Tag Archives: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Music

Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame…

Each year is like the movie Groundhog Day, at least with regard to the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

You get a bunch of artists nominated and the inevitable backlash begins.  Why was X nominated and not Y?  How could they keep ignoring band/artist Z?

This year is proves to be no exception.  For those interested, from Rolling Stone,

The 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

Among the artists to be nominated you have Yes, Journey, The Cars, and Pearl Jam.

The later group was arguable one part of the three most important, IMHO, rock artists of the 1990’s.  The other two are Nirvana, which has already made it to the Hall of Fame, and an artist that author Kevin Craft for Salon.com offers a fascinating defense of and wonders why it is as time goes by the cultural imprint of this band seems to progressively fade.  I’m referring, of course, to The Smashing Pumpkins, who are now eligible to the R&R Hall of Fame yet were not even nominated…

The World Is Still A Vampire: The Smashing Pumpkins Can’t Get The Respect They Deserve

I discovered The Smashing Pumpkins sometime around 1995-96 and shortly after the release of what might be the band’s crowning achievement, the incredibly ambitious Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.  Perhaps two of the biggest hits from that album include the song that is quoted in the above article…

…and this one, which even those who can’t handle Billy Corgan’s voice (I’m a HUGE Smashing Pumpkins fan yet I can understand those who find it difficult to take) like…

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, to my mind, is one of the absolute best albums to come out of the 1990’s yet it followed The Smashing Pumpkin’s Gish (1991) and Siamese Dream (1993) two incredible albums which others may consider even better than I consider Mellon Collie.

After those three albums and a bunch of extra-song releases, including a mind-boggling amount of outtake material from Mellon Collie collected along with the singles released from that album and called The Aeroplane Flies High.

It was during these two years, 1995-96, that The Smashing Pumpkins arguably reached the heights of their popularity.  Sadly, things went downhill, at least from a popularity standpoint, from there.

Their next album, Adore, was released in 1998 and audiences were divided by it.  I personally loved the album but could understand how fans of the band to that point might have found the material a little too different from what came before.

Just as Adore divided fans, the follow up to that album, Machina/The Machines of God further divided them.  The album failed to chart and it appeared the band was on the rocks.  Me?  I loved the album…

The group broke up soon after the release of this album and its internet released sequel, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music.

After forming and releasing an album with his new group Zwan, Billy Corgan would release a solo album before re-forming The Smashing Pumpkins with 2007’s Zeitgeist.  The album was…ok…in my opinion.  Not as good as the previous SP albums and, sadly, not as good as the Zwan album.  Curiously, my favorite song from that album wound up being one that was presented as a bonus track and not on the album itself…

Since that point, The Smashing Pumpkins have gone through lineup changes (at one point, Billy Corgan was the only original member of the band).  There is supposedly an effort underway to reform the band as it originally was but, as with all things, we’ll see.

Anyway, I went through all this to say the following: The Smashing Pumpkins was, to me, one of the absolute best rock bands of the 1990’s.  They released, up to their original breakup, one great album after another yet I agree with Mr. Craft’s article linked to above.  There appears to be a fading away of The Smashing Pumpkin’s influence and success from the public mind.

Why?

There are those who gleefully point out this is deserved, that singer/songwriter/band leader Billy Corgan is a jerk and the problems that befell his band are a karmic comeuppance.

Personally, I believe The Smashing Pumpkins, like many other bands and artists, suffered from their early success.  You can climb a mountain only so high before inevitably going downhill.  Or, to put it another way, not every work is going to be a home run.  The first three albums released by The Smashing Pumpkins were arguably one great work after the other.  While the next two albums -and internet released album- weren’t as big hits, I felt they were also damn good.

For that alone the band deserves consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Even if it won’t happen this time around, I can’t help but think their time will eventually come.

Music

Cheap Trick should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…

…or so argues Annie Zaleski for Salon Magazine.

I’ve heard this argument in support of Cheap Trick before but I’m somewhat torn.  I think the band made some very good music but there are others still not in the Hall of Fame that I personally feel are more deserving of entry.  Music is, after all, nothing more than about one’s personal taste!

This then is a list of musical acts so far not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:

http://www.futurerocklegends.com/The_Snub_List.php

Looking over the list, I feel there are many (in fact most!) of these acts should be in the Hall of Fame.  I’ll mention a few below that struck me as particularly egregious in their not being in the Hall.  Note that many of these picks represent bands I DO NOT have ANY of their songs on my Hard Drive.  But it is impossible not to acknowledge their influence to music in general:

The Carpenters – as with Cheap Trick I’m not a huge fan, but it is undeniable how popular they were in their heyday.  Sure they could be considered shmaltzy today, but there’s something about Karen Carpenter’s voice…

The Cars – A group I’m quite fond of.  They had a unique new wave sound and plenty of hits.

Def Leopard – Another band I don’t really care all that much about.  But, again, for many years they released a spate of very popular songs and, even though I’m not a fan, feel they should be in the Hall.

Depeche Mode – Have several of their albums, am a fan.  They have a strong list of hit songs and are certainly deserving of entry.

The Doobie Brothers – Not a fan of their music.  In fact, whenever one of their songs comes on the radio I move on to another station.  Having said that, they were a very big act and their music is clearly very popular with many.

Iron Maiden – Have a few of their albums but don’t consider myself a terribly big fan.  Having said that, they are certainly a very popular band worldwide.

Journey – Don’t stop believing… When I was in high school, I really liked their album Escape (which had that song).  Apart from that album, I never was a huge fan of the group but, again, they created some very popular music.

The Moody Blues – Again, not a huge fan but they’ve created some really solid work.

Siouxie and the Banshees – Am a BIG fan of their music.  Very big fan.  They’ve created some wonderful songs and should be in the Hall.

Man, I really like tnem.  Here’s another:

T. Rex – A strange omission.  Again, not a huge fan of T. Rex but there is no doubt they blazed a trail that many, including David Bowie, would follow.

Yes – Another band I’m not a huge fan of, but they’re not in the Hall yet?!?

So there you have it.  Again, I’m not trying to slight any of the many others on the list.  In fact, many -perhaps even most!- of them could easily be on this brief list.  But why repeat the whole thing?

As they say, your mileage may vary.