One of the year's greatest rock-and-roll argument starters is finally upon us.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the nominees for next year's class, with Green Day earning a nod in their first year of eligibility and Lou Reed, who's already in as a member of the Velvet Underground, earning a posthumous nomination just a few weeks shy of the first anniversary of his death.
In addition to Green Day, first-time nominees include the Smiths (a brilliant long-shot given their lack of commercial success in the States), industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails, blues guitar hero Stevie Ray Vaughan, soul great Bill Withers and Sting, who's already been inducted as a member of the Police.
Also nominated: N.W.A., Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Chic, the Spinners, the Marvelettes, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk and War.
It's an interesting list, including several names whose impact should be fairly undeniable, from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts to Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, the Marvelettes (as Motown's first successful singing group), the Smiths, Lou Reed, N.W.A., Chic and, well, Green Day.
Yes, dozen of punk acts with more credibility did what Green Day got famous for doing earlier and better without earning an induction to the Hall of Fame -- now tipping hat to Buzzcocks, in particular. But Green Day took it to the masses, going 10-times-platinum with their breakthrough album, "Dookie," while inspiring two generations of young pop-punk artists (most of whom are just not very good) and conquering Broadway with a rock opera that probably introduced the idea that something called punk even happened to a whole new audience. That's impact. And that's what the Hall of Fame was made to honor. People who think it's more about how good the records are have never understood the stated purpose of the Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, angry White people who still think it's clever to put a "c" in front of "rap" will no doubt argue against the induction of gangsta-rap icons N.W.A., insisting hip-hop isn't rock and roll, as though the definition isn't always changing.
Should we only induct the artists people would have thought were rock and roll in 1956? Because most of the most celebrated rock releases since the 1960s don't sound anything like "Rocket 88," from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" and "Pet Sounds" to "OK Computer." It's not the Doo Wop Hall of Fame, right? Rock and roll should have a more elastic definition, unless you love it so much you would rather see it die if the only other option is continued evolution.
There can only be so many throwbacks to a classic sound, so many songs like "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" or that Duffy song, "Mercy," before it's just novelty music. By embracing the artists whose music paved the way for innovation -- Kraftwerk, in particular -- the Hall of Fame acknowledges that rock and roll is still a work in progress, not some relic grandma might have liked before she got that walker.
There are plenty of influential, pioneering artist who have yet to be inducted whose names you won't find on this list of nominees, from Link Wray to the Pixies. And what about Big Star? Yes, it's sad to think that Green Day could get in before Buzzcocks or the Replacements (whose T-shirt I'm currently wearing), but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be inducted. It just means we have to complain a little louder about the artists who continue to be snubbed.
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