Letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Dear Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Hi, this is Gregory O'Neill again. First of all, hey, how sad is it that you ended up the host city to the Republican National Convention?
No one in that group really listens to music other than country. I saw that Third Eye Blind got co-opted into giving a performance for an RIAA event catering to attendees of the convention. I liked that they asked the crowd who liked science. I'm guessing the Donald Trump delegates see a great plurality of your inducted artists as hippie commies who don't know anything about the value of hard work. I know how much trouble it would be for the Rock Hall if they were publicly linked to the RNC by hosting an event on the itinerary.
Anyhow, this will get your mind off of the grotesque proceedings. And as for all the vitriol out of this particular convention, more so than any other in recent memory, it is clear that no one's putting emphasis on how well they feel Trump would do. That's because nobody can unify behind that train of thought. What a letdown he's been.
Here are my suggestions for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2017 inductions. I'd even be happy if one or two of these acts made the ballot.
The Go-Gos or Belinda Carlisle- I know that the Go-Gos only have four studio albums to their credit. That's why I also included Belinda Carlisle as an option. "We Got the Beat" is synonimous for me with the excellent 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The soaring vocals of the all girl group were at once rugged punk and yet sweet and innocent. With that in mind, I want to suggest Belinda Carlisle as a solo artist as a back-up option here. I remember when "Heaven is a Place On Earth" was a hit when I was in kindergarten. And I always think back to that period in my life, going to skate ranch, bringing treats to school, learning to spell, whenever I hear Belinda Carlisle solo hits. I also include "Mad About You," "Circle in the Sand," and "I Get Weak" in that list. It is comforting to have roots in a time and place. And Belinda Carlisle's solo period reminds me of being a kid. And if you'd prefer to go with her body of work with rich full band behind her, Vacation is another iconic song that I directly associate with The Go-Gos, and the scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 when George W. Bush inexplicably spends five weeks in the summer of 2001 on a working vacation.
Pat Benatar- Heartbreaker. Shadows of the Night. Stop Using Sex as a Weapon. We Belong. Treat Me Right. Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Love is a Battlefield.Those are just some of the selections from the nine dollar Best of Pat Benatar CD I got at Border's in the summer of 2006. Or wait, it didn't even have space for Love is a Battlefield. Pat Benatar hit it big in the late 1970's and kept going through the 1980's. I remember with fondness a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1996, where Darrell Hammond played A&E Biography host Jack Perkins, hosting a special on Tiger Woods. As Perkins, Hammond got drunk and started quoting a Pat Benatar song. I liked the lyrics. I thought to myself, "who is Pat Benatar?" Little did I know that I had been listening to her music for my entire life! All of these songs had been steadily playing on pop radio. All are enduring as either classic rock, arena rock, power ballad, 80's pop, or adult contemporary. She isn't ashamed to embody all of these opposites within a single song. Put her into the Rock Hall already please!
The Bangles- Going for broke with the 1980's here. The Bangles may be a little glam for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But they are all girls, playing instruments and singing. Songs like "Hazy Shade of Winter" have driving enough guiltar licks I think to consider in the pedigree of what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been inducting recently. For example, Heart got in in 2013. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was inducted in 2015. The Pretenders got in a while ago! As for female driven pop, you've gotten Madonna in, you put ABBA in in 2010, you put in Donna Summer, and you've had Janet Jackson on the ballot. Come on. You're going to have an influx of '90's alternative rock in the coming years. If the artists behind "If She Knew What She Wants," "Manic Monday," "Our Lips Are Sealed," and "Eternal Flame" have to compete against the likes of The Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, The Foofighters, Nine Inch Nails, the Smashing Pumpkins, Blues Traveler, Radiohead, System of a Down, and Korn, it's going to be hard to expect The Bangles to get enough votes when they make the ballot. Come on. The 1980's happened. You can't deny it. And these songs were very, very popular.
Culture Club or Boy George- Again, you have an artist who is pigeonholed into pop froth from circa 1983-1993. But Boy George sang not merely as a sugary top 40 pop artist, he also incorporated reggae and rhythm and blues. I enjoy such songs as "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" for the same reasons I enjoy The Bangles, Pat Benatar or The Gogos. It takes me back to a particular place and time. I remember when I saw The Wedding Singer in 1998. It was the first time I really took a hard look back at the 1980's and looked at the music as classic and from another time. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was a touchstone moment in that movie that hearkened back the decade of Sony Walkmen, microwaves, reports about Beirut on the MacNeil Lehrer News Hour, and Ronald Reagan tough talking Mikhail Gorbechav. "Karma Chameleon" "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" may be too harmless of songs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But Boy George did bring androgyny to mainstream. He was ahead of his time in that respect. Gay people were really profiled something awful in the 1980's, and he brought that facet of culture to the mainstream. And with that in mind, remember "The Crying Game?" That came out in 1992. So he outlasted his early 1980's roots.
