2025 Rock & Roll HOF screechfest

[Hot and Rickety]

This year's nominees (with very preliminary thoughts):

• Maná: I honestly had not heard of this group until today. I simply can't evaluate them other than: yes, the RRHOF is extremely lacking in Spanish-language artists.
• Chubby Checker: If we're measuring by impact, then he has to be considered, because "The Twist" helped get adults listening to what was then considered rock 'n roll. If we're going by musical innovation, then there's no way Checker belongs. Both of his No. 1 songs were covers, and most of his other hits were more or less novelty songs in the same vein as "The Twist."
• Joy Division and New Order: I think both were more influential than many realize, and probably deserve a good look.
• Mariah Carey: Will get in by virtue of her weaponized voice and her massive amount of hits, most of which she had a hand in writing. If you remember that the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame probably should be called the Popular Music Hall of Fame, her induction (and the induction of others who cannot be considered "rock 'n roll") will go down easier.
• Soundgarden: Should get in but won't, because RRHOF voters hate metal and Soundgarden is the most metal of the Seattle bands.
• Joe Cocker: Is a Woodstock performance, a cover of a Beatles song and a payday soundtrack No. 1 from a hit '80s film enough? We'll find out! Most of Cocker's remembered songs were covers, and his songwriting resume was extremely thin. He also happens to be dead, and the RRHOF hasn't been too big on posthumous solo-artist inductions of late.
• Oasis: I never found them at all interesting or creative. I realize I'm in the minority here. The fact that they're back in the public consciousness probably will tip the scales in their favor, because the induction show needs a hook.
• Billy Idol: Early MTV loved him, but would things be all that different if Billy Idol chose to be a plumber instead of a performer? Probably not.
• Phish: Just incredibly hard to evaluate. These dudes are proficiently superior to anyone on this list, and their longevity is to be admired, but if you went up to 100 random people on the street and asked them to name one single Phish song, how many do you think would be able to do so? 10? 5? Their popularity is just so contained.
• Black Crowes: Boogie-woogie Oasis here has a couple of very fun early albums and then what? And like Oasis, I'm not sure they really broke any new ground.
• Outkast: Pretty inventive hip-hop. They're in.
• The White Stripes: Proof that only two people can make a very impactful racket, and that only one of them need be musically proficient. Jack White has been doing all the proper RRHOF stuff in recent years, which will endear him to the voting committee.
• Cyndi Lauper: Not a whole lot of staying power, but a couple of massive early-MTV hits -- only one of which she had a hand in writing -- and an endearingly oddball persona could be enough.
• Bad Company: Foreigner walked so Bad Company could run, I guess. I'm not sure how you induct the former and not the latter. They're essentially the same band in all but their membership. After this, hopefully we're done inducting middling '70s rockers into the RRHOF.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

OK, I'll play along.

Mana: *shrug emoji* I have no idea and neither do the voters.
Chubby Checker: No. I mean, you know his name came up every single year since the place opened and they never wanted to drop the standard that much. No need to do it now.
Joy Division/New Order: Absolute yes. My number one "they should be in the Hall" pick every year.
Mariah Carey: Whatever. I wouldn't vote for her, but she'll be in at some point.
Soundgarden: Yes. Amazing singer, unique guitarist, solid body of work.
Joe Cocker: I'd vote yes. Tremendous singer -- I assumed he was in until I looked it up about a year ago.
Oasis: An unenthusiastic yes, I think. Really great at their best, and huge in England.
Billy Idol: Nah. The safe, corporate face of 80s punk. He had some good songs, but always struck me as kind of lightweight.
Phish: Nope.
Black Crowes: Nope. I mean, perfectly good band, but I can't even imagine what the pro-Black Crowes argument would be.
Outkast: Absolutely yes. And I'm not even a hip-hop guy.
White Stripes: Yes. Creative, original, really damn good.
Cyndi Lauper: No. A couple of good songs and they're covers. People like the idea of Cyndi Lauper more than anyone likes her music.
Bad Company: Short answer: no. Longer answer: **** no. Bad Company? NO.

 

[I Should Coco]

Don’t have time to weigh in on the nominees right now, but I laughed that opening this thread caused an AARP banner ad to appear on SJ.com.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

I can live with Mariah Carey, Soundgarden, Joe Cocker, Outkast and White Stripes. If it's a limit of 5, those are my 5.

Joy Division/New Order and Oasis are maybes because this is a US body and they were way bigger in Britain. Billy Idol is a Brit but has a short hit window.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

My only add is the long-time drummer for the Black Crowes is a sports junkie and also the uncle of a former Syracuse basketball player who was on the 2003 national champs.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I was shocked to find out Chubby Checker is still alive.

 

[TigerVols]

I have newfound respect for Billy Idol after listening to several of his shows on Sirius XM. I had no idea how embedded he was in the early days of London’s punk scene as a roadie and club kid before GenX. Oh, and “Eyes without a Face” is his best song.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Phish should get in on the strength of their ticket sales for tours.

