R.E.M., Van Halen, Stooges On Rock Hall Ballot

Billboard ^ | October 30, 2006, 10:30 AM ET | Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

[weegee]

R.E.M., Van Halen, the Stooges and Patti Smith are among the nine acts on the ballot for the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, to be held March 12 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Also on the ballot are the Dave Clark Five, Chic, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Joe Tex and the Ronettes.

Five artists will be chosen for the final list of inductees, to be announced in January. To be eligible for induction, the 2007 class had to release their first single no later than 1981.

Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie, Miles Davis and record moguls Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were enshrined in the Hall earlier this year.

[Mike Bates]

It's about time for the Dave Clark Five to make it.

[wagglebee]

Great list! It's unbelievable that most of these groups aren't in there. I never really even liked Kiss or Rush, but when you look at their overall impact it's incredible. And groups like the Zombies, the Hollies, Procul Harum, Jethro Tull and Chicago are HUGE.

[Mr. Blonde]

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains will also get nods pretty quickly. Maybe Temple of the Dog, but they are kind of limited by having only one album. Of those Soundgarden will be the first to become eligible. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rage Against the Machine in there too. They were certainly originators in the rap/metal mashup.

[rintense]

Worst concert I've ever been to: REM's Monster Tour. I will never go see them again. Not only did they sound terrible live, but listening to Stipe and guest Patti Smith trash Republicans was just too much.

[doodad]

I can believe every bit of that. I got to meet Mike Mills recently though and he is a standup and I would think conservative guy. Plays golf as badly as I do; we have the same teacher.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Can David Lee Roth even appear on camera anymore without breaking the lens?

[rintense]

I coukld handle the bashing. But they sounded just horrible. Radiohead opened for them and I fell in love. Been a Radiohead fan ever since. In fact, the lead singer of Radiohead walked past our car in the lot. I flipped out and told my friends who it was and they said no way. Sure enough, when he took the stage, they all said 'you were right!'.

[wagglebee]

When Document went big it was the beginning of the end. They were incredible in the mid-80's on the college circuit though.

[doodad]

Where were they playing?

[dfwgator]

I liked REM better when you couldn't understand what Stipe was actually singing.

[wagglebee]

Like I was saying, pre-Document.

[weegee]

We don't see 4 bands of one modern era get in at the same time (or even nominated in the same year). Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Rage Against the Machine will be waiting awhile for their turns. I don't know Temple of the Dog but don't see them getting in. The industry tried to lock grunge at 5 bands (same as the subsequent swing band revival). For that reason, I don't see the industry suddenly warming up to grunge.

Nomination is based on sales and name recognition and then on impact/influence.

The Ramones got a lot of bands to join in and it was Iggy & The Stooges that got the NYC scene started (at least as told in the book Please Kill Me, people had to wait about a year at a time for Iggy to come to town so the New York Dolls and others got into it).

Without Poison 13 and Mudhoney, there is no Pearl Jam and so also goes the grunge movement but it is unlikely that either band will get inducted. Pearl Jam does acknowledge their origins though and a hybrid band (Monkeywrench) that features members of Poison 13 and Mudhoney opened for Pearl Jam for 2 nights at Wembley.

[rintense]

Breslin Center in Lansing, MI.

[Mr. Blonde]

Temple of the Dog was a one off band that is notable for a couple of things. One of the first to bring grunge to the mainstream, but more importantly membership. Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament. This is near the same time Vedder joined the others to become Pearl Jam. Cornell of course had his own thing goingon. And shortly after they released an album together they shot to superstardom with their own bands. One song that originated as a TOTD song became a song for Pearl Jam.

Because of the way the nomination process works they could all get in on the first try. They all released their first single in different years Soundgarden 1987, Nirvana 1988, Alice in Chains in 1990, Pearl Jam in 1991. So they will all become eligible at different times. Now the chances of them getting in seems to depend on how hard they want to push them. I would think they will at least get nominations if not inducted. If they are packed a bunch of other nominees they might not get in, but if it is like this year they would. Is their any doubt that Van Halen, REM and The Stooges are almost guaranteed on this ballot? Especially being that one of the nominees isn't even a rock artist.

[weegee]

They could but the Hall goes for diversity of eras and music styles.

And the most famous Jefferson Airplane songs are really Great Society songs (White Rabbit and Somebody To Love) but that still doesn't improve their chances for getting in the hall.

I'd wager that the Butthole Surfers as the new vanguard of psychedelia would get in the hall before Alice In Chains.

[Yossarian]

Another good reason to love Radiohead: their guest appearance in South Park's infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode:

Radiohead making fun of Scott Tenorman after he learned he just ate 'Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman' Chili