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Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame Class of 2015


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Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The group's self-titled debut album in 1965 and their ambitious East-West a year later introduced an electrified version of Chicago-style blues to a young audience that was barely aware of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter. Harmonica player Butterfield and guitarist Mike Bloomfield fronted the group, which also included guitarist Elvin Bishop, keyboardist Mark Naftalin, drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold.

Green Day. Formed in 1987 in Northern California, the group (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool) reinvigorated punk and garage rock and spread it to the mainstream with albums such as 1994's Dookie and 1995's Insomniac. The band's scathing, politically charged 2004 rock opera American Idiot (and subsequent Broadway musical) cemented the band's legacy.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. After founding the all-female, pop-oriented Runaways in the '70s, Jett went for a more muscular sound with her next group, the Blackhearts (Gary Ryan, Lee Crystal, and Ricky Byrd). That blend of hard rock, glam, punk and metal resulted in the No. 1 hit I Love Rock 'N' Roll in 1982.

Lou Reed. The uncompromising singer/songwriter/poet/guitarist earned his stripes (and a Hall of Fame induction) as co-founder of The Velvet Underground in the late 1960s, then launched a solo career in 1972 that lasted until his death in 2013. Often referred to as the "godfather of punk and grunge,'' Reed released influential works such as Transformer, Berlin and Magic and Loss that influenced artists from David Bowie to Arcade Fire to Metallica.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. Vaughan, one of the most important guitarists in rock history, emerged from Texas in the late 1970s with the group Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton) and blazed a trail of electrifying blues around the world. Jimi Hendrix and Albert King's influences were evident in the group's live performances, with hits such as Texas Flood and Pride and Joy cementing its recorded legacy.

Bill Withers. His career lasted just 15 years and his first hit, 1971's Ain't No Sunshine, didn't come until he was 33, but Withers made his mark in R&B, disco, soul and jazz with his recordings and songwriting. Sunshine, along with Use Me and Lean on Me from 1972 and Lovely Day from 1977 became standards for the era.

Ringo Starr. Following Starr's 1962-1970 with The Beatles, the drummer launched a career as a sideman and as a solo act. He was the first Beatle to have significant solo hits after the breakup, including It Don't Come Easy and Photograph, and he continues to perform with his All-Starr Band.

The "5" Royales. From 1945 to 1965, the R&B group perfected a sound that incorporated gospel, jazz and blues into its group vocal harmonies. Lead vocalists Johnny and Eugene Tanner and guitarist/songwriter Lowman Pauling created hits later made famous by others, including Dedicated to the One I Love, Tell the Truth and Think.​

I'm mostly sad Joan Jett wasn't mentioned in most of the articles I saw for this as a headliner.

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I get Green Day, from both an impact and a business perspective. If people are going to tune in to watch the ceremonies when they air on TV, it'll probably primarily be because of them. I'd sooner see The Smiths, N.W.A., Kraftwerk, or perhaps Chic in ahead of them but whatever.

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A band which was at the forefront of pop-punk and had two of the most iconic albums in two seperate decades? Yeah, what's so suprising about that?

I think a lot of people are shocked that other bands aren't inducted before Green Day and that Green Day gets in on their first shot. Nirvana was understandable, but Green Day?

The biggest snubs to me are Television, Slayer, Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A., and Chic. All are pioneers of hugely popular music genres. And it isn't excuse of "they aren't rock", because there are lots of other non-rock acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chic and Kraftwerk in particular are so central to an entire genre of popular music that rock and roll has borrowed so heavily from for the last 15 years.

EDIT: Me and GoGo (shockingly) see eye-to-eye on the matter.

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Think about this:

Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Jane's Addiction and Soundgarden aren't in yet. Joan Jett has been eligible for almost a decade, yet she gets inducted the same year as Green Day, who get in their first year of eligibility. LL Cool and N.W.A. aren't in, either, if you believe hip-hop acts deserve induction.

(I don't have a problem with any of this year's inductees. I just think its bullshit that certain acts aren't in yet, and they could have waited to put Green Day in.)

*edit, after reading GoGo and RockPugScissors' comments* This was Nine Inch Nails' first year of eligibilitity, as it was Green Day's. Probably would have been too much criticism for them to handle if both were inducted over other acts. I suspect they'll get in either next year or the year after. Kraftwerk and Chic also belong in. Television, however, I have no opinion on one way or the other. I'm not too familiar with them. I'd like to see The Cure and The Smiths inducted the same year, but if not The Cure belong in first.