 

[DanOregon]

Give Chubby one of those "Musical Excellence" deals. Maybe the career isn't worthy, but "The Twist" most definitely is.

 

[garrow]

I have newfound respect for Billy Idol after listening to several of his shows on Sirius XM. I had no idea how embedded he was in the early days of London’s punk scene as a roadie and club kid before GenX. Oh, and “Eyes without a Face” is his best song.

Couldn't agree more about Eyes Without a Face. I just referenced it last night.

And he had a really good recent tune.

 

[Della9250]

They have put in at least seven each of the past three years, so my guess at who they pick:

Maná
Joy Division and New Order
Mariah Carey
Joe Cocker
Oasis
Outkast
The White Stripes

I think Phish belongs but they are too niche to get inducted (the only song I can actually name is Run Like an Antelope). Some of the others I can see: Chubby Checker, Billy Idol and Cyndi Lauper are the famous famous portion of Hall of FAME. I agree that if he belonged, Chubby Checker would already be in

 

[TigerVols]

I hope a New Order induction can lead to Sumner and Hooky burying the hatchet but I doubt it.

 

[I Should Coco]

I think Phish belongs but they are too niche to get inducted (the only song I can actually name is Run Like an Antelope).

Agree on Phish. “Bouncing Round the Room” is a good song, and for some reason I bought and really enjoyed their “Fuego” album from about 10 years ago.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I mentioned it previously (and probably in connection to DMB and Jimmy Buffett too) but I think touring ... live concerts ... should play a bigger role in determining who gets in the Hall of Fame. If you're selling out football stadiums and headlining festivals with 100,000 attendees for 20-plus years, then you should get inducted. Even if most people can't pick out Tweezer from Chalkdust Torture or Wilson.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

OK, I'll play along.

Mana: *shrug emoji* I have no idea and neither do the voters.
Chubby Checker: No. I mean, you know his name came up every single year since the place opened and they never wanted to drop the standard that much. No need to do it now.
Joy Division/New Order: Absolute yes. My number one "they should be in the Hall" pick every year.
Mariah Carey: Whatever. I wouldn't vote for her, but she'll be in at some point.
Soundgarden: Yes. Amazing singer, unique guitarist, solid body of work.
Joe Cocker: I'd vote yes. Tremendous singer -- I assumed he was in until I looked it up about a year ago.
Oasis: An unenthusiastic yes, I think. Really great at their best, and huge in England.
Billy Idol: Nah. The safe, corporate face of 80s punk. He had some good songs, but always struck me as kind of lightweight.
Phish: Nope.
Black Crowes: Nope. I mean, perfectly good band, but I can't even imagine what the pro-Black Crowes argument would be.
Outkast: Absolutely yes. And I'm not even a hip-hop guy.
White Stripes: Yes. Creative, original, really damn good.
Cyndi Lauper: No. A couple of good songs and they're covers. People like the idea of Cyndi Lauper more than anyone likes her music.
Bad Company: Short answer: no. Longer answer: **** no. Bad Company? NO.

I don't really give a **** as nearly all of these artists are non-essential and the equivalent of 15th-ballot MLB Hall of Famers, but I am interested in PCLoadLetter's opinions because we tend to think alike!

