Rock n Roll Hall of Fame - means nothing
By Bensen32
@Bensen32 (27610)
United States
December 4, 2019 10:09am CST
So I was reading @JohnRoberts post about someone deserving to be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and it brought to mind how I feel about the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
So the name of it implies to me that it is a hall of fame for people who have something to do with Rock n Roll. Now I understand some peoples idea of Rock n Roll might be a little different than mine but let us look at some examples.
The first inductees in the hall in 1986 included some names that to me scream Rock n Roll. Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley to name a few. Now as the years went on and more and more were added into the hall of fame we had people added in that were Blues more than Rock, R&B more than Rock but I understood that since I believe Rock n Roll came from those types of music.
I thought for years if they got into the Hall they were something special in the history of Rock n Roll. Then one of the first ones that I didn't understand was in 2001 the Hall inducted Michael Jackson. Now he was already in with the Jackson 5 which I understood since the Jackson 5 was R&B, but the so called "King of Pop"? I thought as a solo artist he was not Rock n Roll. Alright, fine he use to be R&B and he was very popular as a solo artist fine he is in.
Then in 2004 the induct Prince. I get that he was popular and sold lots of albums but was he Rock n Roll? I guess he was inspired by Rock n Roll so he gets in? I'm very confused.
Alright this is the last straw, Madonna? Are you kidding me? Madonna, in my mind there is nothing Rock n Roll about her. Again, I'm not saying she wasn't popular, and many people liked her songs but Rock n Roll?
I guess I just don't understand why they have the Rock N Roll in the title of the hall of fame anymore. They should just change it to Music Hall of Fame. I mean they obviously are just going to put anyone in there now.
Think about these inductees.
Public Enemy, N.W.A., Tupac Shakur, Janet Jackson, when you read those names do you think Rock n Roll? I sure don't. Again, maybe they were great in their genre of music but it certainly was not Rock n Roll.
So for me now, it doesn't even matter who is in there anymore or who deserves to be in there. They have destroyed what I thought was something that kind of meant something. If you got in there it was cause you made a great contribution to the music I love, Rock n Roll. Now it seems to me that if you were popular in music in general you could get in there.
Of course this is just my opinion, feel free to disagree.
6 people like this
7 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Dec 19
I agree with your gripes. So many inducted acts that have nothing to do with R&R. Rap is not rock. Pop is not rock. God knows, Madonna isn't rock. Some artists are given explanation like Bill Monroe being called "early influence." What, a bluegrass hillbilly? Monroe's music was the foundation of Carl Perkins creating rockabilly and Monroe was a favorite of Elvis. Plus there are tech issues like his playing and arrangements influenced rock. So I get it when there is an explanation why a person is inducted. But Madonna? Janet Jackson? Tom Waits? Grandmaster Flash? However I disagree with you concerning Prince. The man rocked, rocked harder than Bowie and Elton John. It's fun debating about the Hall which is pointless to begin with except to create a tourist attraction in Cleveland.
3 people like this
@Bensen32 (27610)
• United States
4 Dec 19
Oh I certainly agree if they had big influence on R&R than sure I will buy that and alright I might accept Prince, I didn't care for his music but he was a good guitar player and I did hear one time him jamming and not singing and it was good.
I did visit the hall way back when and it was kind of cool except they would let you take photos of anything. I still don't know what took so long for Alice Cooper to get in. 3 years after Madonna? So to them Madonna had more influence on rock than Alice? Seriously? Who are these morons that vote these people in?
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Dec 19
@Bensen32 The HOF is loaded with travesties. There are prejudices, feuds and grudges at play. Foreigner was informed they would never ever be considered. Linda Ronstadt had to get a disease that is slowly killing her. Rolling Stone Magazine and its publisher Jann Wenner decides who gets in and if they dislike you, you never get in or wait so long like Ronstadt that's it a joke.
2 people like this
@Bensen32 (27610)
• United States
4 Dec 19
@JohnRoberts well, there you go it's about how popular and who you know not about what you actually do.
2 people like this
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
4 Dec 19
I don’t like Madonna. That’s it. 
2 people like this
@FourWalls (68043)
• United States
4 Dec 19
But how do you really feel about her? 
I don’t care for her music, either. Having said that, “Material Girl” was a fun song to roller skate to.
