Who's getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Come on, Bon Jovi has been eligible for a decade longer than Radiohead.

The rock hall finally has its New Jersey moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNsgOhIcqNQ

lol "Bob Jovi"

I mean I like The Cars fine but how I'm bewildered how they'd get in over Radiohead/The Cure/SP, etc.

They're one of the most-played rock bands on US and Canadian radio and have been eligible a lot longer than Radiohead or Smashing Pumpkins. Hall of Fame in recognizing fame shocker.

Also one of the best singles bands period.

Reminder that Blue Oyster Cult is not in the the hall and it's bullshit.

The Cars are a better band than Radiohead, for starters.

Reminder that Blue Oyster Cult is not in the the hall and it's bullshit.

Now that is an objection I can get behind.

i mean fucking a band as slight as GREEN DAY is in and BOC isn't it's ridiculous

also Radiohead should absolutely be in as well, there's so many b-list 60s artists that got in they more than deserve by that standard

I'm practically a stan for Radiohead post-The Bends but I'm not at all offended that they weren't admitted in the very first year they were eligible, and I genuinely think Bon Jovi and the Cars deserve it.

Bon Jovi is sort of like Yes (and Green Day) where they are going to (unfortunately) "stand for" a big genre (80s pop metal, prog and post-80s punk respectively) and then absolve them of having to induct any other bands from those genres

so when Bon Jovi gets in it's because their Springsteen-lite elements means they are more palatable to the hall than Def Leppard or any of the other huge bands of that era

Motorhead isn't in either, which is even more puzzling as it's probably the most quintessential 'rock n roll' band of the past 40 years.

they are another band that's going to suffer because the hall inducted Metallica so they feel like they "covered" a whole big swath of metal

basically because the hall is warped by this horrible jan wenner descended version of the "canon" every genre of rock that's not part of the rolling stone 60s/70s classic rock lineage is going to be viewed as some sort of token

yup

Bob Jovi does not deserve to get in. There's not a single good act that would remotely call them an influence, no critics would call them especially good, and if popularity is the biggest criteria, then why have votes at all?*

*It goes without saying that who cares about the rock hall, but while we're here ...

Motorhead really arent that metal at all, they’re far closer to AC/DC Ramones or even Chuck Berry than to the whole Maiden Priest Sabbath Metallica axis, but I guess the umlaut doesnt help.

i'm not arguing, and they should totally be in! i'm just saying in the heads of the ppl that vote they just know like ace of spades and the logo and think of them as a metal band

just imagining going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and saying, "hey kids, we have to be sure to see the DIRE STRAITS exhibit."

a tasteful display of knopfler's headbands

Not many kids went to see the Dire Straits exhibit, but everyone who did bought their own headband

Moody blues rule, glad they got in

I hear they're being inducted by a Mellotron.

Bob Jovi does not deserve to get in. There's not a single good act that would remotely call them an influence, no critics would call them especially good, and if popularity is the biggest criteria, then why have votes at all?*

But I think Bon Jovi wrote some classic verse/pre-chorus/chorus anthems (that are not just popular but enduring), JBJ is a good singer (that high D in "Livin' on a Prayer" is hard!), Sambora played some memorable melodies, they put on a good live show, and JBJ has used his wealth and fame to constructive ends.

Their hair influenced a generation.

bon jovi are so so so emblematic of the RARHOF ethos, they're induction is not surprising to me in the least

kiss was a controversial inductee if I recall correctly, but a better case can be made for them than Bon Jovi. The only case that can be made for Bon Jovi is that they were or are popular and wrote A Few catchy songs, but like I said, by that standard just about everybody should be put into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so why even bother with the whole concept?

Though actually, wasn't Bon Jovi a fan write-in vote? I'm cool with that, they have fans, and I'm all for populist fan vote power, since I think that's how Rush got in.

I was curious about the whole process behind voting in bands. Just figured it was Wenner handpicking them. These two articles were enlightening...

http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/problem-with-rrhof-voting.html
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6531175/inside-rock-roll-hall-fame-induction-process-secrets-jann-wenner

This paragraph...

The Hall’s mission is to honor "musical excellence and influence," says Joel Peresman, president/CEO of the Hall of Fame Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity. Notions of excellence are subjective, and the objective standard of record sales (often cited by advocates of The Monkees, Chicago and Janet Jackson, among others) doesn’t sway the Hall -- popularity "can be a marker of artistic excellence," says Wenner, but it’s not a primary consideration. Historically, the Hall (just like Rolling Stone) has favored earnest, guitar-based rock acts over top 40 stars. Committee members "see themselves as keepers of the flame of integrity," says an insider.

Barf

bon jovi > kiss

I guess Jon bovi had ambition going for him but come on. That’s not enough. That one song is pure pop and he is not rock and roll.

Yeah, I was wondering what the obviously stronger case was for Kiss over Bon Jovi but wasn't sure it was worth pursuing.

Kiss sucks, but there are a bunch of acts that claim to be fans and/or influenced by Kiss, from those that saw them on TV or heard about them via their cartoonish infamy or found them for whatever reason a formative act. Again, literally no one claims the same of Bon Jovi.

