Ah, my favorite time of the year. For us growing legions who follow the Rock Hall (there are now dozens of us! Dozens!), we wait in anticipation to see which artists will get nominated. And then, about ten weeks later, we’ll know who will get inducted…and then, we watch the ceremony unfold, with its manifold dramas, happy reunions, tributes, and performances. With now two Rock Hall podcasts operating, a growing blogging presence from Jason Voight and Nick Bambach, and many of the old crew of bloggers still doing their thing, I look forward to seeing who will make everyone’s list of predictions.
Here’s mine. Last year, we had 7 acts– each either very deserving or very well-known- get in. Genres that hadn’t had much success lately like 80s alternative (The Cure), and 80s & 90s R&B (Janet) and art rock (Roxy Music) broke on through to the other side. A good part of my thinking can be reduced to either “who is next in line?” or “who might the people who nominated those acts turn to next?”
I also realize I’m jumping the gun and posting a little early. There’s a good reason for this. While visiting family in Maine, my 7-months-pregnant wife began to complain of blurred vision and uncomfortable swelling. We checked into a hospital where she was diagnosed with severe pre-eclempsia that required an immediate emergency c-section. And so, little Alex Jr. was born at only 32 weeks. Mrs. Voltaire has been discharged and is doing fine, but it will take tiny Alex a while to get his little lungs developed in the NICU. He’ll make it, but my life is now slow, long, repetitive days in a hospital. I needed some distraction, and as often happens, I turned to the Rock Hall community as one venue of solace among many.
- Mötley Crüe: Currently in the lead at the Rock Hall’s kiosks where you can vote for who you want to see in the Hall of Fame. Def Leppard and Stevie Nicks took this route to nomination and induction, so I’ll go along with it until it isn’t predictive. This band has also enjoyed a year of big publicity, with The Dirt hitting Netflix. Yet their infamy is a liability (as infamy usually is). Mötley Crüe’s rap sheet, which includes battering women, foggy recollections of sexual assault, and racism directed at Sylvia Rhone will hurt them. Let the record show that for a number of reasons, I do not support their nomination. If Mötley Crüe’s talent for playing music was as great as their talent for almost killing themselves and others, then they would have been inducted a decade ago.
- Cher: The highest-ranked woman on the kiosks. Cher also had a good past 18 months, culminating in a Mama Mia sequel. Her long career continues to roll on, as an outspoken icon and sartorially daring performer on her eighth round of farewell touring. I can think of a great many women who should be inducted before Cher in terms of merit, talent, and influence, but I’m fine with the prospect of her getting in.
- Depeche Mode: The Cure busted down the doors of bleak 80s alternative big time last year. With two relatively recent nominations under their belt, Depeche Mode seems likely to be next in line– especially if the Hall understandably doesn’t want to deal with Morrissey’s bullshit. If the ballot isn’t overstuffed with 70s classic rockers, expect them to have an excellent chance of making it this year.
- Kraftwerk: Just a little German band that basically all subsequent electronic music (including Depeche Mode!) is heavily indebted to. They have been nominated five times.
- Rufus and Chaka Khan: If my guess is right, this ballot may be light on funkiness, making it likely that Chaka will get nominated with her old band. With Rufus or without, this is now the free space at the center of the bingo board.
- New York Dolls: Roxy Music is in! And rightly so. Maybe T-Rex, the other big 70s band that was a bigger deal in Britain than in the UK might be next. But maybe, if we’re looking at glam androgyny, a punk direction is called for. And New York Dolls were nominated– but that was way back for the class of 2001, when the nominating committee had a markedly different lineup.
- The B-52s: Maybe there’s room for another avant-garde group on the ballot. Nick Bambach has done some great work on The B-52s’ prospects. They pioneered a daring, retro-future style and made rock and roll campy and fun again, like the 50s B-movies they sent up. With high-profile articles in New York Times and Rolling Stone in recent months, it’s easy to see enough people in the room agreeing to give the B-52s a turn. With two movies about gay rock musicians breaking box office records this year, The B-52s–four out of five of whom identified as LGBT–would also be timely.