Janet Jackson- Speaking of acts who outlasted their 1980's roots, Janet Jackson ought to have provided a large enough body of work to merit consideration for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Rhythm Nation," "Escapade," "What Have You Done For Me Lately," "Nasty" (a song I didn't like in the 1980's but now have strong affection for), "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," "Again," "If," "You Want This," and her collaboration with Michael Jackson with "Scream" ought to make her qualified alone. I shouldn't have to push as hard for Janet Jackson as I did the other artists on this list. She's actually been on the ballot before. And her music was always a little ahead of its time. Thus, it's aged better. I hear songs of hers on pop radio, top 40 radio stations, ten and twenty years after their release. It makes it seem as though time has travelled very fast that these gems from the 1980's and 1990's are already in excess of twenty years old. Hard to believe. They still seem fresh and new. In fact, it's hard to believe an artist as contemporary and youthful as Janet Jackson is well beyond the minimum number of years active to be considered for entry into the Rock Hall.I can allow that as your excuse up to now. She's still just seemingly emerging from her top ten status. But it has been a lengthy heyday for her. So consider her for induction.
Other artists to consider:
Whitney Houston
Paula Abdul
The Black Crowes
Rupert Holmes
Elvin Bishop (solo artist)
10cc
The Raspberries
Norman Greenbaum
The Doobie Brothers
Steve Winwood (solo artist)
The Spencer Davis Group
Mike and the Mechanics
Phil Collins (solo)
Sting (solo)
John Denver
Don McLean
Toto
Boston
Debbie Gibson
Roxette
New Kids on the Block
Tiffany
Kraftwerk
Asia
The Buggles
Yes
Chic
Talk Talk
Good to see Chicago, Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Deep Purple, and N.W.A. make it in with the 2016 class. I'm not sure who Bert Berns is but I assume he's good if he won the Ahmet Ertegun award.
I am planning to make a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by myself or with Sara, somehow, in the next year to see the Chicago exhibit.
Thank you and have a good night.
Gregory O'Neill
Hi, this is Gregory O'Neill again. First of all, hey, how sad is it that you ended up the host city to the Republican National Convention?
No one in that group really listens to music other than country. I saw that Third Eye Blind got co-opted into giving a performance for an RIAA event catering to attendees of the convention. I liked that they asked the crowd who liked science. I'm guessing the Donald Trump delegates see a great plurality of your inducted artists as hippie commies who don't know anything about the value of hard work. I know how much trouble it would be for the Rock Hall if they were publicly linked to the RNC by hosting an event on the itinerary.
Anyhow, this will get your mind off of the grotesque proceedings. And as for all the vitriol out of this particular convention, more so than any other in recent memory, it is clear that no one's putting emphasis on how well they feel Trump would do. That's because nobody can unify behind that train of thought. What a letdown he's been.
Here are my suggestions for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2017 inductions. I'd even be happy if one or two of these acts made the ballot.
The Go-Gos or Belinda Carlisle- I know that the Go-Gos only have four studio albums to their credit. That's why I also included Belinda Carlisle as an option. "We Got the Beat" is synonimous for me with the excellent 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The soaring vocals of the all girl group were at once rugged punk and yet sweet and innocent. With that in mind, I want to suggest Belinda Carlisle as a solo artist as a back-up option here. I remember when "Heaven is a Place On Earth" was a hit when I was in kindergarten. And I always think back to that period in my life, going to skate ranch, bringing treats to school, learning to spell, whenever I hear Belinda Carlisle solo hits. I also include "Mad About You," "Circle in the Sand," and "I Get Weak" in that list. It is comforting to have roots in a time and place. And Belinda Carlisle's solo period reminds me of being a kid. And if you'd prefer to go with her body of work with rich full band behind her, Vacation is another iconic song that I directly associate with The Go-Gos, and the scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 when George W. Bush inexplicably spends five weeks in the summer of 2001 on a working vacation.
