Do you think “Paul’s Boutique” is incontrovertible proof of The Beastie Boys’ genius? Did “rock villain” Alice Cooper’s heavy-metal theatrics earn him a place in rock history a long time ago, as far as you’re concerned? Do you find it hard to imagine life without Tom Waits’ whiskey-soaked, gravelly growl in your music library?
If so, you may soon have a veritable trump card in defense of their awesomeness during your next music snob-off with last month’s release of the 2011 candidates for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The three aforementioned artists are among 15 on the ballot up for inclusion into Cleveland’s rock pantheon. Others up for deification include Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Donovan and LL Cool J. To be eligible for consideration, an artist must have issued a first album or single 25 years ago (although LL was clearly nominated for his role as a jokester chef in the think-piece mutant shark flick “Deep Blue Sea”).
The Hall of Fame ballot will be sent to 500 voters, whose selections will determine who makes the cut. Final selections will be announced in December, with an induction celebration to take place next March.
I’ve written before of my disdain for lists of the Year’s/Decade’s/All-Time Best Album/Artist/Song. They are so incredibly subjective that someone is bound to end up ticked off, regardless of who is chosen. When these lists are released, ensuing discussions (read: arguments) about the picks inevitably end with one party shaking his head in disbelief and the other unreasonably smug.
As a result, I don’t normally give them much credence, but with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’s hard not to feel the weight of authority that makes them seem worth paying attention to. The Hall is aware of this. It trumpets its cachet on the website with a quote by Robert Plant, who was inducted in 1995, that, “It’s the center of the universe!” (their exclamation point, not mine).
Unfortunately, while being inducted may be a rather large feather in a band’s cap, the Hall is ultimately no different from any other list that sets out to permanently enshrine an artist as better than his peers. Any time you have a small group decide for the rest of the world who’s the best of the best, someone will walk away mad.
Take a look at the 92 groups to be inducted since the Hall opened in 1986 (or rather who wasn’t inducted), and it’s easy to see why people get their backs up.
Are you a fan of Kiss? I’m not, but you’ve been snubbed. Rush fan? Snubbed. King Crimson? Yes? Steve Miller? Dire Straits? Mötley Crüe? Journey? Devo? You get the idea.
And now that modern music creation has become so democratized, and thus harder for any one artist to establish a major following, the future legitimacy of an institution like the Hall of Fame becomes even more tenuous.
So while it’s great that we’ve got somewhere to enshrine some of our rock legends, considering it in any way definitive makes about as much sense as calling the American baseball season finale The World Series.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205.