My reactions:

R.E.M. - no fucking way. They represent everything I hate in rock music.
Van Halen - as Dick Cheney would put it, "it's a no brainer".

Just because it's popular doesn't mean that it's bad, either.

AC/DC is in. Musically they are no more sophisticated than KISS - maybe less (KISS has tried several different things over the years). The Sex Pistols musically were nowhere near KISS' level - sure, they had attitude to spare, and they did help change Rock and Roll, but KISS had just as much influence as the Pistols (arguably more), and KISS has been successful for almost 35 years!

The hypocricy and contradictory nature of the voters selections is what bothers me.

I guarantee that 95% of the bands I'm into, you've never heard. Nevertheless, no one can logically deny KISS' influence on music and their achievements.

The thing that some of the posters here refuse to do, is remove THEIR tastes from the equation.

VH had a huge impact on music. Tons of people loved them. Eddie brought a style of playing that gave many future guitar players the motivation to go buy a guitar.

They were a lock, End of story.

That's basically what I've been saying. Put YOUR tastes aside and look at it OBJECTIVELY. Figure out the criteria (other than "I think they're one of the best bands of all time"), and judge the bands on that.

R.E.M., Van Halen, the Stooges, Patti Smith, Dave Clark Five, Chic, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Joe Tex and the Ronettes.

OK, let's look.

R.E.M. - Lock. Definitely should go in. They were the quintessential "college alternative band" of the 80's, and had huge success into the 90's. (I can't stand them - but they should go in on the first ballot.)

Van Halen - One of the most successful and influential bands of all time. Almost a lock (should be a lock), but the voters are snobs, so it just depends on whether or not they feel like throwing "the masses" a bone.

The Stooges - Influential band, not very successful, though. It's hard to separate Iggy Pop from the Stooges when looking at the Stooges, but you really have to in this case (since it's not Iggy who's nominated). If the Sex Pistols are in, then these guys have a good chance (as there would have been no Sex Pistols without the Stooges).

Patti Smith - Maybe. I wouldn't vote for her, but I'd want to look at everything first (album sales, bands who have said they were influenced by her, etc). Like I said - maybe.

Dave Clark Five - Maybe. Fairly successful, fairly influential, a good to great band for their time.

Chic - Are you kidding me? These guys had what? A six year career (other than brief reunions) making Disco-Funk music and that qualifies them for the HOF? They were great at what they did, but it's hard to call them "Rock and Roll." If these guys get in before KISS, Rush, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, etc, then the voters need to be shot. Nile Rodgers might get a nod as an artist/producer, but I can't see Chic getting in. They just don't make it on success and influence (although they did make a mark, just not a "Hall of Fame" worthy mark), and they aren't Rock and Roll.

Grandmaster Flash - No way. This is NOT the "Rap Hall of Fame." Rap is not Rock and Roll - Chic is a lot closer to Rock than Grandmaster Flash.

Joe Tex - No. I just can't see this one.

The Ronnettes - A good 60's "girl group," but played 3rd fiddle to the Supremes. I can't see this one, either.

The first five - definitely to maybe, the last 4 are a joke considering who DIDN'T get nominated.

That's me looking at it objectively based on the criteria of success (album sales, concert ticket sales, etc) and influence/impact.

I'd argue that Darlene Love should be in there before the Ronettes, but that's just me.

I really don't understand why the Dave Clark Five are being considered. Sure, they had a bunch of hits, but they're not exactly Hall of Fame worthy IMO. Hell, might as well get Herman's Hermits on the next ballot.

And on a side note, where the hell is Love? Arthur Lee just passed away, so I figured they would've been a lock for the next go-around.

No Cure = No Sale

-ringding-

I'd say the Cure merit strong consideration.

I hate them with a passion, but they were hugely successful and hugely influential. You can't argue that.

Just another glaring omission. (Joe Tex, Grandmaster Flash, Chic, and The Ronnettes? And all these other seemingly OBVIOUS choices don't even get nominated? WTF???)

As much as I love The Ronettes I don't they deserve to be in at all, even if they did record the greatest pop song of all time. They were nothing without Phil Spector, who is already in the Hall of Fame. I take the view that The Ronettes basically provided the vocals to songs that Phil wrote or wanted to record. The credit belongs to him, not the mouthpiece.

I guess I'm the only one here who thinks Ronnie and the gals deserve in the hall before any of the other nominees this year.

I just realized: no Cure, no Kiss - they're discriminating against guys with a lot of make-up!

-ringding-

Allow me to place this into evidence as a counter argument:

http://www.goooooooooooooooooooooooo...uitarsolo.html

I remain convinced that the influence EVH has had on rock music has been 100% pernicious.

Again, still an opinion and completely subjective based on your musical taste.

