Listen To the Music

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for 2020 may be remembered more for being virtual due to the pandemic than for its inductees - if it indeed is remembered at all.  Dude, the it took place the same day Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election - no one even noticed the damn ceremony!  As for 2021, the nominations won't be made until some time early in the new year - under normal circumstances, they would have been made by now already - with an induction ceremony likely in November.  Hopefully, it will be a live and in-person ceremony and not a virtual one, because the pandemic should be over by then.  But the new schedule that pushes the inductions from the spring to the fall could persist in 2022 and beyond.  

But who cares?  No one cared about the inductions this year.

This is a shame, because there were a couple of worthy inductions for 2020, although there were a couple of others that make people wonder why the Hall's leadership just doesn't drop all the pretenses of honoring rock and roll and call it the Popular Music Hall of Fame, Paul McCartney suggested back in 2000.  (Oops, I just said "back in 2000" - that makes me feel so old! 😃)  So here they are, one by one.

Depeche Mode.  Once upon a time I would have said no to inducting these guys because "People Are People" got along so awfully with my ears.  But I've since grown to like Depeche Mode because I've heard a couple of their other songs, and they're easily one of the cooler New Wave bands of the eighties, a decade not known for producing many cool bands in the first place.  And Johnny Cash made the case for them in spades by covering their song "Personal Jesus."  Reach out and touch faith, indeed.

The Doobie Brothers.  The ultimate no-brainer.  Nothing says good times and good vibes like seventies classic rock, and nothing says "seventies classic rock" like the Doobie Brothers, who turned over more than a few members over a decade's time yet still made great music.  Early hits such as "Listen To the Music," "Long Train Running," and "China Grove" from the era when Tom Johnston  fronted the band were toe-tapping rockers, and the Dixieland-based "Black Water" showed a strong command of roots music in a pop context, but but when Michael McDonald joined, the Doobies then gravitated to a soul-based jazz-inspired sound that expanded the Doobies' command of pop - and bringing in Jeff "Skunk" Baxter from Steely Dan was also a plus.  The Doobie Brothers were one of the very few classic rock bands to re-invigorated by a key personnel change - however, give kudos to the group's constant, guitarist-singer Patrick Simmons, as well as bassist Tiran Porter - and they deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame strictly for McDonald, the greatest white singer of the seventies.

Whitney Houston. I'm sorry.  Whitney Houston doesn't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Don't get me wrong.  She was a great singer.  She had numerous hits, most of which were enjoyable when they came on the radio.  You can't take that away from her. And as she came from Essex County, New Jersey - my home ground - I obviously have pride in her achievements.  But she was not a rock and roll singer and, despite her gospel roots, never rose to the level of Aretha Franklin or Etta James.  She was pop.

Nine Inch Nails.  Nine Inch Nails, until British musician Atticus Ross joined in 2016, was multi-instrumentalist Trent Reznor and whoever he chose to being into the studio or on stage.  But this one-man band created some really intense music back in the nineties, and like Depeche Mode, was given the seal of approval by a Johnny Cash cover (Cash remade the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt").  So, yes, this induction makes sense.  

The Notorious B.I.G.  No.  He was a rapper.  The end.  

T. Rex.  For their energy, and their crunchy hooks, T. Rex are more than deserving to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The late Marc Bolan was a great frontman, backing up his power pop with rock and roll attitude.  "Bag a Gong (Get It On)" and "Jeepster" only scratch the surface of T. Rex's incredible music, but they're enough on their own to justify their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.    

The 2020 Ahmet Ertegun Award for the contributions of producers, label bosses, mangers, and other impresarios went to former MCA Irving Azoff, who also managed the Eagles, and rock critic Jon Landau, who quit the Fourth Estate to manage Bruce Springsteen. While some old-school rock critics may still hold a grudge against Azoff for giving us the Eagles, he's long been a professional in managing and running the business side of things in pop and rock, and Landau . . . well, he's the reason we all know who Springsteen is.  He's more than deserving of this honor.

And that's it for my comments on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020.  For those whose favorite acts didn't even get nominated (*cough cough*, Jethro Tull, *cough cough*), hope springs eternal for 2021.  (Yeah, right.)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was originally established to honor rock and roll performers but has since gone on to include performers representing a variety of pop styles.  But who cares?