AaronHernandez

The induction of bland but commercially succesful wus/am radio/granny rock artists Steve Miller and Chicago means that prescident has been set for artists like Train,Maroon 5,Hootie and Blowfish and Coldplay in the future.

hdnmickey

If a pre-80's band is going to be written off because their music changed in the 80's, then nobody gets in. And yes, given how much "rock" music changed in the 80's and 90's, many bands like Train and Maroon 5 will get in. Certainly no worse that the many "pop" artists from the 50's and 60's that have already been inducted. And the disco...And the R&B. And the rap...

Jason

With all this hand-wringing over Chicago and Steve Miller, I'm kind of surprised Cheap Trick are getting a free pass. They were as close to nothing as anything I've ever heard. Other than being bland, corporate schlock rock to inspire a thousand punk bands, what influence did they ever have? The guy played a guitar with seven necks? Who fuckin' cares?

hdnmickey

They probably love those 80's pop ballads The Flame and Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love.

Like Chicago, Cheap Trick's 70's output is what is getting them in the Hall.

inri222

Replace The Smiths with Joy Division and now we're talking.

I agree that The Smiths are a great band and should be inducted, I just don't consider them post-punk.
To me they were more more of an alternative/indy/college rock band.

Hokeyboy

We all have that one song from that age. Mine was goddamn Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting".

Jason

Wasn't the whole indie scene basically just "post-punk"?

Ky-Fi

Sort of, but I get what inri222 is saying. The Smiths, REM, The Pretenders and some of the college acts of the time maybe drew a bit heavier on bands like The Byrds, The Beatles and jangly-pop stuff.

You'll probably never get any two music fans to completely agree on terms like punk, postpunk, new wave, alternative, etc.

Supermallet

Just induct Wire and be done with it.

Hokeyboy

I remember, I remember...

creekdipper

Introduced by Enya!

creekdipper

Nothing melted a Junior High heart like Justin Heyward vocals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rkgm1yGgbM

rw2516

They have one, I repeat one, really good song. "Gonna Raise Hell"

Hokeyboy

U2's "With Or Without You" was probably the best 80s teenage makeout song. Ye gods that was almost 29 years ago...

rw2516

The first few years out of high school I had a couple girl friends and a third I married. They're all ancient history now, but hearing these songs make me feel 40 years younger.

I Go Crazy-Paul Davis
Magnet and Steel-Walter Egan
Right Down The Line-Gerry Rafferty

hdnmickey

The first four alums are solid from start to finish. It's after that, through the MTV era, that things get shaky. They get pretty solid again, getting back to playing rock, with Woke Up With a Monster.

Rocketdog2000

Sounds like hipster sour grapes from someone who clearly knows nothing about the band, their music, thier influence, or lengthy career.

Cheap Trick had A LOT of influence, particularly on some of the biggest bands of the 80's and 90's - groups like Guns N Roses, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, the Foo Fighters, and many, many more. Big Black covered them, as have a host of others.

As someone else pointed out, their first four albums are a solid as anything any band has ever released, and 40 plus years into thier career, they're still better than most bands half their age. On top of that, Robin Zander is one of the greatest, if not most underrated, singers in Rock & Roll history. Bassist Tom Petersson is also renowned for the invention and popularization of the 12 string bass.

I'll take Cheap Trick over just about anything that supposedly passes for cool in music these days, or any band who's name you'd be likely to throw out in return.

Decker

Coldplay is a legitimate, respected and influential rock band (last two crappy albums notwithstanding) actually worthy of induction. Don't lump them in with pop flavor of the month like Train and Maroon 5.

