| This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you’ll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride. |
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| Bono and the Edge performing in a subway-station-turned-bomb-shelter in Kyiv, May 8, 2022. |
| (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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| rantnrave:// |
The Right Thing to Do
Belated thoughts on the sprawling, MTV-friendly, pop/rock-celebrating, sweet-dreams-are-made-of-the-eighties ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME class of 2022, which was announced while we were spring cleaning last week (note/warning: we didn't quite finish, and things may still be a tiny bit sporadic in the days ahead), keeping in mind this higher truth from NPR Music's ANN POWERS, with an emphasis on her final words: "it's all cool."
All cool indeed. With rare exceptions, undeserving people don't get nominated for the Hall, leaving the institution's 1,200 voters no option to completely screw up. CARLY SIMON? She's one of the crucial early influences on generations of smart, free-thinking, female singer-songwriters. (Also, I've long recoiled against the seeming cynicism of her anti-marriage hit, but this year of all years, her fear of being trapped in a traditional marriage—"soon you'll cage me on your shelf"—hits with the vitality of a protest anthem that could've/should've been written and recorded, like, yesterday.) DOLLY PARTON (who, in the end, said she's cool with the honor)? Her spiritual welcoming committee will include fellow country greats JIMMIE RODGERS, inducted in the Hall's inaugural class in 1986, and HANK WILLIAMS, inducted a year later. The circle, the three of them might note in glorious harmony, remains unbroken. LIONEL RICHIE? Have you listened, really listened, to the all-time singles "HELLO" or "ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT)" lately (lately)?
Hit me with your best etc etc etc etc.
The voters can be weirdly predictable though, and this year's vote unfolded, with one glaring exception, in an especially predictable way. The voters made it a straight-up popularity contest, which is one of the things the Hall has sworn from the start it doesn't want to be. If you line up the 17 nominees by where they rank among the top 500 artists of all time in JOEL WHITBURN's pop bible TOP POP SINGLES—there's no better ranking of commercial pop success—you'll discover the voters simply picked seven of the eight most popular options. The glaring exception is #1 on that list, by far the most successful singles artist nominated this year, who also happened to be the only Black woman on the ballot. She's the one the collective voice of 1,200 voters—writers, industry insiders and every living Hall of Famer—passed over. Funny (actually not funny) how these things work.
DIONNE WARWICK, possessor of one of the most remarkable, distinctive and successful vocal instruments of the 1960s (and who kept having hits through the '70s and '80s), should be inducted, soon, with the Hall's award for Musical Excellence, which will right that wrong and be fully deserved and long overdue.
This year's Musical Excellence recipients, also fully deserved and long overdue, are producing/songwriting giants JIMMY JAM & TERRY LEWIS and JUDAS PRIEST, one of the most influential and iconic bands in a genre the Hall of Fame absolutely, unreservedly, hates—which puts the Hall in good company, as one of heavy metal's essential truths from the start has been that polite society will always reject it. The voters said no (again) to Priest but the Hall itself said yes. Kudos and devil horns to whoever decided to overrule the voters, which seems to be a new and useful purpose of the Musical Excellence award. (To those metal fans fretting that Priest's induction through that side door is some kind of consolation prize, I'd note that the plaques in the actual Hall all look exactly the same and hang on the same walls no matter the route the honoree on the plaque took to get there. They're all full-on Hall of Famers.)
But otherwise, where are all the rock bands? Alternatively, what about the rock bands? Reasonable questions, and I, like you, could name dozens of eligible ones, from the NEW YORK DOLLS to BAD BRAINS to OASIS, without whom this particular rock institution is a lesser place—less wild, less fun, less complete. But I, and I bet you, could also name dozens of R&B and hip-hop and electronic and pop and metal and Latin and jazz and etc etc etc bands and artists equally worth a look: artists who were influenced by rock, or who influenced rock, or who shared space in an increasingly borderless, multicultural world where influence and inspiration were moving in every possible direction. Artists become eligible a quarter century after their first record, which means the institution's line of vision is heading into the late '90s, a time when the rock era, such as it was, was giving way to the hip-hop era. The most notable artists coming up soon for consideration have names like MISSY ELLIOTT, LAURYN HILL and LIL WAYNE. "Where are all the rock bands?" will continue to be a valid question but it won't be the most pertinent one.
A final shoutout, in the meantime, to my fellow lefty ELIZABETH COTTEN, who joins the likes of TONY IOMMI, KURT COBAIN and JIMI HENDRIX in the Hall's upside-down-guitar wing.
In other Hall of Fame News
BONO and EDGE in Kyiv... BOB DYLAN CENTER opens in Tulsa... Japanese bonus tracks.
Rest in Peace
JEWELL, the R&B singer responsible for several classic hip-hop hooks. Her collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Tupac and especially Dr. Dre on "The Chronic" earned her the title "The First Lady of Death Row Records." She had her biggest solo hit with her 1994 cover of Shirley Brown's "Woman to Woman"... Honky-tonk singer and nightclub entrepreneur MICKEY GILLEY, whose Texas nightclub, Gilley's, inspired the movie "Urban Cowboy" (and whose resulting celebrity shouldn't overshadow his long run of country hits)... Rock bassist HOWIE PYRO, a longtime fixture of the New York punk scene who co-founded D Generation and later, after moving to Los Angeles, joined Danzig. He was also an in-demand club and party DJ... BOBBY O'JAY, longtime DJ and programming director at Memphis radio powerhouse WDIA.
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| - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Field Trip South |
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| Elizabeth Cotten: Resource and Subject Guide |
| By Tatiana Hargreaves |
| With the recent announcement of Elizabeth Cotten’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I thought today would be the perfect time to release this resource guide. While her style and repertoire has influenced many other musicians, she remains underappreciated and undervalued. |
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New Republic |
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| The Unraveling of SST Records |
| By Michael Friedrich |
| Jim Ruland’s book on the legendary punk label helps explain why we lack a meaningful counterculture today. |
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Midia Research |
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| Be the Change: Women in Music 2022 |
| By Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das and Tatiana Cirisano |
| The last two years of pandemic-driven disruption in the music industry may just have created a window of opportunity for real change in the fight for gender equality. However, the journey to equality for all is a long one. Challenges still abound, and while some progress has been made, it is still far from enough. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “The Heart Part 5” |
| Kendrick Lamar |
| Wow this track, with its congas and Marvin Gaye sample. From "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," due Friday on PGLang/Top Dawg. |
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| Video of the day |
| “Sheryl” |
| Amy Scott |
| Congrats to our friend Van Toffler, co-producer of the Sheryl Crow doc, now playing on Showtime. |
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| Music | Media |
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| “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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