- Eurythmics: The Rock Hall loves soulful vocals, and recent changes in the nominating committee reflect a friendliness toward MTV, VH1 and music videos. Can you pick a more 80s moment than Annie Lennox in a suit, with a pointer and a globe? They were nominated two years ago, and I don’t think it was a one-and-done affair.
- The Doobie Brothers: These guys have seen so many of their contemporaries get in, it’s almost embarrassing. They were and are major classic rock artists. I understand the Nom Com moving a step away from that after the Moody Blues/Dire Straits/Cars year, but the Doobies are one of the last bands from that genre that really does deserve to get in. They still tour, had plenty of hits in two distinct eras, and were one of the few racially integrated groups to have achieved that level of success. It’s also pretty easy to get an HBO-friendly reunion with Michael McDonald. Let’s see if signing with Irving Azoff paid dividends.
- Tommy James & the Shondells: Well, The Zombies finally got in! But the Nom Com is still filled with old guys reliving their sixties’ youth. According to Future Rock Legends, Tommy James has been previously considered, and it’s not hard to see Little Stevie, Paul Shaffer, and some of the others make a case for this band. A couple years ago, Miami Steve inducted James into the New Jersey Music Hall of Fame, for those of you keeping notes.
- Notorious B.I.G.: Look, I think LL Cool J is now one of the five most inexplicable snubs, but the voters aren’t having him. To avoid making the hip-hop backlog worse than it already is, Cool J may be iced in favor of first-year-eligible Biggie. I don’t especially like Biggie and I struggle to see why he was such an icon, but I doubt the Rolling Stone Industrial Complex sees it that way.
- A Tribe Called Quest: Who Cares About the Rock Hall did a bang-up job on this Native Tongues outfit and the continued relevance they have today. Possibly the most critically acclaimed hip-hop group ever, they could very well sneak on to the nominating list. Two rap acts have shared a ballot before, after all. With Janet Jackson in, Questlove gets to advocate for someone else, and his Mo Meta Blues is so generous in its praise of ATCQ, I have to think they are next in line.
- Big Mama Thornton: It went under the radar, but Holly George-Warren recently gave a presentation on this seminal blueswoman. She did “Hound Dog” before Elvis. She was with Johnny Ace when he died. She played the drums and harmonica! Warren wants to make “make a compelling case for Thornton’s place in the blues and R&B pantheon.” This might help her efforts. If Big Mama shows up, don’t be surprised if this culminates in an early-influence induction, a la Sister Rosetta.
- Weezer: In exceptional years, two FYE (that’s First Year Eligible) acts might show up. Think Green Day/Nine Inch Nails. Think Radiohead/Rage. Think Pearl Jam/2pac. Biggie/Weezer fits nicely into this pattern. With Weezer you have a band that had pretty impressive longevity, several indispensable songs anybody who was young in the 90s remembers, a couple iconic albums, and a deep influence on how indie developed. Oasis is eligible too, of course, but the Gallaghers rival only The Smiths as a nightmare reunion to manage. Remember, bassist Scott Shriner was involved in the 2018 ceremony, deputizing for Benjamin Orr during The Cars’ set.
- Richard Thompson: What list would be complete without a left-field choice? As previous years have shown, a long-shot act like John Prine or Los Lobos can appear without much warning. Rolling Stone has been touting Shoot out the Lights, recorded with his then-wife Linda as one of the iconic albums of the 80s whenever they gin up a “Greatest Albums” list to boost their sales. His stunning lyricism, deep mystical philosophy, his shimmering creativity, and his singular guitar work could very well commend him to the Rock Hall powers.
So, if I had to guess, I’d say Motley Crue, Cher, Doobies, Biggie, and Depeche Mode would get in, adding B-52s if six, and Eurythmics if seven. My five votes on the fan ballot would go to Kraftwerk, Eurythmics, Big Mama Thornton, A Tribe Called Quest, and The B-52s.
