being nominated into the ROCK & ROLL HOF; a joke of the century which is the reason this is now a disrespectful organization. And not to acknowledge Joe Cocker—of all the audacity!
Thanks for the vote of confidence! :-)
Unknown: I have the Mad Dogs and Englishmen documentary on home video, and it's one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made. Leon Russell is in the Hall of Fame, of course.
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