By Phill Marder

When the 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductions took place March 14, 2011,  just one band — Alice Cooper — was inducted. Strange, as there are many bands worthy of the honor, but thus far denied. Trying to name just 10 is a daunting
assignment, but here is a list — in alphabetical order — of some of the bands most deserving of induction.

1. BON JOVI
Nominated but rejected in 2011, the New Jersey group continues a 27-year run as a true worldwide supergroup. A string of No. 1 albums in at least 10 countries, sold-out concerts around the globe, induction into the U.K. Hall of Fame, Bon Jovi has achieved popularity rarely equaled in rock history. However, as it seems with many popular bands, critics treat them with disdain as does a vocal minority. Whether their musical talent lives up to your expectations is irrelevant. Their success speaks for the band and the gazillion followers who believe they are the real deal — naysayers be damned.

2. THE CARS
Contemporaries Blondie and The Talking Heads already have been inducted, but The Cars, arguably the most successful and talented of the bands that broke through in the late ’70s and carried through to the ’80s, have thus far been ignored. Producers of great singles, albums, and award-winning videos, The Cars had the chops and delivered the goods with regularity. Perhaps a reported reunion will re-focus the spotlight on this most talented of bands.

3. CHICAGO
It has been reported that this group is now the most successful U.S. band in Billboard chart history. Baseball’s Pete Rose, who has the most hits in history, is not in that Hall of Fame, either. With Rose, there are extenuating circumstances. With Chicago, well, maybe there are, too, for there are really two distinct Chicagos — early and later versions — despite the constant presence of keyboardist Robert Lamm and the horn section of Lee Loughnane, Walt Parazaider and James Pankow. The original group, with Peter Cetera on bass, Danny Seraphine on drums and Terry Kath (supposedly Jimi Hendrix’ favorite guitarist) was as creative and innovative a band as rock and roll has produced.

4. THE E-STREET BAND
Bruce Springsteen was inducted in 1999. Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Springsteen is one of the greatest individual talents in the history of rock and roll. It’s likely he would have achieved that status with just his guitar and harmonica. But his band, “the mighty E-Street Band” as Bruce calls it, helped build the Springsteen legend with unequaled concert performances. Only the bands of James Brown could compare, but even they would come up short against this assemblage. The late Clarence Clemons, Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg and Steven Van Zandt also were with “The Boss” in most of his studio sessions.

5. THE GUESS WHO
Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Garry Peterson and Jim Kale and later Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw is one of the greatest bands to emerge from Canada. Musicianship without peer, songwriting genius, a great lead vocalist in Cummings and terrific harmony, The Guess Who was a chart fixture from 1969 to 1974, despite unconventional singles that dealt with a myriad of controversial topics. But, they were capable of expressing just plain romantic lyrics, too. For example: “Kill your kid sister and murder your dad, rip the lashes off of your eyes. Slaughter all your cattle and burn your crops if you’re dancing with another guy.” Maybe you have to be Canadian, eh, but their albums remain great listening.

6. HEART
The Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, are still touring and bringing down the house, Ann’s voice soaring above the band and all others around. I prefer the initial Heart to the ’80s version, but the induction of the Wilson sisters is the key, much as would be the induction of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America.

7. KISS
Denied two years ago, these masters of makeup and marketing were left off the induction list this year in favor of the Alice Cooper Band. Now that Alice has gained induction, perhaps KISS will get its due recognition. No matter your opinion, KISS has been one of the most successful bands of the rock and roll era.

8. THE MOODY BLUES
It is hard to fathom a band this talented and successful unacknowledged by the Hall of Fame. With little support from hit singles, the Moodies have dominated the U.K and U.S. charts since 1968. With three carryovers from “Days of Future Passed” — John Lodge, Justin Hayward and Graeme Edge — The Moody Blues continue today to play before sellout crowds. Their past albums remain vessels carrying listeners to magical lands, rocking at times, mystical and beautiful almost always.

9. PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS
Just when did rock and roll have to be so serious? Not while this band is around, that’s for sure. The Raiders are not just a guilty pleasure. They were one helluva great rock band with a lead singer — Mark Lindsay — who was second to none. When Lindsay growled “You been steppin’ out with the cobbler” or “I’m not your steppin’ stone,” there was little doubt he meant business. Showmen superb, The Raiders wore Revolutionary War uniforms, performed synchronized dance routines and destroyed equipment (in fun, not anger) on stage. But through all the clowning came the music, a series of great hard-rock singles and albums. The material, almost all group written, since has been covered by The Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, The Flamin’ Groovies and Sammy Hagar as well as many others. Revere still has a hot band performing today if you want to see a terrific live show.