I don’t care for her music, either. Having said that, “Material Girl” was a fun song to roller skate to.2 people like this
@Bensen32 (27610)
• United States
4 Dec 19
@FourWalls LOL, well I was past roller skating when that song came out.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (68043)
• United States
4 Dec 19
I do understand where you’re coming from. However, there is something important to remember: what constitutes “rock and roll” today and what constituted “rock and roll” in 1959 are two completely different animals. There are different “kinds” of rock and roll, from the “soft rock” that people like James Taylor and Jackson Browne did to the “country-rock” era of the Eagles or Linda Ronstadt to the “heavy metal” of Zep or Black Sabbath. “Rock and roll” is a big-butt umbrella term.
Now, having said that, I completely agree that things that came after rock and roll (e.g., rap) did NOT influence rock and roll (the way someone like Hank Williams or Robert Johnson did), and as such shouldn’t be in a rock and roll hall of fame. I’ve also seen people argue that people like Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not without a ticket. They are enshrined where they should be enshrined (in Nashville). Yes, Johnny Cash is inducted in the Rock hall, but if you look at his charted history in the 50s, in that era when they really didn’t know where to play rockabilly so they played it on both, there’s no doubt he had a rock and roll career as well as a country career. (Same with Elvis and the Everly Brothers, who are in both halls as well.)
On my list I had Neil Sedaka, the Doobie Brothers, the Smiths, Link Wray, and Three Dog Night (among others). Widely varying forms of music, but all — to me — deserving.
Thanks for the discussion! It’s probably something no two people will ever agree on, but it’s great to have a dialogue about it!
2 people like this
@FourWalls (68043)
• United States
4 Dec 19
@JohnRoberts — the late, great Randall Hylton had a song called “The Mother of Bluegrass,” a joke of sorts with the punch line at the end that “Louie Armstrong fathered my child.” Truth be told, I never considered the link between bluegrass and jazz until that song came along.
As for Madonna, we’ll have that argument again this year when they put Whitney in (and I’d bet the ranch on Whitney getting in). Same with Donna Summer: as a friend of mine said about the Country Music Hall of Fame, “They seem to be basing induction more on what they’ve done to country music instead of for country music.” Same with rock and roll.
Truth be told, I never considered the link between bluegrass and jazz until that song came along.
As for Madonna, we’ll have that argument again this year when they put Whitney in (and I’d bet the ranch on Whitney getting in). Same with Donna Summer: as a friend of mine said about the Country Music Hall of Fame, “They seem to be basing induction more on what they’ve done to country music instead of for country music.” Same with rock and roll.1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Dec 19
Neil Sedaka's more pop style is more akin to the other Neil (Diamond) and look how long it took him to be inducted. And he's a legend (who helped out a young unknown British lad named Elton) and Paul Simon chastised the HOF at the induction ceremony.
I question even Motown acts (who are wonderful) being inducted. They are more pop and r&b and doo wap and really not any form of rock. I have always said it's not the Rock and Roll, Pop, Soul and Rap Museum. I didn't understand why Bill Monroe was inducted until reading the specific reasoning then it made sense. Memo to Hall: justify and explain your reasoning and don't induct Madonna because oh she's Madonna.
2 people like this
@Bensen32 (27610)
• United States
4 Dec 19
Yep everyone is going to have different views on it. Good point on Johnny Cash, although a lot of people I know only see him as Country I kind of seen him as some of his music I would certainly put in the Country section of the record store there was some of it I would have put in the Rock n Roll section.
Like I said, Madonna was the last straw, I can't see at all how she got in there. Others I could see an argument for.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
4 Dec 19
I agree! Madonna? No. I used to like her music when I was a kid but she is pop not rock. I don`t like her now, she`s a sk-a-n-k!
2 people like this
@cperry2 (5608)
• Newport, Oregon
5 Dec 19
Thanks for this post. I too had a difficult time with the R&R hall of fame. I always thought that Stevie Ray Vaughn had been short changed. He was one of the best guitarists ever and yet he had not been inducted and while he was more rhythm and blues, his music certainly crossed into the rock world. Because of your post I searched this oversight out and found out I had been sorely misinformed. Stevie Ray Vaughn was inducted in 2015.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (37355)
• Toccoa, Georgia
4 Dec 19
I understand what you are saying.
1 person likes this