Pat Benatar- Heartbreaker. Shadows of the Night. Stop Using Sex as a Weapon. We Belong. Treat Me Right. Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Love is a Battlefield.Those are just some of the selections from the nine dollar Best of Pat Benatar CD I got at Border's in the summer of 2006. Or wait, it didn't even have space for Love is a Battlefield. Pat Benatar hit it big in the late 1970's and kept going through the 1980's. I remember with fondness a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1996, where Darrell Hammond played A&E Biography host Jack Perkins, hosting a special on Tiger Woods. As Perkins, Hammond got drunk and started quoting a Pat Benatar song. I liked the lyrics. I thought to myself, "who is Pat Benatar?" Little did I know that I had been listening to her music for my entire life! All of these songs had been steadily playing on pop radio. All are enduring as either classic rock, arena rock, power ballad, 80's pop, or adult contemporary. She isn't ashamed to embody all of these opposites within a single song. Put her into the Rock Hall already please!
The Bangles- Going for broke with the 1980's here. The Bangles may be a little glam for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But they are all girls, playing instruments and singing. Songs like "Hazy Shade of Winter" have driving enough guiltar licks I think to consider in the pedigree of what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been inducting recently. For example, Heart got in in 2013. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was inducted in 2015. The Pretenders got in a while ago! As for female driven pop, you've gotten Madonna in, you put ABBA in in 2010, you put in Donna Summer, and you've had Janet Jackson on the ballot. Come on. You're going to have an influx of '90's alternative rock in the coming years. If the artists behind "If She Knew What She Wants," "Manic Monday," "Our Lips Are Sealed," and "Eternal Flame" have to compete against the likes of The Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, The Foofighters, Nine Inch Nails, the Smashing Pumpkins, Blues Traveler, Radiohead, System of a Down, and Korn, it's going to be hard to expect The Bangles to get enough votes when they make the ballot. Come on. The 1980's happened. You can't deny it. And these songs were very, very popular.
Culture Club or Boy George- Again, you have an artist who is pigeonholed into pop froth from circa 1983-1993. But Boy George sang not merely as a sugary top 40 pop artist, he also incorporated reggae and rhythm and blues. I enjoy such songs as "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" for the same reasons I enjoy The Bangles, Pat Benatar or The Gogos. It takes me back to a particular place and time. I remember when I saw The Wedding Singer in 1998. It was the first time I really took a hard look back at the 1980's and looked at the music as classic and from another time. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was a touchstone moment in that movie that hearkened back the decade of Sony Walkmen, microwaves, reports about Beirut on the MacNeil Lehrer News Hour, and Ronald Reagan tough talking Mikhail Gorbechav. "Karma Chameleon" "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" may be too harmless of songs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But Boy George did bring androgyny to mainstream. He was ahead of his time in that respect. Gay people were really profiled something awful in the 1980's, and he brought that facet of culture to the mainstream. And with that in mind, remember "The Crying Game?" That came out in 1992. So he outlasted his early 1980's roots.
Janet Jackson- Speaking of acts who outlasted their 1980's roots, Janet Jackson ought to have provided a large enough body of work to merit consideration for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Rhythm Nation," "Escapade," "What Have You Done For Me Lately," "Nasty" (a song I didn't like in the 1980's but now have strong affection for), "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," "Again," "If," "You Want This," and her collaboration with Michael Jackson with "Scream" ought to make her qualified alone. I shouldn't have to push as hard for Janet Jackson as I did the other artists on this list. She's actually been on the ballot before. And her music was always a little ahead of its time. Thus, it's aged better. I hear songs of hers on pop radio, top 40 radio stations, ten and twenty years after their release. It makes it seem as though time has travelled very fast that these gems from the 1980's and 1990's are already in excess of twenty years old. Hard to believe. They still seem fresh and new. In fact, it's hard to believe an artist as contemporary and youthful as Janet Jackson is well beyond the minimum number of years active to be considered for entry into the Rock Hall.I can allow that as your excuse up to now. She's still just seemingly emerging from her top ten status. But it has been a lengthy heyday for her. So consider her for induction.
Other artists to consider:
Whitney Houston
Paula Abdul
The Black Crowes
Rupert Holmes
Elvin Bishop (solo artist)
10cc
The Raspberries
Norman Greenbaum
The Doobie Brothers
Steve Winwood (solo artist)
The Spencer Davis Group
Mike and the Mechanics
Phil Collins (solo)
Sting (solo)
John Denver
Don McLean
Toto
Boston
Debbie Gibson
Roxette
New Kids on the Block
Tiffany
Kraftwerk
Asia
The Buggles
Yes
Chic
Talk Talk
Good to see Chicago, Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Deep Purple, and N.W.A. make it in with the 2016 class. I'm not sure who Bert Berns is but I assume he's good if he won the Ahmet Ertegun award.
I am planning to make a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by myself or with Sara, somehow, in the next year to see the Chicago exhibit.
Thank you and have a good night.
Gregory O'Neill