Mana: Agreed completely.
Chubby Checker: Looked up his discography, he has *way* more top 40 hits than I realized, nearly all of them pre-British Invasion. That 1960-63 period is a black hole in rock history, but since anything other than "The Twist" is rarely if ever heard today, I can't assess how many of those songs influenced rock. However, he deserves induction solely based on teaming up with the Fat Boys. (No, he doesn't, but then again? Maybe he does ...)
Joy Division/New Order: I can't stand New Order, just not my thing, but I can grasp their influence. I've never heard anything but praise for Joy Division, but every time I've delved into their music beyond "Love Will Tear Us Apart", I'm just like, no. I don't mind the discordant stuff, but if all you need to get in the RRHOF is one album-ish of vaguely proto-alternative music with a lead singer that is miked like he's doing a bad haunted house voice, that's a pretty low bar. Plus, I've really only embraced "Love Will Tear Us Apart" as an ironic theme for my favorite soccer team anyway.
Mariah Carey: Will never understand her appeal, nor why people think she's such a great voice, but I'm sure she gets in at some point out of pure adoration.
Soundgarden: I think when they were "hard", think pre-"Super Unknown", they were pretty great. "Badmotorfinger" is right up there not only as a great grunge album, but one of the greatest metal albums, but they never get categorized that way. Problem is, and I say this with some pain given that grunge is right at ground zero of my generation's legacy and that I was a fan of it, how influential was any of the grunge stuff? Should that matter?
Joe Cocker: I don't think so. I suppose there's room for great interpreters of other people's material, though I'm not a big fan of it. Linda Ronstadt is in. Three Dog Night is in. Wait, Three Dog Night is NOT in? If they're not in, Joe Cocker doesn't deserve to be in. Plus, unique as his voice is, it grates on me in some songs. Bizarrely, my favorite of his is "High Time We Went" one of his few well-known songs that he wrote.
Oasis: They can **** off. Popular, but not very original at all, and frankly, mediocre at what they did do. They have aged as poorly as any 90s group has. Including Jackyl.
Billy Idol: A couple decent songs. Nothing like any kind of RRHOF legacy.
Phish: They can **** right off too. So many better bands that have that kind of live cult following that are better. I'd take Flaming Lips 1,000 times over ****ing Phish.
Black Crowes: I was HUGE into the Black Crowes and I still enjoy a lot of their ****, but they are absolutely derivative of the Faces and Rolling Stones. That's fine with me, I dig that music, but in no way was it original. It was just a breath of fresh air to kids like me in the 90s who were sick and tired of ****ing hair metal. And for a lot of people our age who never listed to the Faces or Stones stuff that influenced the Crowes. Would still go see them live, but they're not RRHOF or even close.
Outkast: Sure.
White Stripes: Probably. One of the last rock bands to reach some sort of consensus as to how good they were. Definitely in the mix for best bands of the 2000s.
Cyndi Lauper: "She's So Unusual" is probably one of the best albums of the 80s that never gets mentioned as one of the best albums of the 80s, but you're right. Nearly all of her big ones were written and/or recorded first by others. Almost all of her hits were in a very confined period, so she didn't really have longevity. Big personality, but not a RRHOF to me.
Bad Company: What the ****? If Bad Company got in before Mott The Hoople, Mick Ralphs' far, far, far superior previous band, I'm going to, well, do nothing, but it would **** me off. Bad Company is the Stone Temple Pilots of the 70s. Not original, do have some decent to good songs ("Shooting Star" or "Silver Blue And Gold" is to Bad Company as "Lady Picture Show" or "Big Bang Baby" is to STP, I dig all of those songs, but none make either group RRHOFers), also have some annoyingly overplayed songs ("Feel Like Making Love" and "Can't Get Enough" is to Bad Company as "Creep" or "Interstate Love Song" is to STP, none good, all way overplayed), but weren't at the vanguard of anything.

 

[dixiehack]

“She’s So Unusual” probably isn’t enough to get Lauper across the finish line. (I assume she’s been on the ballot previously.) But man, that’s a hell of a debut album that came out right as MTV was blowing up and it turned out she had the personality that was a perfect fit for music videos. Women artists just didn’t chart that many singles from an album then (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, She Bop and All Through The Night each were Top 5) and I think that success helped soften the ground a little bit for Madonna to break through big the following year. Even after that album she got a few more top 10 songs, including a second No. 1 with True Colors. A lot of women in rock in the generation after her consider her an influence.

Cyndi Lauper deserves more than a one-line dismissal as “a couple of hits,” even if she isn’t in.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Problem is, and I say this with some pain given that grunge is right at ground zero of my generation's legacy and that I was a fan of it, how influential was any of the grunge stuff? Should that matter?

That's something I struggle with a little each year. Ultimately I think being influential or at least unique is a major bonus, but not fully a requirement.

By and large, the grunge bands were really derivative. Nirvana is practically a Pixies tribute act. Pearly Jam wouldn't have sounded wildly out of place on the radio in the 70s.

Alice in Chains had a unique sound, and I've never heard a guitarist that sounds like Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. So, bonus points there.

In terms of being influential, I would say Joy Division and probably Outkast are about it for this list.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I have newfound respect for Billy Idol after listening to several of his shows on Sirius XM. I had no idea how embedded he was in the early days of London’s punk scene as a roadie and club kid before GenX. Oh, and “Eyes without a Face” is his best song.

Ironically, he nearly went blind making that video. The contacts he was wearing became attached to his eyeballs thanks to all the fire & smoke on the set.

 

[Cosmo]

Outkast ushered in an era of experimental hip-hop and were extremely influential in establishing Atlanta as a hip-hop hotbed. They seem to be the one tap-in here. I'd vote White Stripes and JD/NO next, then Soundgarden. That's all for me.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Alice in Chains had a unique sound, and I've never heard a guitarist that sounds like Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. So, bonus points there.

I've probably noted this here, so advance apologies for the redundancy, but Alice in Chains was as hair metal as it got for a hot minute. They opened for Poison in the summer of '91, just before the giant shift in musical tastes. Most of these bands started out trying to copy the Sunset Strip bands and pivoted fast once **** changed. Pantera was hardcore hair metal for their first few pre-Anselmo records. Their non-Anselmo album covers are hilariously awful. Shotgun Messiah went from hair metal to industrial in one record. All of which is to say I'd give Soundgarden a vote b/c I think they were more original than the rest. I don't remember them ever having much of a hair metal bent. They started out sludgy and gloomy before polishing it a bit.