I mean, these google results aren't exactly proof, but they're telling:

"influenced by Bon Jovi" About 401,000 results (0.66 seconds)

"influenced by kiss" about 24,300,000 results (0.70 seconds)

Vitally, all but one of the first page of results for the BJ search were about bands that influenced Bon Jovi, save one link to people debating whether or not Bon Jovi had influenced anyone. The first three Kiss links alone were praise from Nikki Sixx, Questlove and some Esquire piece titled "How Kiss Created Indie Rock."

Everyone over the age of 16 knows that Kiss is a joke, right? The barest of substance shellacked with a ton of lacquer. Why they’re part of this conversation I’ll never know.

Because they were controversially inducted into the rock hall despite everything you say being true, which makes them totally germane. Bon Jovi doesn't even have being an adolescent joke going for them.

they had a decent drummer

"Wanted Dead or Alive" solo = classic

Pure kitsch

unlike KISS

Kiss were shit, but they have a few songs that transcend kitsch, imo. But not many!

Anyway, Kiss deserves to rock hall for this alone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unerBailPS0

Honestly, maybe it has something to do with growing up in Philly, so close to NJ, but even when I was 11 I thought the songs from "Slippery When Wet" sucked, and if I owe Bon Jovi anything it's for driving me away from radio music and toward other things. Not sure I knew anything about Kiss at that point, though.

The only case that can be made for Bon Jovi is that they were or are popular and wrote A Few catchy songs, but like I said, by that standard just about everybody should be put into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so why even bother with the whole concept?

As I said elsewhere, at this point, given who's already in, there's no legitimate argument for ANY nominee being excluded. The whole thing is such a hodgepodge, with absolutely no definition of what constitutes "rock and roll," that the word "deserve" no longer applies, if it did past the first class of inductees.

Second everything Josh says about Bon Jovi--working in a downtown record store in 1986, when their big breakthrough album was ubiquitous, was torture. (While they were on the turntable, that is...there was also True Blue and the Pet Shop Boys and lots of other good stuff.)

Bad Medicine is just a horrible, horrible song. Results like that make me believe that civilization deserves to fall. "Your love is like bad medicine, bad medicine is what I need..." Just a cowboy's crime against nature.

As bad as bongiovi is I’d take him over the pet shop boys anytime

(xpost) Not sure if you're familiar with this Rob Sheffield appropriation: "Thoreau is like Ralph Emerson/Ralph Emerson is what I read..."

there's so many b-list 60s artists that got in

― Joan Digimon (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, December 15, 2017 7:24 AM (yesterday)

Nah. Like who?

The GOAT status of inductees like The Band, The Animals, The Lovin' Spoonful, Dave Clark Five, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band is pretty iffy.

Given that Guns N Roses are in, who were even later to the hair metal party, there's no real reason why Bon Jovi shouldn't be.

First of all, the Band are clearly one of the GOATs, in terms of music, impact and influence.

Second of all, GNR were hardly hair metal, and again, influence and impact much greater than Bon Jovi nerf rock.

First four albums all solid

it's hard to argue they don't deserve to be in the rock hall, especially if the objectively inferior bon jovi is in already

Literally the only argument in their favor IMO. "Well, we let this even shittier band in - guess we're stuck with 'em."

Eric Clapton is in three times

xp Funny how you cut out the first part of Voodoo Chili's argument!

I'm starting to think Wire isn't going to get in!!!

xp Funny how you cut out the first part of Voodoo Chili's argument!

Because "they were really popular!" doesn't mean anything to me.

Fine, but here are the Rock Hall's official criteria:

Performers
This category honors bands or solo artists which demonstrate musical excellence. Such a descriptor includes (but isn't limited to) influence on other performers or genres; length and depth of career and catalog; stylistic innovations; or superior technique and skills.

They also say, Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll.

Given those loosey-goosey standards, an argument can certainly be made for Def Leppard that goes beyond, "Well, we let in KISS and Bon Jovi..."!

i don't like hair metal, but it seems silly to me to have a rock hall and not include hair metal

i don't like hair metal, but it seems silly to me to have a rock hall and not include hair metal

Hair metal should absolutely be included, and I would 100% argue for the induction of Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Poison, W.A.S.P. and Junkyard (a band that hasn't got a chance in hell of getting in, but who were really quite good).

Being really popular does seem like a possibly relevant criterion for a hall of fame tbf.

Also wtf Ratt?

the studio techniques that led to hysteria sounding as massive as it does (still) are HOF worthy on their own

Yeah, I had the thought that Mutt Lange probably deserves to be in there.

Meat Loaf/Jim Steinman together

Point being I might actually watch the ceremony - on first broadcast!! - this year on the strength of the nominees.
Also I have nothing against Def Leppard, I was just thinking of who on that list I had the least personal passion for. Plus I've checked now and Fleetwood got in back in 1998 so Stevie Nicks is almost certainly the one I'd swap out for Todd anyway