10. RUSH
If this trio was not included, Goldmine’s offices might be stormed by angry throngs, as a recent Goldmine online poll about prog-rock music was swamped by Rush supporters. Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson have been churning out masterful recordings since 1974. Members of the Canadian Hall of Fame, as is The Guess Who, Rush dazzles audiences with its instrumental mastery. Vocalist Geddy Lee may be an acquired taste, but the same could be said of many current inductees, including Tom Waits, Dr. John and Leon Russell from this year alone.

Guns N’ Roses leads Hall of Fame poll in spite of barely receiving 20% of the vote

By Phill Marder

 The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is running a poll on this year’s nominees for induction and you’re invited to vote at this link…
http://rockhall.com/get-involved/interact/poll/

As of Friday morning, November 4, 268,803 votes have been tabulated, which each voter choosing five of the 15 nominees. I believe each voter can cast just one ballot.

The results so far seem to back my assertion several weeks ago that, overall, this is a pretty weak group, as only one nominee has been chosen by over 20 percent of the voters and that act – Guns N’ Roses – is barely eclipsing it at 20.3 percent. That means just one of five voters puts them in the top five of 15 choices.

It also supports what I believe is the generally held assertion that the Hall of Fame is way out of touch with public sentiment. Could you imagine the percentage The Beatles or Elvis would be racking up in this poll? I’m not a gambling man, but I’d bet The Monkees, The E-Street Band, Rush, and plenty of other candidates would be chalking up better than 20.3 percent after a quarter million votes.

Of course, it doesn’t matter. The Hall of Fame voters don’t pay any more attention to the public than does the nominating committee, which is why you get such confounding selections year after year.

But, let’s look at the poll results so far even if they are for naught.

1. Guns N’ Roses – (54,554 votes – 20.3%) – I listed them as a shoo-in in my original article on this year’s nominees and I maintain that prediction. I’m not a fan, but a lot of you are and they’ve left a mark.

2. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - (50,424 – 18.76%) – This band was one of my picks. They’ve had a long, successful career with much notoriety. If you’ve never listened to them, I think you’d be surprised at just how good they are.

3. The Cure – (39,492 – 14.69%) – Another one of my choices and a group that garnered a lot of support from Great Blogs Of Fire readers. Consistently interesting on record and a concert favorite.

4. Heart – (24,744 – 9.21%) – A major disappointment here. I would have expected this group to be running around 75 percent. But, hopefully, they’ll still make it.

5. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – (21,768 – 8.1%) – They’re not getting much support, but for them to be as close to Heart as they are and ahead of Donovan, Donna Summer and The Spinners is hard for me to explain.

6. The Beastie Boys – (19,025 – 7.08%) – Again, don’t look at the standings, look at the percentage of those who agree they are Hall of Famers. Just seven percent. Would Todd Rundgren have seven percent?

7. Donna Summer – (10,221 – 3.8%) – Now here’s the real chasm. The disco queen is just one notch behind the rappers, but has only about half the votes. She deserves induction, but she’s in danger of becoming the HOF’s version of Susan Lucci.

8. War – (7,910 – 2.94%) – Another big drop here. I said this group should make it some day down the road, but there are many more deserving. Would Chicago or Electric Light Orchestra be running at less than three percent?

9. The Spinners – (7,827 – 2.91%) – One of my choices making a real disappointing showing in this poll. They should be waiting about another 10 years, but they’re one of the strongest entries of this group.

10. Donovan – (7,415 – 2.76%) – My biggest disappointment in this poll. Didn’t get in last year, and if it was up to this group of voters, wouldn’t make it this year, either.

11. The Small Faces/Faces – (7,000 – 2.6%) – I was confounded at the support this band received in the Goldmine poll. This is more like it. Would the Moody Blues be running less than three percent?

12. Rufus with Chaka Khan - (6,989 – 2.6%) – I was confounded this group was nominated, and evidently I’m not alone.

13. Freddie King – (5,817 - 2.15%) – The blues guitarist isn’t picking up much support.

14. Eric B. & Rakim - (3,336 – 1.24%) – You can’t get much lower than this.

15. Laura Nyro – (2,348 – 0.87%) – Ooops! Yes you can. I must apologize because I wrote Nyro only composed two memorable songs. I remembered a third – “He’s A Runner” is my favorite Blood, Sweat & Tears song. Now, if I can come up with about 147 more, she’ll get close to Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Or maybe just 100 more and she’ll be approaching Jimmy Webb or Bob Crewe. For the reader who said “my taste is in my mouth,” evidently that goes for over 99% of these voters, too. Perhaps that explains the obesity epidemic.

Well, there you have it. My top five remain Donovan, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Heart and Donna Summer with Guns N’ Roses listed as a shoo-in and The Spinners my next choice.

By Susan Sliwicki

It’s that time of year again: Goldmine gets to cast its official vote with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the next year’s inductees.

