The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2008 inductee list and it took 600 'industry figures" to come up with a list this lame:
Madonna shares some love with younger husband Guy "Snatch" Ritchie
1) Madonna -- Not a surprise, the one shoo-in this year and deservedly so.
Cohen in his not so famous grey overcoat
2) Leonard Cohen -- Deserves a prize for schtupping Rebecca DeMornay surely, and he has done some wonderful records though "rock" is pretty loosely defined here.
Peter Noone and co. dispel those not-really-British rumours
3) The Dave Clark Five -- Insufferably twee third string British invasion band. Barely cool at the time with almost non-existent impact.
4) John Cougar Mellencamp -- I like Mellencamp fine but he's a Springsteen knockoff. He's being honored here for sales and longevity which I suppose count for something but aside from a few well-regarded late eighties albums there's not much here.
The Ventures pioneer business casual style
5) The Ventures -- Yes I love the "Hawaii Five-O" theme too, but should we put Harald Faltermeyer in here for having a synth-pop hit with "Axel F." from Beverley Hills Cop?
See my post on the shortlist to see some alternative acts that should have made the cut. Shame on the old fogeys at the Hall of Shame for such a depressingly uninspired list.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Music: Worst Rock Hall Inductee List -- EVER!
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Some education on The Ventures;
Approaching 100,000,000 units sold.
14 chart singles (6 top 40, 3 gold top ten) in the 1960s.
Walk Don't Run - Grammy Hall of Fame. Gold / Walk Dont Run '64 - First act to go Top 10 with two different versions of the same song. Gold / Hawaii-5-0 - Surf anthem and biggest TV theme hit of the 1960s. Gold
1962's 2,000 Pound Bee - first single ever to chart using the fuzz tone on the electric guitar. The Ventures had a customized fuzz box created as Maestro was designing a commercial model. / 1963s Surf Rider - Nokie Edwards oft-covered original surf classic.
6th BEST ALBUM PERFORMER AMONG 1960s ACTS (Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums) with 33 charted in the decade, 16 of them Top 40.
4th BEST 1960s ALBUM PERFORMER AMONG ROCK-RELATED ARTISTS after Elvis, the Beatles, and Ray Charles. Among the first rock acts to sell albums on a style and sound, not needing hit singles on the albums.
1965's Play Guitar with The Ventures - first musical instrument instruction album to chart. Thousands, including future rock stars, learned to play from this. / Walk Don't Run, Surfing, and In Space are also all considered essential Ventures albums.
Credited by the All Music Guide To Rock as among the first to create thematically oriented or concept albums, rather than just collections of songs.
Guitar Player magazine (20 Who Mattered) - 'The Ventures influenced not only styles, but also a generation's choice of instruments'.
Encyclopedia Brittanica on-line - 'The Ventures were a prototype for the guitar bands which followed'.
Major influence on surf music, two years before the Beach Boys first hit and at least one year before Dick Dales's first regional hit.
Among artists listing them as a favorite/influence; George Harrison (Beatles), Joe Walsh (James Gang, Eagles), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Carl Wilson (Beach Boys), Stephen Stills, Peter Frampton, Roger Fisher (Heart), Jeff Baxter (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan), Gene Simmons (Kiss), Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith). Even Elton John, in his Starbucks Christmas collection, pays homage.
Opened the Orient to electric guitar rock (40 million units in Japan).
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