Posted on 01/03/2025 4:24:49 PM PST by DallasBiff
“He should be inducted, rather than inducted Cher.”
At the very least, Cher should not have been inducted without Sonny. If he hadn’t noticed her, she would probably still be a (now-retired) fast-food worker or waitress. He was already established in the music business and guided the whole Sonny and Cher enterprise.
“Still prefer Eat it and Like a Surgeon.”
Funniest line from Eat it: “You’re playing with your food, this ain’t some kind of game.”
He has done original songs as well as what he calls style parodies, which are songs that are not direct parodies but are inspired by the style of a particular artist. “Dare to be Stupid” (if you ever heard it) is one of the more prominent style parodies, inspired by Devo.
Whatever else you can say about him, IMO he did come up with the two best song opening lines in history
1. I was driving on the freeway in the fast lane with a rabid wolverine in my underware (Everything You Know Is Wrong)
2. Put down that chainsaw and listen to me (Dare to be Stupid)
Pure genius!
Al writes his own music for some of the stuff. The parodies are only part of the catalog. Then there’s the polka medleys (which he at least has to transpose the music to accordion). And his full original songs.
Ted’s not in because he’s heavy metal. Wenner hates heavy metal, and prog rock, so those are the bands that get the shrift.
Al should definitely be in. So should Dr Demento, not only for Al but also being basically the DJ that “broke” ACDC in America (who probably aren’t in), and just generally changing the landscape, being the guy who for decades helped make sure rock and roll didn’t take itself too seriously.
The hall of fame is Jann Wenner from Rolling Stones baby. If he likes you you get in. A prime example is Marshall Tucker Band. Rolling Stone panned all their records with crappy reviews. This is a band that has been touring since the 70’s and still on on the road today. How many other bands have that kind of longevity. How many other band have been ignored by the hof but deserve to be in there. The hall of fame is pretty much a joke.
Then Warren Zevon died (in 2003) a true rock-and-roll rebel! Cheers to him! 🙂
If Marshal Tucker is still out in the wild playing gigs and pleasing audiences they have my respect as rock-and-roll rebels.
Didn’t know that.
I guess everybody was a hippie back then.
Read an extensive Atlantic article a while ago and the author impressed me with his discussion of Al’s “library” of research into and total documentation of every step of creating the parodies. Al may be weird, but he is intelligent, thorough and hard working.
He deserves whatever recognition he can get and would totally fit in the RRHOF.
The whole premise of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just doesn’t work. In sports you have a steady stream of new stars, as new talent is constantly refreshed. In contrast, most music acts over the past twenty or more years have been cookie-cutter assembly-line mediocrities, or else they appeal only to niche markets.
No one is creating any excitement, and few are breaking new ground. So to keep the racket going, they’ve got to sift through the same stagnant pile of increasingly marginal acts who weren’t already inducted.
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