So who should get Goldmine’s endorsement this year? That, dear voters, is all up to you. While we can’t promise that Goldmine’s picks will be the same as the artists who make the Rock Hall’s cut for induction, we can promise that our vote will be based solely on what you, the fans, feel is right. Goldmine is one of roughly 600 final voters to receive ballots.

In a recent online poll, we asked voters to share which five of the 15 nominated acts they felt most deserved to be inducted in 2011. Now, we’re going to hold a “run-off” vote, which narrows the field to the Top 10 vote-getters from Round One. (Voters can pick up to three acts in this round of voting.)

Here are the candidates who remain in Goldmine’s vote-off: Donovan, Donna Summer, Freddie King, Guns N’ Roses, Heart, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/The Faces, The Spinners and War. Be sure to cast your vote on the poll shown on this page!

We’ll also be featuring brief biographies of all 15 of this year’s field of nominees, courtesy of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so be sure to watch for those, too.

Why fight about what it is?…it’s all music…it’s all magical

By Phill Marder

(As promised last time, this exciting episode explores the definition of Rock & Roll)

Like me, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is far from perfect.

I know, I know. Hard to believe.

For starters, it should have been and still should be designated the Rock Era Hall of Fame. That way, when Abba, Madonna, Bob Marley, Miles Davis and countless others were inducted, there could be no screaming, ” They’re not Rock & Roll,” as if anyone can provide the definitive definition of Rock & Roll in the first place.

Ironically, the variety of music provided by the Hall of Fame inductees is one of the nominating committee’s crowning achievements. For while I can’t tell you what Rock & Roll is anymore than anyone else, I can tell you it’s not as limited as some of you like to believe. Rock & roll is not just two guitars, bass and drums, though that may be the trunk of the Rock tree, and the Hall of Fame recognizes that. The trunk yes, but many branches have developed as the Rock Era years have gone by.

Buried deep below the surface are the roots, Country and Blues. The branches? Everything else. So don’t tell me The Moody Blues aren’t Rock & Roll. And the Commodores aren’t Rock & Roll. And Yes isn’t Rock & Roll. And Donna Summer isn’t Rock & Roll.

As John Sebastian sang in the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Do You Believe In Magic?,” “don’t bother to choose, it’s jugband music or rhythm & blues.” You’re right, Eric, it’s all meat from the same bone.

It’s Buddy Holly doing “Rave On,” then turning around to do “True Love Ways” or “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.” It’s Elvis snarling “Hound Dog,” then doing “It’s Now Or Never.” It’s Fats Domino pounding out “Blue Monday,” then weaving “Walkin’ To New Orleans” in and out of the string section. It’s Ricky Nelson releasing two-sided hits that paired opposites such as “Just A Little Too Much” and “Sweeter Than You.”

Did Roy Orbison become a rock & roll star singing “Ooby Dooby” or such symphonic mini-operas such as “Running Scared,” “Crying” and “In Dreams”? Who was the real Eddie Cochran, the one who gave us “Somethin’ Else” or “Sittin’ In The Balcony”? Who was the real Gene Vincent, he of “Dance To The Bop” or “Wear My Ring”?

Were the Everly Brothers those of “Bye Bye Love” or “Devoted To You”? Was James Brown not symphonic in “Try Me” or “It’s A Man’s World.”? How about Ray Charles? Have you ever listened to the album “Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul”? Was Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” closer to Donovan’s “Lalena” or AC/DC’s “Back In Black”? Or Bobby Darin – “Queen of the Hop” or “Mack The Knife?”

How about Jackie Wilson belting out “All My Love” or “Night”? Was Jackie Wilson not rock & roll? The Skyliners “Since I Don’t Have You” and “This I Swear,” two of the greatest ballads in the history of rock & roll…not rock & roll? For that matter, I could name almost any ballad that has become a rock & roll standard, “At Last” by Etta James, “It’s Just A Matter Of Time” by Brook Benton, for instance. Not Rock & Roll?

How about anything by rock’s greatest ’50s vocal group, The Platters. Not rock & roll?

Two different looks of Rock & Roll from two of the greatest groups, The Platters, the masters of the ballad, & The Beatles, the masters…period

Consider this album: Side 1 – 1. Till There Was You; 2. And I Love Her; 3. She’s Leaving Home; 4. Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill; 5. Eleanor Rigby; 6. Julia; 7. Martha My Dear.

Side 2 – 1. Fool On The Hill; 2. Honey Pie; 3. When I’m 64; 4. If I Fell; 5. Yesterday; 6. You Know My Name, Look Up The Number; 7. Good Night

If that had been the only album you ever heard by the greatest band of the Rock Era, would you have called them a Rock & Roll band? And I could have turned it into a full four-disc box set.

