Posted on 01/08/2007 10:21:03 AM PST by slowhand520
Van Halen, Grandmaster Flash, R.E.M., Ronettes and Patti Smith make Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
CLEVELAND — Van Halen made a "jump" into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday along with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M., the Ronettes and Patti Smith. A panel of 600 industry experts selected the five artists to be inducted at the annual ceremony, to be held March 12 in New York.
Van Halen was the 1980s hard rock quartet led by guitarist Eddie Van Halen, outrageous lead vocalist David Lee Roth, and later rocker Sammy Hagar, that put out hits such as "Jump" and "Dreams."
R.E.M. was the quintessential indie rock band until breaking through to mass success in the early 1990s with songs like "Losing My Religion."
Grandmaster Flash led the most innovative act in early hip-hop, and the song "The Message" was like a letter from urban America.
Punk rock poet Patti Smith and Phil Spector favorites the Ronettes round out the 2007 class.
To be eligible, artists must have issued a first single or album at least 25 years before nomination.
I think I may be the only nitwit who bought BOTH his album and the CD. I know. Pretty pathetic.
The Ronettes? Really? I mean, "Be My Baby" was great, but that was all because of Phil Spector. So they get in, but Squeeze will never make it...
I can't believe Van Halen wasn't inducted long ago.
But Patti Smith?? I guess the R&R HoF wanted to show how "diverse" it is.
REM is a slam dunk, and the Ronettes I can live with, but I never heard of Grandmaster Flash. Is he some kind of old-time blues guitarist or something, hopefully? (Please don't tell me he's just another talentless, dime-a-dozen "hip hop" barker....)
"It crawled into my hand, honest."
Be careful.
They tend to melt in the dark.
Especially the sweet, green icing.
The Archies.
It's really getting to be slim pickin's for rock hof nominees; you can't get much lamer than this year's "class."
Frampton is a lesser talent and non-issue to me... I'm not into Top 40... but whatever floats your boat...
Toni Price - Sol Power and James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards - Live in Aught Three, are two of my all time favorites. I am more into eclectic music.
Yep... though in fairness, that's probably the worst possible single frame of a videoclip. Still, it reminds me of that quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark:
"It's not the years, it's the mileage."
>>The Smithereens<<
Fantastic band.
Your knowledge of, and access to some '60s musicians is frightening.
What? Who can forget his remakes of California Girls and Just a Gigolo? Classics!
>>I counter that Lindsey Buckingham is the most underrated guitarist ever. What he does with a guitar while singing lead is just phenomenal.<<
If you're a Fleetwood Mac fan (as I am), you ought to get the DVD of the making of "Rumours".
Well worth watching.
Thanks for the tip, I'll need to google them and see what's out there. Physically, Perry Farrel is one of the flattest human beings in the world. I also spent many a wild evening in college partying to Jane's.
When I was in High School a buddy of mine got tickets to go see Jane's at some nothing club in Boston. I'd never heard of the group (this was waaay before radio had discovered them) so I blew it off. I'm still kicking myself over it.
My feeling about lyrics and teleprompters is that if I wanted karaoke, I'd go someplace cheaper. For $50-100 bucks or more of my money for a ticket, I think that the least that the performer should do is show up on time and remember the lyrics. And, as far as orchestral musicians are concerned, I need to say that belting out three stanzas and the chorus of "Runnin' with the Devil" is quite a bit different than playing Beethoven's 5th from memory.
Don't get me started on pop tarts (Britney Spears, etc) that lip-synch.
Finally, I had the pleasure of catching the Stones (fantastic Arena show, BTW) a few years ago. Not a teleprompter in sight....no way there were any around because for a significant part of the show, there wasn't a place for them in the set design. So, unless Mick had the lyrics written on the back of his hand....
Gene Simmons is behind some other groups that may surprise you. Foreigner is one I know of off the top of my head.
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