Splendours and miseries of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

There last week they were announced the names of the musicians who are vying to enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is the list of candidates Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, Billy Idol, INXS, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, New Edition, Oasis, P!NK, Sade, Shakira, Luther Vandross And Wu-Tang Clan. This is only the first phase of a process that will lead to the list of those included in the Hall of Fame next April, while the actual admission ceremony will be held next autumn. The requirement for an individual artist or band to be nominated is to have released their first album at least 25 years before the year of the nomination. This year, therefore, artists who released their first album in 2001 were eligible.

Called to elect those deserving to enter the ‘Ark of Glory’ is an international voting body made up of over 1,200 artists and members of the music industry in addition to the fans’ vote expressed on the website of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (even if the fans’ preferences have the only prerogative of ‘orienting’ the votes of those entitled to vote, just last year the Phish they were the most voted and Billy Idol the third most voted but that wasn’t enough to get them in). At the time of writing the most voted among the 17 nominated candidates is Phil Collins (228,000 votes), followed by New Edition (188,000 votes) e Pink (169,000 votes). To close the list, Joy Division/New Order (70,000 votes) e Jeff Buckley (58,000 votes).

But what is it Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? It is a foundation based in Cleveland, Ohio, which certifies and archives the history of the best-known and most influential rock artists, but also that of producers, sound engineers, record producers and other professionals who have had a lasting impact on the history of rock. Was Ahmet Ertegunthen head of the Atlantic Recordsto found the Foundation Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame, on April 20, 1983, bringing together a team formed by the editor of Rolling Stone magazine Jann S. Wennerby record executives Seymour Stein, Bob Krasnow And Noreen Woods and lawyers Allen Grubman And Suzan Evans.

There Rock and Roll Hall of Fame established he began proposing the names of artists deserving of being part of it in 1986, when there was no permanent headquarters yet. To choose the ‘home’ of the Foundation, several cities were taken into consideration, each, for more than one good reason, very closely linked to the history of music: Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit, Cincinnati, New York and Cleveland. Cleveland prevailed over the other competitors. The main reason why the Ohio city was preferred to the others was first of all economic. The Cleveland municipal administration in fact promised to commit to the construction of the building with financing of 65 million dollars.

The more purely musical motivation lies in the fact that the term ‘rock and roll’ was coined by the disc jockey Alan Freedof the Cleveland television network WJW, also in Cleveland, on March 21, 1952, the Moondog Coronation Ball, credited as the first major rock and roll concert. So on May 5, 1986, the Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. And starting from that year, every twelve months a special commission decides which artists are worthy of being “inducted” – that is, “admitted” – to this club.

The first artists admitted to the prestigious assembly called Rock and Roll Hall of Famewhose first ceremony was held on 23 January 1986, were those who can be defined as the ‘noble fathers’ of the great family of modern music: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Ray Charles and the Everly Brothers. To these were added Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers and Jimmy Yancey as ‘Early Influences’. The musician, producer and talent scout John Hammond received the Lifetime Achievement Award (the lifetime achievement award), while the radio DJ Alan Freed and the record producer and entrepreneur Sam Phillips they were included among the ‘Non-Performers’.

To return to the present day and the recent nominations, it should be noted that of the 17 nominations, 10 are their first nominations: Jeff Buckley, Phil Collins, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, INXS, New Edition, Pink, Shakira, Luther Vandross And Wu-Tang Clan. While Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis And Sade they have already been nominated in the past without reaching the final success. He appears among those nominated for the first time Phil Collins who, since 2010, is already a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis. The circumstance is rather curious as the English musician’s solo career is one of enormous success. In fact, his eight solo albums have sold over 150 million records worldwide. Besides, the ex Genesis he was undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the entire 1980s.

Every year the nominations of the Hall of Famein the United States, are followed by the inevitable controversy over what can be defined as rock and roll and what cannot (even though for years now it has been a celebration of music in general, regardless of musical genres), and over the names that – we can say, incredibly – have been ignored up to now. The long list of the ignored counts, just to give a few excellent examples, the singer of Led Zeppelin Robert Plant (similar to Phil Collins included as a band member, but not as a soloist) or monument groups such as Jethro Tull And King Crimson. Also ignored until today Alice in Chains, Bryan Adams, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, John Fogerty, David Gilmour, Korn, Lenny Kravitz, Motorhead, Iggy Pop, Smashing Pumpkins, Sting, Supertramp, Roger Waters, Pete Townshend.

There Rock and Roll Hall of Famerightly or wrongly, has been snubbed if not insulted by several leading artists. Last year the frontman of Oasis Liam Gallagher he made his feelings very clear on this matter by declaring, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is for dicks.” The singer of the band is also on the same line of thought Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson who described it as “a complete and total load of bullshit”. This year Oasis And Iron Maiden they are nominated again, should they be elected, who knows, they might change their mind…