It sounds like time for me to go on a R&R HOF nomination rant. I'm thrilled RCF is the unofficial home of Clevelanders who are way too competitive about the Rock Hall. I bring some of this up with peers in California and they are only slightly aware the Rock Hall exists.
So to start my rant, last year had a fantastic class and great nominations. I respect that if you get nominated, you have to sit out a year. I'd happily lobby for Joy Division/New Order, Soundgarden, White Stripes and Warren Zevon to get in over most of the nominees this year. Those are some memorable rock acts.
I will make this rant hyper-competitive in format because of it.
Rap category: I think Tribe Called Quest gets in while Eric B. and Rakim have to wait. Tribe are the only nominees to carry over from 2023, just like Kate Bush had two in a row in 2022 and 2023. In other words, they know they fucked up.
Time is Ticking Category: Ozzy Osborne and Cher get in, Sinead O'Conner is out. This matches up with Ozzy's farewell tour in 2024. Sometimes you can tell who is in by tracking upcoming concert tours. Cher announced that she recorded new music, and like Tina Turner & Stevie Nicks she deserves to be in without her former partner. O'Conner has the nostalgia but not the legion of fans or cred. She's in the happy to be nominated category.
Pop Diva Category: We can argue this shouldn't be a category, but the committee keeps letting at least one per year in ever since the ownership change. I have Mary J. Blige definitely in, Mariah Carey as a 50/50, Sade is out. Mary J Blige is a national treasure for the more soulful side of hip hop, really one of the no-brainers here. Her version of U2's One is a great crossover. Will they double down with Mariah in the same year? I just don't know, and I hope they save Mariah for another year. Sade is just to slow, jazzy and not at all rock and roll to topple the other two.
For fun, here's a great rock cover of Mary J. Blige's Real Love:
Rock and Roll Lives Category: I have Dave Matthews Band and Lenny Kravitz in, and Foreigner as a 50/50. The DMB checks a lot of boxes, but had to wait their turn. They flat out destroyed a fan poll one year and then didn't get in. They represent a great diversity of influence, membership and fan base. You can say the same for Lenny. Some people thought Lenny was stuck in the 70s in his first two albums but then he pushed boundaries to really become an influencer. Now he's semi-retired but can dust it off whenever he wants. Maybe I am a little biased since I attended concerts for both, fully knowing they were chick approved rockers.
Foreigner is a first time nominee for a reason. They sold a ton of albums but don't carry a flag for industry respect. I've said it before in this thread, but they were hired guns assembled by a record company with almost no back story to latch onto, and when their hired gun keyboardist Thomas Dolby left, a lot of the creative force left with him. They will make it in someday just because of records sold and memorable ear worms.
So that means Peter Frampton, Oasis, Jane's Addiction, and Kool and the Gang are on the outs for me. I see Frampton has done a lot of guest duets in high profile places in the past year, including playing with Cheryl Crow in the last HOF Induction ceremony. He's still talented, but he had one great album in 1976 and has just been a nice British bloke who can wail outside of that album. He's an underdog this year because of it. Kool and the Gang are so much fun live, go see them. That said, they had one mega hit and a few solid songs. I want them in eventually, but I place a few acts above them this year. On the other hand, Oasis makes no sense to me, there are great British bands who got screwed in the past... but this group had one album and became obnoxious. Jane's Addiction had two good albums from the late 80s LA scene and then became influential behind the scenes and as B list celebrities. It doesn't feel like the right time for a group like that.
