Rock and Roll Hall of You've Got to Be Kidding!

[ajcardfan]

Neil Diamond? Darlene Love? Dr. John? Seriously?

While legends like Rush and Lynyrd Skynyrd continue to be ignored!


They did get one right with Alice Cooper this year.

 

[Mulli]

my head just kablooeed.

 

[AzStevenCal]

What's the problem? Neil Diamond deserves to be there LONG before Rush or LS. Maybe it's not your kind of music but Diamond (Brill building, Monkees songwriter, 60's radio success, 70's radio success, live performance success rivaled only by a very few etc) had a huge impact on the music of my generation and the generations that followed and it far exceeds the impact of either act you've mentioned.

Steve

 

[Brian in Mesa]

"There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't." - Bob Wiley

No problem with Neil here. Great songwriter and performer. Have seen him live 3 times and all were great shows. His tours always sell out and nights are usually added in every city. I believe he still holds the record for most sold out concerts ever.

 

[AzStevenCal]

"There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't." - Bob Wiley

No problem with Neil here. Great songwriter and performer. Have seen him live 3 times and all were great shows. His tours always sell out and nights are usually added in every city. I believe he still holds the record for most sold out concerts ever.

I like Neil but I'm not a What About Bob fan. I'd have probably borrowed a quote from Saving Silverman instead.

Steve

 

[DemsMyBoys]

"There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't." - Bob Wiley

No problem with Neil here. Great songwriter and performer. Have seen him live 3 times and all were great shows. His tours always sell out and nights are usually added in every city. I believe he still holds the record for most sold out concerts ever.

When "Solitary Man" came out in 1966 it was like an small earthquake hit the music community in L.A. (Which I think "got" Neil Diamond months before the rest of the nation.) No one was releasing songs like that and he sure didn't look like everybody else in 1966. He was the gritty loner guy from the big city when everybody else was grooving out in Laurel Canyon.

I was at the Hot August Night concert in 1972 at the Greek which was recorded and became the massive hit LP. People (industry people) were standing on their seats screaming. I've been to a lot of concerts and that one will probably always be at the top of my "Oh, My God!" list. By the time he hit "Brother Love" people were stunned at how much power he projected.

Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. I've not been a fan of his later work but, dang, to this day I'll put on "Hot August Night" and turn the volume UP. That man knew how to rock.

 

[ajcardfan]

Neil Diamond is a defensible pick. I know he wrote tons of hits not only for himself, but others as well. However, my main beef with him is that he's just as much contemporary pop, folk and country as rock. But, once you've accepted Madonna and Donna Summer as "rock", then Neil Diamond fits right in.

But, as you old fogies on this thread demonstrate, hard rock and metal acts are woefully disrespected and underrepresented compared to other genres. Even no brainers like AC/DC and Black Sabbath took far too long to make it. Rush is fourth behind only the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss in gold and platinum records for a band and they aren't even eligible yet! Hell, I do not like Kiss at all and it's an even bigger joke than Rush that they aren't in either.

 

[devilalum]

Neil Diamond? Darlene Love? Dr. John? Seriously?

While legends like Rush and Lynyrd Skynyrd continue to be ignored!


They did get one right with Alice Cooper this year.

One man's garbage...

 

[AzStevenCal]

Neil Diamond is a defensible pick. I know he wrote tons of hits not only for himself, but others as well. However, my main beef with him is that he's just as much contemporary pop, folk and country as rock. But, once you've accepted Madonna and Donna Summer as "rock", then Neil Diamond fits right in.

But, as you old fogies on this thread demonstrate, hard rock and metal acts are woefully disrespected and underrepresented compared to other genres. Even no brainers like AC/DC and Black Sabbath took far too long to make it. Rush is fourth behind only the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss in gold and platinum records for a band and they aren't even eligible yet! Hell, I do not like Kiss at all and it's an even bigger joke than Rush that they aren't in either.

Well, it is the Rock and Roll hall of fame and back then, even the Crystals were rock and roll. Darlene Love sang lead and backup on some pretty big hits back in the 50's and 60's in addition to her solo career and lead role in the Crystals (and the Blossoms). We certainly wouldn't consider her music or Neil Diamond's music as rock today but at that time, it clearly was R&R.

I was never much of a Dr John fan but I suspect his entry is due more to his career as a studio musician than as a performer. I'm surprised he's there before Lynryd Skynyrd but that might be my lack of familiarity with the guy more than anything else.

Steve

 

[Mulli]

Neil Diamond is a defensible pick. I know he wrote tons of hits not only for himself, but others as well. However, my main beef with him is that he's just as much contemporary pop, folk and country as rock. But, once you've accepted Madonna and Donna Summer as "rock", then Neil Diamond fits right in.

But, as you old fogies on this thread demonstrate, hard rock and metal acts are woefully disrespected and underrepresented compared to other genres. Even no brainers like AC/DC and Black Sabbath took far too long to make it. Rush is fourth behind only the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss in gold and platinum records for a band and they aren't even eligible yet! Hell, I do not like Kiss at all and it's an even bigger joke than Rush that they aren't in either.

Good points.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I was just talking about this with abomb last week. Alice Cooper makes it, when Def Leppard, KISS, and Hall & Oates aren't.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I was just talking about this with abomb last week. Alice Cooper makes it, when Def Leppard, KISS, and Hall & Oates aren't.

Don't be such a billion dollar baby about it! Alice deserves it. I'm not saying the others don't but Alice Cooper's success pre-dates the others so I have no problem with it.

