Okay, close the doors, nobody else can get in.
Don't argue with Miles Davis. If you've ever heard "In A Silent Way" you know that he deserves to be inducted way before Santana. And, "Bitches Brew" is way more adventurous than the work of at least half of those ALREADY IN the Hall. And, if you just want to go by who he had in his band, who he introduced to the scene, you can start with John McLaughlin and go all the way through Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, never mind Herbie Hancock. And Miles PLAYED the Fillmore East. Opening for Laura Nyro. Hey, where's SHE? If you don't include Laura Nyro before Blondie, then you don't know shit about music. Chris Stein and Debbie Harry could try FOREVER and not come up with a record half as good as "New York Tendaberry" or "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession". And, she wrote more hits than they HAD! But Laura Nyro's dead and forgotten. And seeing that David Geffen made his first million on her back, screwing her in the process, I don't expect HE'LL be lobbying for her induct ion. Then again, at least Laura's from New York. Where the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame epicenter/power center seems to be located. And the myopia of those in charge is evidenced by the induction of Blondie. I mean who's next, TELEVISION? Hell, "Marquee Moon" is a further adventure than anything Blondie did, but I don't think Tom Verlaine's bunch should be in the Hall Of Fame.
I happen to be a Blondie fan.
You can forget their Private Stock work. But, "Parallel Lines" was a great album. Not a MASTERPIECE, but a very good record. I LOVE the attitude in "Hanging On The Telephone". But the only element of pure genius on the damn platter is Robert Fripp's ethereal solo in "Fade Away and Radiate".
"Heart Of Glass" was a melding of rock and disco. Hell, it was originally entitled THAT DISCO SONG! For this, Blondie needs to be canonized? For making the world safe for Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"? God, induct Steve Dahl before you let in Blondie. Or how about some deejays, like the dearly-departed Scott Muni, or John Peel even? Or B. Mitchell Reed. Or even Cousin Brucie! They truly impacted the landscape, not BLONDIE!
I liked "The Hardest Part", but "Eat To The Beat" was a disappointing follow-up. And the fact that a video was made for every track means that maybe futurist/seer Shep Gordon should be inducted, but not the band that executed HIS idea!
And then there's the not much better "Autoamerican"... Isn't there SOMEBODY who needs to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame before Blondie for popularizing reggae? Hell, Bob Marley had been doing it for YEARS before "The Tide Is High" caught on. Honoring Blondie is like honoring Pat Boone for doing cover versions of black tracks. Ditto, "Rapture". I can think of a whole HOST of rap artists who should be in the Hall before Blondie. So, they ripped off the man and made rap safe for the suburbs. Write 'em a check, don't induct them into the Hall Of Fame.
The Pistols are rock and roll. One album and out. This is a band that revolutionized rock, that couldn't stay together, profits be damned. Whereas Blondie froze out Frank Infante, so they could have more money for themselves. Scummy, don't you think?
I just don't get it. Sure, everybody rails about the Oscars. And the Grammys are a complete joke. But the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was supposed to be above this, it was supposed to mean something.
I mean who's gonna induct Blondie? Martha Quinn, or one of the other original veejays who spun their videos? And what are they going to say? Debbie Harry was cute. Chris Stein had a knack for a hook. This gets you a table at a restaurant, not immortality.
Everybody knows that rock peaked twenty odd years ago, if that late. If we're scraping the bottom of the barrel like this, I say call it a day. I mean let Ronnie Van Zant and his buds in. THREE lead guitarists? Boozing it up and wreaking havoc across the land all the time writing music to drink and screw to. But, just because they started downtown, and were there when a bunch of old fart New York music executives were coming up that DOES NOT mean Blondie deserves to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Hell, induct the REAL genius behind Blondie's success, producer Mike Chapman. But no, since he's seen as an arrogant prick, this wunderkind gets no recognition yet his proteges do. RIDICULOUS!
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