It's time to close the doors. The Renaissance didn't last forever, nor did the heyday of rock and roll.
We HATED Chic. Oh, all these years later we love "Good Times" at Bar Mitzvahs, and Nile Rodgers went on to produce the B-52's, among others, but to call Chic rock, never mind worthy of a spot in the Hall of Fame, is to not only extend the definition of rock and roll to a limit where it has no meaning but to lower the concept of fame to just that, notoriety instead of sheer excellence.
As for Patti Smith... Didn't the New Yorkers get Blondie already? Do we really think Patti's on the level of the Beatles or the Stones, even Ray Davies? Argue with me, then tell me how often you play her records. I smile when I hear "Kimberly", but wasn't "Easter" a sellout built around a Bruce Springsteen song?
And, if you get Patti, I guess we west coasters get Van Halen. Mmm... Are they going to include one of Diamond Dave's radio broadcasts in the exhibit?
Grandmaster Flash... I don't want to dispute his talent, or influence, but doesn't he belong in the HIP-HOP Hall of Fame? Or some other joint that includes last year's inductee Miles Davis?
Joe Tex... Maybe in an alternative universe this guy is induction-worthy, but not to the people who can sing all the songs, MULTIPLE SONGS, of inductees previous.
You can't stay hip forever. By purging the roster of nominators and inserting young 'uns, you end up with a board that is clueless as to what really happened. Isn't that like asking Charlie Walk to tell you about the great R&B acts of the past instead of Ahmet Ertegun?
The boomers were the experts on classic rock. Classic rock is dead. To say it continued into the eighties is to be blind to the MTV revolution that truly defined those years.
You want a museum of MTV? Including Haircut 100 and Flock of Seagulls and a white satin glove? Fine. But to try to tack recent acts onto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is akin to record companies believing the tripe they're purveying today is anywhere near as good as what came before.
Yup, today's music isn't in the same league as what came before.
Rock changed a generation. You had to listen to the album to know which way the wind blew. Now, you like what you're hearing? FINE! But that doesn't make it classic/memorable. That's like saying "Running With Scissors" is in the league of "Gone With The Wind". That's like debating "Jackass" vis a vis "The Godfather".
John Lennon would say gimme some truth.
And the truth is we may have had some of that spirit since 1969, but it didn't last long thereafter. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a tribute to that era and the acts that INFLUENCED that era.
R.E.M. is a good band that would be legendary if someone died, but its main fame is it accompanied the college years of Gen X'ers who decried the fact that they walked in the shadow of the baby boomers.
I'm not saying people should stop making music. People didn't stop painting after Raphael, but Picasso is not in the same MUSEUM!
It's over. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's doors should be shut.
The last anomalies should be the aforementioned Blondie and Miles Davis. Maybe there can be one more nomination year, where the FINAL nominees are voted on. I'll even let Patti Smith and Van Halen in. But then the doors must shut FOREVER!
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