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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017

12/21/2016

4 Comments

 
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As we do every year at this time, we look at this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class, officially the Class of 2017, which is:
  • Joan Baez
  • Electric Light Orchestra
  • Journey
  • Pearl Jam
  • Tupac Shakur
  • Yes
Award for Musical Excellence:
  • Nile Rodgers

Some well-deserving inductees, including first year eligible Pearl Jam. As we examined in last year's post, what great artists are on the outside looking in? Of our list from last year surveying the most eligible candidates, only Yes made it this year. We mentioned ELO and Journey as artists likely to be forever left out of the most elite. Once again, it is difficult to reconcile how these two were inducted before many other similarly situated artists in our lists.

Radiohead will almost certainly headline next year's class in its first year of eligibility.
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Our lists are below, revised to eliminate this year's inductees, and congratulations to them.

You can read all about this year's inductees everywhere else and debate their respective merits for inclusion. We can also all debate the criteria for induction, and officially "Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll," so says the Hall itself.

This year's ballot also says "Factors such as an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration."

But let's cut to the chase to the most popular topic of all. The rock acts absent from the Hall. Now that Kiss and Deep Purple and the Sex Pistols are in, who really is left out? I realize not a single person reading this will agree on every entry, and that's one of the beauties of music. I submit that the following eligible artists should get the most attention for induction. That's not to say I love these bands best. For example, I love The Replacements and Sonic Youth and The Pixies more than Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton. I just think that Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston were more influential and were at the apex of their genre, even if I don't necessarily like them best or want to listen to them. To add fuel to the ire, many will point to those already enshrined as less worthy than many left outside in the Cleveland cold, such as Percy Sledge, The Young Rascals, James Taylor, and The Lovin' Spoonful. All fine artists to be sure, but Hall worthy?

So without further adieu, the most eligible bachelors, alphabetically:

The Cars
John Coltrane
The Cure
Whitney Houston
Janet Jackson
Joy Division / New Order
Love
Mott The Hoople
New York Dolls
Dolly Parton
Gram Parsons
Roxy Music
The Smiths
13th Floor Elevators
T. Rex

How in the world these are not already enshrined baffles me.
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There are countless others who get mentioned by their fans, but can't really make as strong a claim to be considered among the most elite music acts ever. Fine artists, many with some very good songs, and many with plenty of influence, but never the best artist of their kind during their time. The Tony Perezes of rock. Not everyone gets in. There has to be a line of elite drawn somewhere. Some of the notable outsiders, alphabetically:

Bad Company
Bauhaus
Big Star
Black Flag
Blue Oyster Cult
Bon Jovi
Boston
The Buzzcocks
​The Cramps
The Damned
Dead Kennedys
Def Leppard
Depeche Mode
Dire Straits
The Doobie Brothers
Duran Duran
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP)
Brian Eno
Foreigner
Free
Gang Of Four
Grand Funk (Railroad)
The Guess Who
Husker Du
INXS
Iron Maiden
J. Geils Band (Geils)
The Jam
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jethro Tull
Judas Priest
Kansas
King Crimson
Little Feat
MC5
The Monkees
The Moody Blues
Motorhead
The Move
Willie Nelson
Nine Inch Nails
Ted Nugent
Pavement
The Pixies
The Replacements
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Johnny Rivers
Todd Rundgren
The Scorpions
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden
The Spinners
Styx
(The) Sweet
Thin Lizzy
Richard Thompson
Robin Trower
UFO
Johnny Winter
X
Warren Zevon
The Zombies

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Who do you think should be inducted next?


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4 Comments

Rick Derringer Eddie's Attic Atlanta November 30, 2016

12/8/2016

2 Comments

 
Let Me In sweet mama!

Derringer just played two shows in Atlanta.

If you're reading this, you likely know Rick Derringer beyond his single solo mainstream success, Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo. You likely also know Hang On Sloopy from when he fronted the McCoys in the Sixties. You likely also know Free Ride and other numbers from his work with Edgar Winter. Last week at Eddie's Attic, we got those songs and a lot more.
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Rick was back on tour with his longtime band to showcase his musical life in a Storytellers setting. Playing only an acoustic guitar, Rick took us through his early days in Ohio with the McCoys and some of their single hits. We got stories of opening for The Rolling Stones throughout their 1966 US tour. We got his story of talking with Ringo Starr about how Hang On Sloopy briefly kept Yesterday from reaching number 1. Ringo's classic reply: "I don't care. I didn't play on either of them!" Peace and Love.
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We got stories of the McCoys breaking free of the bubblegum scene and heading to NYC to play clubs including a residency at The Scene, and meeting such stars as Jimi Hendrix. We got stories of being the "And" in Johnny Winter And. We got an updated Still Alive and Well, with some additional faith based lyrics to remind us of his current world.

Read more about that here:

http://www.rickderringer.com/testimony.html
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By the early seventies, Derringer was a sought after hired guitar gun hot shot, playing on such great albums as Alice Cooper's Killer, Todd Rundgren's Something Anything, and most of Steely Dan's albums. He enjoyed moderate success throughout the seventies, never breaking big, but steadily rocking. We first found him on Derringer Live, which remains his best work.

We got stories of his work with The Edgar Winter Group (but didn't play Frankenstein) and Dan Hartman.

Success was more elusive after that, but the centerpiece of the evening was a series of stories about meeting Cyndi Lauper, her introduction for him to the world of wrestling, and his writing of Real American, co-opted since by everyone from Hulk Hogan to Barrack Obama.
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Before and after the show, Rick and his wife Jenda hung out, signed autographs, and talked with everyone.

Thank you Rick Derringer.
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His next trip through town was less fun: http://www.11alive.com/mb/news/local/musician-rick-derringer-caught-carrying-gun-at-atlanta-airport/385101999
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2 Comments

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