2024 Rock Hall Nominees

     It's been a minute since I've written one of these. The past few years I've made a conscious effort to lighten up about this process and the Rock Hall in general. It is what it is and I have no control over it. I live in Cleveland. I like to visit the Rock Hall periodically. I met Geddy Lee there. I saw Guided by Voices there. I'm glad they are expanding it. We all have our feelings about what is, and isn't, rock 'n' roll. I have feelings about this years nominees. I had feelings about last years nominees. I wanted The White Stripes to get inducted. I didn't give a crap about George Michael getting inducted, but my wife loves him, so I was happy for her. In the end, all these artists have fans and I'm happy for them, even though I don't consider many of the to be rock. My question now is, have all the artists who deserve induction been inducted? I would say the answer is, mostly, yes. 

     Looking at this years nominees, there is no one who is newly eligible. Many of these artists have been eligible for quite some time. If I were to vote, I would probably select Oasis, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Ozzy and A Tribe Called Quest. But, I wouldn't feel good about it. I love Oasis and feel they should be inducted, but they aren't going to reunite for the Rock Hall and will just indulge in some Gallagher Brother brand nonsense. I liked Foreigner and Frampton almost 50 years ago, but are they really seminal acts? Probably not. Ozzy had a couple good solo albums 40 years when Randy Rhoads was alive, but his legacy is being in Black Sabbath. A Tribe Called Quest is an influential hip hop/jazz group and their album Low End Theory is a classic 5 star album, so I'm good with them. That leaves me with two artists I feel good about inducting. Why does the Rock Hall Foundation continue to insist on 5 inductees every year? There aren't that many deserving artist left. 

     I would like to see the Rock Hall shift to an induction process similar to the Baseball Hall of Fame. They have years where no one receives enough votes for induction. Most years, only a couple players are inducted. And people continue on with their lives. Why is 5 the magic number for rock 'n' roll? It's one less than 6, I guess. Maybe it should "Go to 11". No, it shouldn't. Just a little Spinal Tap joke. Not to be mean, but Sinead O'Connor is nominated because she died. I love Sade's voice, but she's not integral to the story of rock 'n' roll. I can't stand Dave Matthews Band, Jane's Addiction or Lenny Kravitz. If they've had to circle back around to Foreigner and Frampton, it seems that most everyone who deserves induction has already been inducted. Sure, I could argue artists from other parts of the world than the U.S. and the U.K. are deserving; such as Midnight Oil and Crowded House, but for the most part there work is done. Going forward, they should just consider newly eligible artists and vote yea or nay. But that's not going to happen, so I will try to be happy for the fans of all the future, undeserving inductees. Peace.