Here's the thing about the future of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame : We are going to see more and more marginal inductees as the years go by for one simple reason -- unlike Sports Halls of Fame, there aren't lots of new, worthy candidates in the pipeline every year.
Think for a moment : how many slam-dunk First Ballot rock acts are left waiting for eligibility after 25 years? I count five : Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters. Possibly Wheezer, The White Stripes. Maybe I'm forgetting one or two more, but there aren't many. The Hall will have to reach back and induct all those questionable, lesser Rock artists in upcoming years to balance the Dr Dre, Eminem, Jay Z, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé contingent that make no mistake will be the headliners in upcoming years. That's the reality whether you like it or not. Good news for fans of bands who didn't get in this year or last, but it's kind of pointless to argue if a band is worthy of induction because more and more will just be let in as the pool gets shallower and shallower.

rw2516

There are still a lot of bands and artists while not big names, are highly thought of in regards to their music. They just never hit it real big. Even though some may have slacked in quality in later years there is a period in their careers that is generally considered top notch stuff. The HoF still has plenty to draw from for years to come
Mott The Hoople
T Rex
Grand Funk Railroad
James Gang
Joe Walsh(solo)
Humble Pie
Savoy Brown
Rory Gallagher
JOHNNY WINTER
Def Leppard
10cc
Supertramp
Roxy Music
Leon Russell
Delaney and Bonnie
J. Geils Band
King Crimson
Canned Heat (are they in?)
Steppenwolf
John Mayall (is he in?)
Doobie Brothers
The Faces
probably more

Less likely, or not at all
Journey
Ted Nugent
Styx
Kansas
REO Speedwagon
Rainbow
Blue Oyster Cult
Bad Company
Black Oak Arkansas
Nazareth
Foghat
etc.

nothingfails

Considering Chicago have been kept out for 20 YEARS PAST ELIGIBILITY, I don't get why some people are still attacking them for the 1980s pop crap.... they had their "punishment" by taking two decades to get in.

Do people argue Jefferson Airplane don't belong in the HOF because of Starship's 1980s pop hits? Its no different really. Chicago is getting in for their 1969-1974 material, not for "You're The Inspiration". They've had their punishment for the 80s AC mush, why not finally let them in for the early stuff?

Drexl

Hmm, do you think Dr. Dre will be inducted as a solo artist? The Chronic was pretty big, but I don't know if it's enough. His case would be interesting because his work in record production is probably more notable than his solo rapping. I wonder if he would go in as a non-performer (that category includes some who performed as well).

BTW, I'm not sure Smashing Pumpkins are a slam dunk. I can see them eventually making it, but not right away. Their peak was not very long, and I don't think they're as highly regarded and/or considered as influential as Nirvana or Radiohead.

Of more recent bands, I believe Arcade Fire has a good shot if they keep it up.

JANK

Good points and my thoughts exactly. Let 'em in!

Rocketdog2000

Here, here! Great point.

EddieMoney

Fucking Joy Division not being in is a travesty. Same for the Cure.

Anyone heard of The Sound? One of the best bands of the '80s and I'm sure the voters have no clue who they were.

Decker

Not really the same thing at all. Jefferson Airplane was a Rock band who played classic 60s rock and even played Woodstock, who in the 80s ventured into Pop in order to keep relevant and sell records. Heart was the same thing in the Seventies -- a serious rock band who went full-on pop in the 80s to go back onto the charts. Chicago became known as a pop band in the 70s who became very popular and successful with jazz-tinged easy listening music in their prime. Yes, they had a brief period of fusion-rock in their early years, but soon embraced a very pop sound. Most of their hits - "Saturday in the Park", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "Color My World", "Feeling Stronger Every Day", "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" are all 70s tracks before the Peter Cetera 80's era even started.
You can make a case that their early formative stuff alone is worthy of induction (kind of like how people tried to make that case for Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham made it the group we all know as Fleetwood Mac). Personally, I don't think that early Chicago stuff is what the band is known for and isn't alone worthy of induction.
A better pro-Hall of Fame comparable argument is that they aren't that much different in sound from Steely Dan who were an easy, early induction. I think they're a little softer and a little more easy-listening pop than Steely Dan, but I suppose they're close enough to get a pass at this late time.
But again, they are not the same boat as Jefferson Starship or Heart.