Is it time to close down the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

I was a rock critic in a past life, so every year around this time, I still get a ballot allowing me to vote for my favorite nominees in the annual election at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Actually, I don't get to choose my favorite bands at all. The Hall of Fame is a notoriously top-down institution, with an elite group of insiders making up a nominating committee that pre-selects their own idiosyncratic idea of the worthy candidates. So all of us lowly peons are only allowed to vote for 5 out of 12 possible candidates, which judging from this year's nominees makes for slim pickings.

The list (read it and weep): ABBA, the Chantels, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Stooges and Donna Summer.

It's pretty pathetic when you consider that you can vote for the Chantels and Darlene Love, but not for Linda Ronstadt, Steve Miller, Chicago, Rush, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Dire Straits or Stevie Ray Vaughan, just to name a few of the ineligible worthies. It's no wonder that Joel Selvin, the veteran San Francisco critic (and former member of the hall's nominating committee), has blasted the hall for its insular decision-making. He heaps most of the blame on Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, the hall's co-founder and dominant force, who is believed to be behind the mysterious last-minute selection of Grandmaster Flash over the Dave Clark 5, with Wenner apparently pushing aside the DC5 (finally inducted in 2008) so the hall could have a hip-hop group in the fold. 

"This thing has sunk to a shameless level of manipulation and behind-the-scenes chicanery," Selvin told the Detroit News in 2007. "If it were a public institution--which it is--it would be held up for public ridicule."

Despite my own shared concerns--I think it would a perfectly appropriate idea to close down the hall for repairs for a few years, until a few more deserving bands become eligible--I still feel obligated to vote. But I'd like some help. Take a second look at the names of the 2010 nominees above and let me know who you'd vote for--and why. Those of us who are actual voters are asked to choose a maximum of five nominees, using numbers (1-2-3-4-5) to signify our preferences. You can do the same. Here's how I'd make my choices as of now, but I'm open to being swayed by any especially passionate or persuasive arguments:

1) The Stooges. (They were short-lived, but had an indelible impact on my teen psyche. Any band that had the one-and-only Iggy Pop on board makes the cut for me.)

2) The Red Hot Chili Peppers. (Local L.A. boys made good, they capture the tumultuous spirit of rock and have made some terrific records along the way.) 

3) Laura Nyro. (Nearly forgotten today, she was a seminal influence on Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash and untold other singer-songwriters.)

4) LL Cool J. (Probably not a major artist, but in his day, he was the epitome of cool.)

5) KISS. (I'm not a member of the Army and I think Gene Simmons is pretty obnoxious, but they were the voice of a generation--no one can forget their first KISS concert.)

Photo: The Rock and Roll Hall Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: Reuters

Comments

[Dezmond]

Please strongly consider casting one of your five votes for GENESIS. I know it may be hard to do if you think primarily of the Phil Collins 1980's pop juggernaut, but what you should do is consider the 1970's incarnation of Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Collins. Progressive Rock is one of the several genres that has been woefully underrepresented in the Hall precisely because Wenner and his cronies on The Politburo have a personal distaste for all things Prog. Genesis would be a fine way to open the Rockhall door a bit to an entire genre of rock and roll. The three seminal albums FOXTROT, SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND and THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY are three of the finest records Prog Rock as a genre has to offer. The musicianship is exciting, passionate and complex, while Gabriel's vocals and characterizations defy description. By voting for Genesis, you would not only be acknowledging one of the most popular pop bands of the 80's (like them or not), but more importantly you would be forcing the Rockhall Nominating Committee to acknowledge a genre of rock that deserves recognition with one of the finest bands of that genre. Plus, Peter Gabriel deserves to be in the Hall in some way anyway. Might as well start with his work with Genesis.

My five votes would be: Genesis, KISS, Hollies, Stooges and one of either Jimmy Cliff or Red Hot Chili Peppers (they definitely deserve induction, but I just think maybe they could wait a few more years to allow some earlier artists still get in).

[Kariann1]

Hello, the Stooges have been nominated so many times, it's like 'let's just get this over with.' Iggy Pop has an important role in the movie presented when you first walk into the bottom level theater, so they must have thought he was important.

Laura Nyro was an important songwriter and should be inducted as one, NOT as an artist. That would give someone else a chance to be inducted, like Donna Summer or Darlene Love. Yes, to KISS. LL Cool J has a hit TV series and is popular in the music industry, so I see him getting in.

My two personal favorites you did not mention in your list is the Moody Blues and Neil Diamond. And yes to Journey!

[Kariann1]

QUOTE: "I thought the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was about the spirit of rock music in America and abroad."

That is one aspect. The foundation for Rock music includes:

1. Gospel
2. Country
3. Blues
4. Rhythm & Blues
5. Folk
6. Jazz
7. Traditional Pop

[Chris W]

If just anybody could vote for who is inducted, everybody would be inducted. 20 years from now, Creed and Nickleback would be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not cool. Face it, this is a club and what makes any club so great or special is exclusivity.