Well, we’ve come to the last 24 hours or so of voting in the 2023 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame “fan vote,” and I thought I’d start expanding my territory, so to speak, into talking more often about things other than politics, by taking a look at this year’s Rock Hall vote – in part because it’s a pretty fascinating class and the decision-making was definitely not easy.
Because it’s early days and in a context that will largely be new to many of my current audience, there are a couple things I should say up front:
- More than anything else, fundamentally in my core I’m a musician. Have been for 45 years now. I don’t mean I’m a hobbyist or I played guitar for five minutes in a high school jazz band, either. Just putting that out there as a pre-emptive ward against the inevitable round of “what makes you think you know anything about any of this” comments from people who might not like what I said about their favorite artist.
- I’m not entirely a fan of the whole idea of a “rock and roll hall of fame.” At its essence rock – and its progenitors in jazz and blues and all the way back – has always been about the very opposite of halls of fame and self-congratulatory flatulence. There are issues with the personalities who control the hall and the preponderance of their favorites alongside the glaring lack of some genuinely deserving artists who just never sucked up hard enough to Jann Wenner. Disappoints me about him; growing up in the 80’s RS was kind of my connection to the authenticity and earnestness of the hippie movements, and watching him calcify into just another institution is a bit painful. That said, it’s a well-known and widely popular way of recognizing people who are important in my life and in many of yours as well, so I’ll appreciate it for being that and not take it too seriously.
- “But that’s not Rock and Roll!” Piss off and take your mother and the horse your gatekeeping ass rode in on with you. THAT’S rock and roll. Dick.
It was a tough ballot this year, which hasn’t always been the case.
My natural inclination based the roots of where and how I came up as a musician would’ve had me picking Iron Maiden over either Zevon or Lauper, but as much as I love Eddie I couldn’t step back and honestly say to myself that I thought Maiden were more important to the business or influential in the world of rock and roll than Lauper or Zevon. In both cases even though I’m not hugely a direct fan of them myself, I’d have to be entirely disconnected to not be aware of their impact among so many artists of whom I am a direct fan, aside from my appreciation for their work.
I feel like Maiden deserves the run, and I may have given them the nod in a different field, but even taking out Zevon and Lauper you’re still putting them against some serious weight, including the Spinners, Missy Elliot, and George Michael.
Without further ado, let’s proceed. I’ve arranged the article to be broken up in pages, this one and then one for each of the fourteen nominees. You can navigate using the menus at the top and bottom of each page as you go through, bit like an image gallery.
