About a month and a half ago, on December 7, the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced. The performers being inducted are Beastie Boys, Donovan, Guns N' Roses, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Small Faces/The Faces. Musicians are eligible 25 years after they released their first record, so 1987 is the year. For the most part, I am not knocking any of the musicians or artists who have been inducted because most of them deserve it (other than Steely Dan -- I hate those fuckers -- and who the fuck is Laura Nyro?). Unlike some people (most notably, the hosts of That Metal Show), I don't think rap and hip hop artists are any less deserving of a spot in the Hall of Fame than rock and rollers. After all, to me, the term "rock and roll" is broad and includes pretty much all popular music since the mid '50s (country music excluded, for the most part). That said, I do agree with the That Metal Show hosts' gripe that not enough metal acts are in the Hall. Since 2003, the Hall seems to be more willing to give hard rock and metal acts their due, inducting AC/DC (2003), Black Sabbath (2006), Van Halen (2007), Metallica (2009), Alice Cooper (2011), and Guns N' Roses (2012). It's not just metal that's being overlooked. There are a lot of non-hard rock and metal bands or artists that have been snubbed. It seems like the Rock Hall voters are choosing to ignore a lot of successful and influential bands and artists from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, instead choosing bands and artists who they feel SHOULD have been more popular and influential. Again, who the fuck is Laura Nyro? I like to think I know a fair amount about music and music history, and I have honestly never heard or her. I went to her Wikipedia page, and did not recognize any of her songs, even those that other artists recorded. Maybe she is "Hall worthy," but certainly not before the artists below, in my opinion.
Anyway, here is my list of the top ten Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs, with the year of the band's first album in parenthses.
Other snubs (in alphabetical order): Pat Benatar, Boston, Jimmy Buffett, Cheap Trick, Joe Cocker, The Cure, The Doobie Brothers, Duran Duran, ELO, The Guess Who, Hall & Oates, Jethro Tull, Joan Jett, Journey, LL Cool J, The Monkees, The Moody Blues, Motley Crue, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Ozzy Osbourne solo, Public Enemy, The Replacements, Steppenwolf, Styx, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
10. Steve Miller Band (1968)
The Steve Miller Band is another one of those bands that you forget how successful they were, but if you turn on a classic rock radio station, you are almost guaranteed to hear one of their songs within a couple of hours, whether it's "The Joker," "Jet Airliner," "Jungle Love," "Take the Money and Run," "Rock'n Me," "Swingtown," "Abracadabra," or "Fly Like an Eagle." They had five platinum albums (out of six released) between 1973 and 1982 (four of which hit the Top 3 on Billboard's album charts). During that same span, they had 13 Top 100 hits, 9 Top 40 hits, 5 Top 10 hits, and 3 #1s. As a drunk chick once said, "Steve Miller is the soundtrack of my life."
9. Rush (1974)
I don't like Rush, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I know that they are a big influence on the hard rock and metal bands that followed them, and Neil Peart is widely considered one of the top drummers in rock history. Certainly, they are the most notable band in the prog metal genre. They have 14 platinum albums, an estimated 40 million album sales worldwide, 11 Top 10 albums in the U.S., are third behind the Beatles and Rolling Stones for most consecutive gold or platinum albums, and had a relatively big presence in the Paul Rudd/Jason Segel movie "I Love You, Man."
8. The Cars (1978)
The Cars get lumped into new wave and the '80s, but they were unique in that they had the new wave look and certainly used synthesizers, but also had more of a rock legitimacy to their music than a lot of new wave bands. "Just What I Needed" has held up better than most other songs that you might consider "new wave." The Cars released 7 studio albums (6 between 1978 and 1987 and one in 2011), and their lowest charting album still hit #26, with all but one of the remaining albums breaking the Top 10. Between 1978 and 1987, they had 13 Top 40 hits and 4 Top 10 hits. You can hear (or at least I can hear) their influence in bands like The Strokes, Hockey, and Franz Ferdinand.
7. Deep Purple (1968)
Deep Purple is one of the most underrated bands in rock history, in my opinion. The band was one of the pioneers of heavy metal, and a huge influence on the genre, be it Richie Blackmore's guitar, Ian Gillan's soaring vocals, or Jon Lord's fuzzed-out organ. They found success with various different line-ups, with 8 Top 40 studio albums in the US and 10 in the UK (and 22 total Top 40 albums in the UK including live albums and compilations). Songs like "Smoke on the Water," "Woman From Tokyo," "Hush," and "Highway Star" are hard rock staples.
