Well, the nominees have been announced ... and it's the biggest joke yet from this "institution" that supposedly has something to do with the notion of "rock 'n' roll" (or "Rock and Roll," as they call it, using the spectacularly less hip "and" between the "rock" and the "roll" -- let's face it, even an ampersand would be better!) ...
From the official press release:
"The nominations for 2008 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced today. The nine nominees are: Afrika Bambaataa, Beastie Boys, Chic, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer and The Ventures. Ballots with these nominees will be sent to over 500 voters who will choose the acts for inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for this year. Five new inductees will be honored at the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 10, 2008 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
To be eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. This year's nominees had to release their first single no later than 1982."
Jesus!
I have nothing against any of these acts, really, but this is ridiculous. There was a lot of speculation that the Stooges would finally get in this year, especially after being rejected last year, thanks to a new (albeit not exactly great) album and a phenomenal international comeback tour. ... So, the question remains: Where the fuck are the Stooges? Or just Iggy alone? Where the fuck are the MC5? Or, hell, Question Mark & The Mysterians, for that matter? Alice Cooper? Mitch Ryder? Getting away from the Michigan tip for a moment, you mean to tell me that an institution dedicated to "rock 'n' roll" (or "rock and roll") thinks that Madonna or the Beastie Boys deserve to be inducted before the New York Dolls? I mean, Detroit's own great Gino Washington deserves to go in before those clowns, at least in terms of real rock 'n' roll.
Oh, well, as Iggy himself told yours truly back in 1996: "Well, my manager [the late Art Collins] is in tight with some of those people, and I guess they've said, 'The Stooges, never! Never! Iggy, maybe – if he's a good boy. And if he doesn't title albums Naughty Little Doggie!'" He laughed. "Maybe if I'd have called it something like Fucking Heroic Young Record Executive instead!"
That statement alone should guarantee him inclusion in any institution devoted to the concept of rock 'n' roll.
In other words, fuck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ...
Where the hell's Iggy??