Edited by GhostMachine
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Next year's going to be interesting by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame standards in that Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur will both be eligible for the first time. I have a feeling that the former gets in immediately and the latter doesn't, and the reactions will be pretty funny.

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My guess is that there is probably a number of factors for how groups get in that goes something like this: popularity and sales, critical reception, the coolness and relevance factor, how much publicity that act will bring to the award ceremony, genre, and providing a specific make-up of the entrants. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn't going to induct 7 heavy metal groups in one year and they want a diverse catalogue of bands that heavily sticks to traditional rock and roll. Use Slayer as an example. Okay popularity and sales, good critical reception, not really all that cool and relevant these days, minor publicity brought to the awards, and they play in a pretty niche genre. They may get in some day, but I doubt it. And I doubt it is going to happen in a year when another harder sounding band is a shoo-in. Nine Inch Nails falls into probably the same analysis as Slayer: a niche band with decent sales and decreased relevance who won't bring a lot of publicity to the awards.

If you think about it in that deconstructed way, it actually becomes really sensible why Green Day got in. Huge selling band with two widely regarded albums who will bring some publicity to the awards because they are a younger leaning band because of an album like American Idiot. It just is weird to think about though. Nirvana was two or three years behind me, so I didn't think much when they got in. But I listened to Dookie non-stop when I was younger. It is very strange to see them cannonized.

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Slayer have been nominated for quite a few Grammys (won 2 fairly recently also) but i agree with your points.

Its a committee that sanctions who gets inducted i believe as it took fucking ages for KISS to get in and i remember a Podcast i was listening to regarding the HOF induction process and if ONE guy does not like you or sanction you, you are essentially blackballed for a few years.

Its quite frustrating the RRHOF as a lot of the bands that paved the way and were massive influences on some of the newer bands that have got inducted, haven't even got a sniff at an Induction yet

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The committee is a joke. There are plenty of deserving acts that haven't gone in yet or had to wait forever to get in, while there are plenty of acts that are borderline or don't deserve to be in yet (if at all) who have been inducted. KISS, Rush and Hall & Oates, for example, should have been inducted long before they actually were. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts going in at the same time as Green Day is fucking insane. When I mentioned some acts not in yet, I neglected to mention that Deep Purple aren't in yet. And just about every non-country guitar player I personally know has mentioned Smoke On The Water as being one of the first songs they learned how to play. One guy I went to school with even told me it was the first song he learned.

I'm not exactly a huge Green Day fan (my two favorite songs are Boulevard of Broken Dreams and When September Ends, if anyone cares), but I think its astonishing that they're going in along with acts that should have gone in well before them. I'm especially glad that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are finally getting in, and stunned that Lou Reed wasn't inducted years ago as a solo artist. I'll definitely be busting out some Stevie Ray Vaughan when I DJ later tonight. I think some Cold Shot and maybe some Texas Flood are in order.

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You really have to look at every year as a clean slate, otherwise it becomes near impossible for anyone to get in during their first year of eligibility at this point. Fan bias aside, I really can't think of any statistical measure that would say Green Day isn't deserving of being in the Hall of Fame on their first go round. When they came back around and repeated the success of Dookie, it pretty much made them a lock. I'd say Nine Inch Nails is a pretty big snub, given how synonymous they are with their genre.

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I could see arguments either way about NIN or Green Day deserving to be in first. But I do think putting both in this year would have caused a huge load of criticism, due to two groups getting in on their first year of eligibility while plenty of other deserving bands that have been eligible for years aren't in. Bon Jovi, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden not being in yet is a fucking crime. Iron Maiden & Judas Priest were easily the two most popular British metal bands of the 80's. At least in the U.S., anyway.

If I was a metal singer, I'd want to sing like Bruce Dickinson but scream like Rob Halford.

Edited by GhostMachine
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It'll be interesting to see what happens in 5 years from now, because we are just now starting to hit the peak of electronic music. The next few years will see Portishead, Daft Punk, Moby, etc. eligible. Daft Punk will be a lock for their first year (and may well be the first full fledged electronic act in if Kraftwerk don't get in) and I'd bet that Moby and Portishead have the next best shots of getting in.

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