Last year, around the time of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I wrote about German music pioneers Kraftwerk, and dubbed them the “rock hall’s greatest omission.” I based this on their influence on not only electronica and techno music, but on music as a whole since their debut in the early 1970’s.
The “greatest omission” may have been a bit of a stretch, and if you read any “not in the hall” article this week, you’ll find out that a lot of bands aren’t in the hall of fame. That’s one of the problems with halls of fame in general. There’s always someone on the outside looking in, and a small group of people left to wonder, “why?”
This post isn’t going to be about the hundreds of acts that on the cusp of induction. I won’t be writing about Yes, The Moody Blues, or Whitney Houston this year. Instead I am going to focus on four bands — out of literally thousands — that, while great, have virtually no shot of ever gaining induction. These groups will find it even more difficult as bands like Pearl Jam, Radiohead, and Foo Fighters start making their way onto ballots, and push them even further towards the back of the room.
TELEVISION
Formed in 1973, and playing alongside other New York City acts like Blondie and The Ramones, Television was the thinking man’s punk band. If you could even call them punk. Their debut album, Marquee Moon, continues to appear on “greatest albums of all-time” lists, but the group’s relatively short existence — the band first disbanded in 1978 after releasing Adventure — and lack of a classic rock radio standard makes them a hard sell to most rock fans.
THE POGUES
Another band born out of the punk movement, but this time in London, The Pogues fused punk and Irish folk, and paved the way for groups like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. If lead singer and principal songwriter Shane MacGowan wasn’t such a drunken mess half (all?) of the time, the group might have been able to continue building on the success of If I Should Fall From Grace With God and that album’s hit song, “Fairytale of New York.”
THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
This Texas group is considered by many as one of, if not the, first psychedelic band. Founded and led by Roky Erickson, The 13th Floor Elevators found some minor success in the late 1960’s before dissolving. Erickson was committed to a mental hospital after pleading insanity to drug charges in 1969 and spent three years locked up, during which time his mind started to falter. Numerous attempts at reunions over the years failed, but the band will be making a 50th anniversary appearance in Austin later this year.
MOTLEY CRUE
This might be closest I get to being wrong since Motley Crue has sold 25 million records in the United States and is still selling out arenas. The problem with the Crue is that after Guns N’ Roses — who were inducted in 2012 — the possibly of another hair-metal band from the 80’s gaining induction is slim, and Bon Jovi would probably have an advantage because Jon Bon Jovi is way more likable than any of the guys in Motley Crue.
A recent Billboard article shed some light on the nomination and voting process that selects the inductees for the hall, and portrayed many of the voters as out of touch, but easily persuaded to vote for certain acts. This might explain why an act like Deep Purple — who has been eligible for almost 20 years — has not been inducted, but someone like Green Day makes it in on the first try.
Truthfully, the hall has been on a downward spiral for many years, and I’m not sure if any of the four bands listed above care whether or not they get to place their signatures in Cleveland. As each year passes, the list of artists snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame grows, and so does the number of fans who consider the hall a joke.
The 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place this Saturday (April 18) in Cleveland, Ohio with Ringo Starr, The ‘5’ Royales, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Lou Reed, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and Bill Withers all gaining induction.