The Beatles are a four-piece band that played rock & roll. Because they were so versatile, they could change instrumentation, style, mood, whatever you want to call it, to give us an unbelievable variety of fantastic music. Was it all rock & roll? I think yes. Was “As Tears Go By” or “Backstreet Girl” not rock & roll? They were great cuts written and recorded by what many consider the “greatest rock & roll band of all.”

Brian Wilson gave us some of the most beautiful music ever written. Was he and his group not rock & roll?

Where some bands would emphasize their “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” side and sprinkle in the occasional “As Tears Go By,” some bands go the opposite route, emphasizing the “Nights In White Satin” style while sprinkling in “I’m Just A Singer In A Rock & Roll Band” or “Question.”

And I could go on and on, which most of you would say I usually do.

I can’t pretend to know the definition of Rock & Roll. But I was there from the beginning. Actually, I must admit, before the beginning. I had a collection of 78s which I played on an old wind-the-crank phonograph, so I was into Perry Como, Jo Stafford, Hank Williams etc. before the “big bang.” Then I got a paper route – actually two – for the prime purpose of having money to purchase the latest 45s, the first three of which were “All Shook Up,” “Blue Monday” and “Mama Look At Bubu.” And I ended up delivering the bad news on the doorstep.

Still, I was the Northern kid who said, “But I will” every time the record store stocked a new yellow Sun 45.

Take my first three 45s as an example of what I’m blabbing about. “Blue Monday,” a driving rocker by Fats Domino, was backed by “What’s The Reason I’m Not Pleasing You,” which also became a hit. “What’s The Reason” was originally a hit for Guy Lombardo in 1935 and Fats’ entire catalog is sprinkled with remakes of old standards. If Fats wasn’t Rock & Roll, who was? Elvis’ “All Shook Up” also was a two-sided hit, the flip being the quiet “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” written in 1937 and recorded by the Ink Spots in 1941. Elvis…”The King of Rock & Roll.”

Harry Belafonte was one of the biggest superstars of the early Rock era

The third became a No. 11 record by the superstar Harry Belafonte whose genes were provided by his Jamaican mother and West Indian father. In the style of what was then known as calypso, many today would not classify it as rock & roll but the chalypso was one of early rock’s most popular dances and it fit “Mama Look At Bubu” perfectly. Belafonte also had other major hits, “Jamaica Farewell” and today’s ballpark favorite “Banana Boat,” more commonly known as “Day-O.”

Twenty years before Bob Marley and just as much a star, why isn’t Belafonte accorded the same rock & roll respect? Only because those alive at Rock’s outset, when Belafonte was cranking out hits, are few and far between today. If “Mama Look At Bubu” doesn’t fit your definition of Rock, then reggae shouldn’t either. But both, chalypso and reggae, are branches of the Rock Era tree. By the way, the flip, a soft ballad entitled “Don’t Ever Love Me,” also charted, then returned four years later as the Arthur Lyman instrumental, “Yellow Bird,” which rose all the way to No. 4.

Which brings us to the conclusion. Can I tell you what “Rock & Roll” is? No chance. The best I can come up with is “music released since 1955 that appeals to young people.” Some young people find Metallica appealing, some like Dionne Warwick. Some love Eminem, others Linda Ronstadt. Some like The Association, and some, yes, The Velvet Underground. Some love Bob Dylan acoustic, some love Bob Dylan electric.

And some, me for instance, love all of it … practically.

Having been there from the start, when the radio played Little Richard followed by Johnny Horton followed by Paul Anka followed by Jerry Lee, I was exposed to every form of what was simply known then as Rock & Roll and, fortunately for me, I kept my ears open as the years passed or else I would have missed a lot of great music no matter what name you wanted to give it.

Why listen to the Moody Blues or The Commodores and try to fit them into a category? The Moody Blues, Procol Harum and other progressive groups such as Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Rush…you get the picture…are simply bands expanding the boundaries of Rock as far as they are capable of doing. Groups such as The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sly & The Family Stone and others simply follow the lead of Brown, Wilson, Cooke et al. They’re just different branches of the same tree.

Little Richard rocks…and so does Emerson, Lake & Palmer

It’s not Rock & Roll if you confine the definition to something that approaches “Keep A Knockin’,’ but it is rock & roll if your definition encompasses “Keep A Knockin’” as well as “My Special Angel,” “Dark Side Of The Moon” and “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).”

So applaud the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this time. Their choices leave much room for debate – and, in case you haven’t noticed, no one has ranted more incessantly about them than yours truly – but give credit where credit is due. The Hall of Fame recognizes the great diversity making up what is known as Rock & Roll. It can be The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It can be Chaka Khan. It can be Eric B. & Rakim. It can be Heart.

Those who were there at the beginning will tell you the strict categorization came later. When it started, it all was just Rock & Roll. When the new 45 by Elvis or Connie Francis or The Drifters came out, only one question was asked…

Is it fast or slow?