How to Get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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Blog updated on 1/11/2012 to include images and links. Content untouched..

Well, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced for 2009. As always, there’s a mix of unquestionable inductees (Metallica), those that are somewhat deserving, but debatable (Jeff Beck) and those that make you go “huh?” (Little Anthony? Bobby Womack? Run-D.M.C.?).

What always makes the latter category more dramatic is when you consider those acts who haven’t been inducted (Kiss, Genesis, Yes, Rush, Deep Purple, Bad Company, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop & The Stooges). So, here’s a little guide on how to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

1. Don’t be prog rock. Genesis, Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull – this means you. Apparently being a hugely influential and successful rock band is insignificant if you’ve ever done a thematic album, written a song longer than 8 minutes, and dared to integrate classical music into good ol’ rock and roll.

You aren’t likely to see The Rock Hall nominating committee wearing these.

2. Being an authentic rock and roll act is not required. Now that the Hall has caught up with the rap era, they’ve seen fit to induct Grandmaster Flash & Run-D.M.C. Do they belong in a rap hall of fame? No question. But rock and roll?

However, the nominating committee might wear these.

3. In fact, you may be better off being an R&B act. Now, no one should be signing any petitions to get the likes of Ray Charles, Fats Domino, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Sam Cook booted from the Hall. They are great examples of acts that have hugely influenced both R&B and rock. However, the Rock Hall seems to have taken it upon themselves to represent whatever R&B act they see fit, regardless of whether they have much to do with rock & roll or its development. Little Anthony & The Imperials? The Flamingos? The O’Jays?

The Rock Hall nominating committee practically has this mantra tattooed on their foreheads.

4. Being a blues pioneer is a huge plus. Actually, I don’t have a quibble with this one. Rock and roll is so rooted in the blues that you’d have to question the credibility of a Hall without B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, and Howlin’ Wolf.

You could definitely hear the Nom Com spout this mantra.

5. Last of all, don’t be Kiss. Look, when the weird kid in my junior high argued about how great Kiss was, it was easy to dismiss him. I’ve never been a fan of the band anyway. When you think of how huge they’ve been in rock and roll, however, it’s time to get a grip. Apparently, the Rock Hall is about politics and Kiss have rubbed them the wrong way. Perhaps the Hall could use a little reminder that the roots of rock and roll is all about rubbing people the wrong way. Get a clue and put in the act that most deserves it that isn’t in yet.

A face only a mother could love? Certainly the Rock Hall has no love for this face.

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Other Related DMDB Blog Posts:

• 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Announced (12/7/2011)
  
• The Top 100 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hopefuls (10/22/2011)
  
• And This Year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Are… (9/28/2011)
  
• And This Year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Should Be… (9/28/2011)
  
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens its doors: September 2, 1995 (9/2/2011)
  
• Why Kiss Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2/12/2011)
  
• 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees (12/22/2009)
  

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Run-D.M.C. released Raising Hell

Raising Hell Run-D.M.C.

Released: May 27, 1986 Peak: 3 US, 17 RB, 41 UK, 32 CN, 50 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.6 UK Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Peter Piper [3:25] It’s Tricky [3:03] (2/8/87, 57 US, 21 RB) My Adidas [2:47] (5/17/86, 5 RB) Walk This Way (with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry) [5:11] (7/4/86, 4 US, 8 RB, 8 UK, gold single) Is It Live? [3:07] Perfection [2:52] Hit It Run [3:10] Raising Hell [5:22] You Be Illin’ [3:26] (10/21/86, 29 US, 12 RB, 42 UK) Dumb Girl [3:31] Son of Byford [0:27] Proud to Be Black [3:15] Total Running Time: 39:46

Rating: 4.435 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Quotable: “Rap’s first masterpiece” – Josh Tyrangiel/ Alan Light, Time magazine Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Darryl McDaniels, Jam Master Jay and the Reverend Run wore black leather suits, gold chains and Adidas with no laces. They looked like drug dealers, and plenty of people thought they were. In reality, they were middle class kids from Queens desperate to become rock stars, and Raising Hell was their defining statement.” TL “Run-D.M.C. were primed for a breakthrough into the mainstream, but nobody was prepared for a blockbuster on the level of Raising Hell. [Their first two albums] – Run-D.M.C. and King of Rock – had established the crew’s fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, but that sound didn't blossom until Raising Hell, partially due to the presence of Rick Rubin as producer. Rubin loved metal and rap in equal measures and he knew how to play to the strengths of both, while slipping in commercial concessions that seemed sly even when they borrowed from songs as familiar as ‘My Sharona’ (heard on It’s Tricky).” AMG “Along with longtime Run-D.M.C. producer Russell Simmons, Rubin blew down the doors of what hip-hop could do with Raising Hell because it reached beyond rap-rock and found all sorts of sounds outside of it. Sonically, there is simply more going on in this album than any previous rap record – more hooks, more drum loops (courtesy of ace drum programmer Sam Sever), more scratching, more riffs, more of everything. Where other rap records, including Run-D.M.C.’s, were all about the rhythm, this is layered with sounds and ideas, giving the music a tangible flow.” AMG “They opened with Peter Piper (‘Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rapped rhymes/ Humpty Dumpty fell down, that's his hard time’) to show off their spitting speed, followed it with ‘It's Tricky’ to prove their ferocity, My Adidas to test their promotional skills and ‘Walk This Way’…to show off their catholic tastes. And those are just the first four tracks.” TL “But the brilliance of this record is that even with this increased musical depth, it still rocks as hard as hell, and in a manner that brought in a new audience. Of course, the cover of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way, complete with that band’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, helped matters considerably, since it gave an audience unfamiliar with rap an entry point.” AMG It was, after all, “the first rock-rap collaboration to hit the Top 10.” TL However, “if it were just a novelty record, a one-shot fusion of rap and rock, Raising Hell would never have sold three million copies. No, the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its rock or rap peers in 1986, and years later, that sense of excitement is still palpable on this towering success story for rap in general and Run-D.M.C. in specific.” AMG “Raising Hell is rap’s first masterpiece, and it’s just as audacious now as it was two decades ago.” TL

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Run-D.M.C. DMDB encyclopedia entry for Rick Rubin AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TL Time magazine (11/13/06). “ All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light WK Wikipedia First posted 4/15/2008; last updated 12/5/2021.