The other thing is you can't give Eddie 100% credit (or blame, depending on your point of view) for the mid to late 80's guitar shredders. Eddie was one of three guys who took guitar playing to the next level in the late 70's and early 80's. The other two were Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen (although some people may also throw Steve Vai in there as well). For a lot of guitar players who came after that it then became a game of, "Can you top this?"

But Eddie was the first of those three guys, so he was probably the biggest influence. But Eddie's influence as a guitar player is still second to the band's songs and the success of their albums.

Was Malmsteen that big an influence? I know he was always respected as a really hotshit player, but I never thought he influenced as many guys as Satriani or Vai. Maybe he was a bigger influence on European metal players.

Oh, no, no, no - it wasn't just the Europeans that were influenced by Yngwie.

Malmsteen was a HUGE influence on American guitar players as well. The entire Shrapnel Records roster was a bunch of guys influenced by Yngwie in the late 80's. And most of them were Americans.

Very few of these guys made a big commercial impact, but Shrapnel sold at least 50,000-100,000 copies of each of these releases. There was a huge underground of a Shredder community in the U.S. - and it still exists today, just a lot smaller.

Wasn't Shrapnel Mike Varney's company? I seem to remember he used his Guitar Player column to essentially recruit and promote players for/on his label.

You've got it. Shrapnel became a pretty big moneymaker for Varney, and the label still exists today (although Varney has broadened the scope of the label to include older acts like U.F.O. and the Michael Schenker Group - but everything is guitar "idol" oriented in one way or another.)

And there likely wouldn't have been a Shrapnel records without Eddie Van Halen on the scene first.

Van Halen should be a lock to get in. They've more than met any objective criteria you can come up with.

C'mon. The Baseball HOF is in Cooperstown, NY. Canton, OH is home to the Football HOF.

The Rock 'n' Roll HOF is a cool museum, whose ultimate goal, I think, is to elevate rock music to "art" status. If anyone who's called the place a "joke" in this thread ever went there, they'd probably enjoy themselves. It's a cool collection of stuff. It might be a joke to try and make rock music high brow, but the reverence that the engineers of the whole project seem to have for the subject is admirable. Sure, entrance into the R'n'R HOF pantheon is a matter of (sometimes suspect) taste, and is a little silly, since anything that is a considered a matter of taste cannot be definitively quantified as good/better/best, because the only statistics (record sales, ticket sales, and downloads) are subject to an audience's taste.

I'm sure that some of my favorite bands of the moment will never even be nominated for entry, and if nominated, won't get in. I'm fine with that. It doesn't mean that performers like Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, The Polyphonic Spree, and Wolf Parade, to name a few, are any worse than performers like Beck, The White Stripes, and Radiohead, who probably will gain entry. It just means that they were probably more popular. I don't think that The Smashing Pumpkins will get in, but that doesn't mean that they're any worse than any of the "locks" from that era. Same goes for Van Halen getting in and Black Sabbath (until recently) not.

Notability is a huge factor in being elected to any HOF. If not for one home run, no one outside of Pittsburgh would have ever known who the hell Bill Mazeroski was. He'd be as notable as Danny Kravatz, the O'Brien twins, and (the original) Frank Thomas. If not for Hal Smith, he never gets to even make a difference with that homer. So when Metallica gets in, and Husker Du and Nick Cave are sitting on the sidelines, it's OK. Just go and enjoy the museum project. They have ZooTV Trabants there.

cheers,

-the Jesus

So how do bands like Maiden, Rush, and Kiss get in. If they are nominated and don't make it the first year...is that it? Or can they get voted in another year? And how does the nominating process work? Who decides?

Maiden should be in there b/c of what they have done for their genre and they continue to sell out concerts. Their influence cannot be denied. The HOF should look at these bands do globally and not just in the US.

Samething with Kiss (who I don't like).

Rush should get in too.

Maiden deserves to get in, but after other noteable bands. Alice Cooper deserves to get in right away because of influence and longetivity. Deep Purple as well. Kiss and Rush should be part of the next wave and so on. If Maiden should get in (however unlikley) they should follow bands like Judas Priest and Motorhead (who are also unlikely)

oops

There have been a lot of oversights over the years. In addition to many of the worthy bands already mentioned, I'll just add T.Rex, the New York Dolls, and JOhnny Thunders. This problem is only going to get worse as the 80s "Left of the Dial" bands continue to become eligible. Does anyone think we'll see the Replacements get inducted? The Minutemen? Husker Du? Depeche Mode? The Cure? Black Flag? The Smiths? The Dead Kennedys? Bad Brains? The Chili Peppers? Ian MacKaye? I could keep going.

I'm guessing maybe Depeche Mode, the Cure, and the Smiths get inducted over the next 10-15 years. Maybe the Replacements. The rest get ignored.

Chili Peppers are in without a problem. They're not left of the dial any longer - their most recent albums are all over mainstream radio.

-ringding-

Do people really take the rock and roll hall of fame seriously?

I think the Replacements will get in for sure.