Checklist Of Shame A to B

.....Browsing through npr.org (a great source for music; they've posted entire albums prior to their release), I noticed their article on the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Every news agency is bound to have some variation on this, as the article was specifically about this year's nominees. You might as well find one and read it as soon as you're done with this. Those perfunctory press release regurgitations aren't so much journalism as they are Asian animals who look up suddenly and then bolt and run inland, alerting the humans of the nearby fishing village that they have moments to do the same if they wish to avoid the tsunami already on its way. You, of course, are the villagers and the tsunami is the body of complaints to inevitably follow of deserving (and more than deserving) candidates left out yet again.

.....This year's nominees are at least defensible choices. Still, after decades of rolling my eyes at the nearly Grammy-grade silliness annually emitted from the Hall Of Fame it managed to jar me a bit to see that Eric B and Rakim (a guilty pleasure of mine) and the Beastie Boys (who, except for PAUL'S BOUTIQUE, are just... well, guilty) might be inducted the same year as Small Faces and Donovan, each of whom have been eligible for over twenty years, nearly since the Hall's inception. Surprisingly , War and The Spinners (both eligible since the 1990's) are also just showing up now as well. More and more, the lists of the last few years seem to be juggling an impulse to pander to a younger audience that doesn't know who Chuck Berry is with an impulse to apologize for their presumably California-addled priority gaffes of the past. Therefore, Public Enemy will sail through next year when they become eligible alongside, hopefully, any six of the fine folks below.

.....There are fifteen nominees but the actual number of inductees could be anywhere from five to a dozen. There's been no obvious pattern over the last decade. Increasingly, R&B acts who likely would never consider themselves rock acts are finding themselves nominated. Cynical wags might assume that the nominating committee doesn't want to face unearned accusations of racism, since rock acts from 1961 to the current cut-off date of 1986 were overwhelmingly white. The reason for that may have been blatant racism, since the Klan-affiliated purge of rock generally from the airwaves beginning in the late 1950's perhaps didn't last very long (or even work pervasively) but it derailed the careers of numerous black artists from the 1950's (who've already been inducted). None of which was the fault of the nominating committee decades later. However, to watch Donna Summer strut by Arthur Lee and Love or the Bad Brains or Arthur Alexander or Larry Williams or The Contours or... well, you get the idea. There's no real need for Hank Williams to be in there, either, but there you go. If the committee wants people to know that they're not racists and that the reason so many of the eligible candidates for a rock award are white is because of other people's racist practices in the past, I'm perfectly willing to believe them. Really. But if they're nominating black disco divas for a rock award while black rock artists are still waiting to hear their names, then the committee should worry a lot more about people assuming that they're brain damaged.

.....In the mid 1990's I tried to take inventory of my CD collection. Obviously, that list is hopelessly outdated. But just flipping through it now I've got to say that the number of acts I found at random, with no effort whatsoever, who not only qualify for induction but in many cases are overdue, could fill their own separate museum. And because this list is limited not only to my (admittedly scattershot) tastes, but to what I was able to afford on CD fifteen years ago, there must be another list out there nearly as long. Feel free to print this out or book mark it so that the next time you read some snarky music critic adding to the tsunami of complaints of musicians overlooked by the Hall Of Fame, you can compare their picks to The Checklist Of Shame:

1. ARGENT- Formed from the ashes of the Zombies, who are also MIA
2. AVENGERS- Opening act for the last original Sex Pistols concert in 1978 and, at that time, more exhilarating than the headliners. One real album, split, then reconvened years later.
3. BADFINGER- The only real fruit of the Beatles' Apple label, which was intended to give promising musicians public exposure. Unless you want to count James Taylor, who jumped ship for Warner Brothers immediately, or Billy Preston, who technically had a career before that.
4. BAUHAUS- Jesus Chryslerdrivesadodge, what the hell is WRONG with you people? How could you talk about bands who have "influenced" (your word, not mine) younger bands and the wider culture at large without inducting Bauhaus? They've been eligible for seven years. Granted, that's not as colossal an oversight as the Small Faces, but it has to be embarrassing for you. Are you really the only people working in the music industry who don't know that this band is the reason your grandchildren are wearing black make-up right now? There's actually a publicity shot of the New Kids On The Block taken shortly after the Hall was created. In it, one of the members is wearing a Bauhaus T-shirt. I don't know why, I don't even know if he knows who they are. Tell me, tell me, tell me you're not going to nominate the New Kids before you've nominated Bauhaus.
5. SYD BARRETT- I might give you a pass on Syd, but many of the people you've already inducted might not.
6. B-52's- Induct them. If for no other reason than to liven up the end-of-ceremony concert.
7. BIG STAR- And Alex Chilton while you're at it.
8. BLACK FLAG- Are you afraid they'll bring the ruler? They launched an entire label and you still haven't inducted them?
9. BLIND FAITH- Okay, we all know you'll never nominate Family because you're just that lame, but why should Rick Grech be the only one with nothing to talk about at cookouts? Even Ginger Baker got in with Cream and Steve and Eric both have multiple opportunities. Wasn't it the first platinum album ever? Doesn't that count for something?
10. BOOMTOWN RATS- Knighthood, sainthood, but still not good enough for Ohio?
11. BILLY BRAGG- Surprisingly well marketed for a Socialist, Bragg could bring you a whole new audience who previously wouldn't have taken you seriously. Not so much street credit as factory credit.
12. KATE BUSH- If you could get her out of the house for the ceremony, that alone would be a coup for you. Don't hold your breath.
13. BUZZCOCKS- They had the first self-released punk record ("Spiral Scratch") and were picked up by United Artists. They're especially noteworthy as an original British punk band that never truly went away.

.....Add your A or B recommendations to the comments. Remember, they must have released a recording by 1986. Continues tomorrow with 'C'.