6. Def Leppard (1980)
Def Leppard is one of my favorite bands, so I am admittedly a little biased, but then again, they deserve a spot in the Rock Hall. They are one of the most successful bands of the '80s, with both 1983's Pyromania and 1987's Hysteria being certified diamond albums by the RIAA, making them one of only five rock bands with two RIAA certified diamond albums (the others being The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen, all of whom are in the Rock Hall). Def Leppard has sold an estimated 65 million albums worldwide, and has 8 certified platinum albums, 6 Top 10 albums in the US (12 Top 20) and 7 in the UK, and 15 Top 40 hits in the US and 19 in the UK. Musically, they were much more complex than other bands from their genre, and unlike nearly every other band from the hair band era, Def Leppard has stayed together, continued to make music, and still tour successfully. Frankly, any band that can make a certified diamond album AFTER its drummer loses an arm in a car accident deserves a nomination.
5. Bon Jovi (1984)
Bon Jovi, like Def Leppard, is lumped negatively into the hair band genre. Both were bigger than the genre, in my opinion. Bon Jovi has sold an estimated 130 million albums worldwide, and has managed to weather the '90s and beyond better than just about any other band that can be labeled a hair band. They have 10 platinum albums, 14 Top 40 albums, 11 Top 10 albums, and 4 #1 albums -- including Top 5 albums in the '80s, '90s, and '00s. They also have 17 Top 40 hits (8 of which were in 1992 or after), 10 Top 10 hits, and 4 #1s. When they come to town, they play Soldier Field, which few other bands can do.
4 (tie). Iron Maiden (1980) and Judas Priest (1974)
You can't in good conscience induct one without the other, so I am including both. They are two of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Iron Maiden is a tour de force, with over 70 million albums sold worldwide and a rabidly loyal following across the globe, selling out stadiums and arenas for 30 years. They define the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Despite having virtually no airplay in the US, they have 8 gold or platinum albums, 13 Top 40 albums, and 2 Top 10 albums in the US. In the UK, they have 25 Top 40 albums, 14 Top 10 albums, 4 #1 albums, and 35 of the 41 songs they have released as singles have hit the UK Top 40, with 17 Top 10 hits and on #1. Judas Priest is the band that gave metal its black leather and pushed metal from the early sounds of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple towards the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, thrash, and hair bands. With their twin lead guitar attack and soaring vocals, Priest, like Maiden, achieved huge success with little airplay in the States. They have 11 Top 40 albums in the US. As with Iron Maiden, they achieved more success in their native UK, with 14 Top 40 albums, 2 Top 10 albums, and 5 Top 40 hits. There aren't too many hard rock or metal bands since these two came along that don't list them as major influences.
3. Heart (1976)
I don't know how you can induct Laura Nyro, whose songs no one outside of her immediate family and Rolling Stone's offices have ever heard, and not induct Heart, one of the biggest female-fronted rock bands ever. Heart shattered the glass ceiling for female rock bands, in my opinion. For 14 years between 1976 and 1990 (with a brief period of relative weakness in the early '80s), Heart was a force to be reckoned with. All of their 10 studio albums broke the Top 40, with 6 breaking the Top 10, one hitting #1, and 7 going platinum. Heart has had 20 Top 40 hits, 9 Top 10 hits, and 2 #1s. Sorry Rock Hall voters, but "Magic Man," "Crazy On You," and "Barracuda" are better songs than anything Laura Nyro ever wrote or recorded. Also, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" was my and my girlfriend's song in sixth grade, even though we didn't quite understand what it meant, so there's that.
2. Chicago (1969)
Chicago is another one of those bands that is sneakily successful. The only American band with more success on the Billboard singles and albums charts is the Beach Boys. They have sold an estimated 122 million albums worldwide, with 18 platinum albums, five #1 albums, three #1 songs, and 21 Top 10 songs. They were the leading US singles charting group during the 1970s. They released 12 albums in the '70s, five of which hit #1 and ten of which were in the Top 10. All but one of the 30 singles they released in the '70s charted on the Billboard Top 100, with 22 Top 40 hits, 13 Top 10 hits, and one #1.
1. KISS (1974)
Are you kidding me? KISS is one of the most recognizable, popular, and successful rock bands of all time. The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide (with relatively little radio airplay, especially in the beginning), is probably the best live band ever, revolutionized live shows, revolutionized live albums from an afterthought to a viable vehicle for bands and record labels, revolutionized rock merchandising, and has influenced thousands of artists from Anthrax to Weezer. They have 34 Top 100 albums, 27 Top 40 albums, 8 Top 10 albums, 8 Top 40 hits, and 2 Top 10 hits. For Christ's sake, they wrote "Rock and Roll All Nite," a song that, more than any other, defines what rock and roll is all about. Whether the Rock Hall voters don't get KISS or are just musical snobs, I don't know, but it's ridiculous that KISS is not in the Hall of Fame.
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