Steve

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Don't be such a billion dollar baby about it! Alice deserves it. I'm not saying the others don't but Alice Cooper's success pre-dates the others so I have no problem with it.

Steve

Deserving it is one thing. However, others are more deserving and it's not even close.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Deserving it is one thing. However, others are more deserving and it's not even close.

How so? Granted, I'm not a musician but I've followed music my entire life and I hold a different opinion. There was nothing (mainstream) like Alice Cooper when he came along. He influenced a lot of acts and entertained a lot of people. For many, he was the bridge between teen rock (bubblegum, whatever) and the harder stuff and a lot of people probably don't make that transition without him making it so accessible. His music may not have worked for you (it certainly didn't for me) but that's a different story.

Steve

 

[ajcardfan]

How so? Granted, I'm not a musician but I've followed music my entire life and I hold a different opinion. There was nothing (mainstream) like Alice Cooper when he came along. He influenced a lot of acts and entertained a lot of people. For many, he was the bridge between teen rock (bubblegum, whatever) and the harder stuff and a lot of people probably don't make that transition without him making it so accessible. His music may not have worked for you (it certainly didn't for me) but that's a different story.

Steve

He was far more innovative than Def Leppard or Hall and Oates. While those acts I'm pretty sure outsold him by wide margin. I would assume things like innovativeness, originality, popularity, sales, historical and cultural significance, musical skill, etc, should all go into the decision. But, we don't know what the criteria is, and the list of admittees is hard to make any rational sense of. Which leads to the perception of the RRHOF playing favorites, or being unfair.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He was far more innovative than Def Leppard or Hall and Oates. While those acts I'm pretty sure outsold him by wide margin. I would assume things like innovativeness, originality, popularity, sales, historical and cultural significance, musical skill, etc, should all go into the decision. But, we don't know what the criteria is, and the list of admittees is hard to make any rational sense of. Which leads to the perception of the RRHOF playing favorites, or being unfair.

I'm pretty sure you're right. Hall and Oates was a singles machine and sold an awful lot of records and Def Leppard had 2 of the best selling albums of all time. I wouldn't have had a problem with either of these acts going into the HOF before Alice Cooper but I just don't see it as a slam dunk either way.

Unless they are using dollar figures or Billboard charts this has to be a very subjective process. Even the things that seem objective can be looked at in different ways. Using just numbers, you could easily make a case for somebody like Status Quo to be there and yet they are practically unknown in North America (one U.S. hit - Pictures of Matchstick Men).

Steve

 

[Rivercard]

He was far more innovative than Def Leppard or Hall and Oates. While those acts I'm pretty sure outsold him by wide margin. .

I'm too lazy to google it, but I'd guess Alice has outsold Leppard and H&O in his career. Cooper has had at least 20 radio hits, including mega-hits like Schools Out, Only Women Bleed, I Never cry, You And Me, Poison and others I'm probably leaving out. Alice has certainly outsold those guys in career concert box office. Not to mention his output has usually been far more innovative musically and conceptually.

 

[Dback Jon]

Alice Cooper - 50 million
Def Lepard - 65 million



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

Hall and Oates not listd

 

[Rivercard]

Alice Cooper - 50 million
Def Lepard - 65 million



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

Hall and Oates not listd

Lol..... Status Quo $118 million!

 

[O]

If Def Leppard makes it into the hall of fame they should induct Robert John Lange at the same time.
He made them IMHO.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Lol..... Status Quo $118 million!

Yeah, they hold a lot of records in England. They put out an annual anniversary song that was a medley of earlier rock hits that was always a blast to rock out to. I fell in love with them when I was stationed in Germany in the early to mid 70's and I was shocked when I came back stateside to discover everyone thought of them as a one hit wonder group.

Steve

 

[ajcardfan]

I was just talking about this with abomb last week. Alice Cooper makes it, when Def Leppard, KISS, and Hall & Oates aren't.

FWIW, I've seen Kiss, Def Leppard and Alice Cooper within the last 4 or 5 years. Cooper's show was easily the best. Joe Elliot sounded TERRIBLE and the played way too much off of Hysteria which is my least favorite Leppard album. As for Kiss, not only did Paul Stanley sound like he had a cold (I can understand that, the show must go on and I appreciate them not canceling) but they made mistakes in about 1/3rd of the songs. And, I'm not a mucisian so they had to be pretty glaring. Plus, their songs are really simple so it seemed like they were just going through the motions. Those will be the last times I see either Def Leppard or Kiss.

Alice Cooper I would possibly see again. But, concerts have gotten so damn expensive that I have to think pretty hard about each one I have some interest if.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Alice Cooper - 50 million
Def Lepard - 65 million



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

Hall and Oates not listd

Hall & Oates ~60M

 

[Brian in Mesa]

While legends like Rush and Lynyrd Skynyrd continue to be ignored!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd#Recognition

On March 13, 2006, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 21st annual induction ceremony. The inductees included Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Steve Gaines, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Bob Burns, and Artimus Pyle (no post-crash members of the band were inducted, nor were any of the Honkettes). The current version of Skynyrd, augmented by King, Pyle, Burns and former Honkettes JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins, performed "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" at the ceremony, which was also attended by Judy Van Zant Jenness and Ronnie's two daughters, Teresa Gaines Rapp and her daughter Corinna, Allen Collins' daughters, and Leon Wilkeson's mother and son.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Rush is fourth behind only the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss in gold and platinum records for a band and they aren't even eligible yet!

Rush has been eligible for the Hall since 1999 ...