2010 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees

If the theory that complaining about the annual selections for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame has become old hat and thus that frees the nominating committee and voters to throw sound reasoning to the wind, then this year's election makes perfect sense. It was a weak ballot to begin with, as the committee saw fit to name a horde of admitted personal favorites and then shamelessly campaign for them (most prominently at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's 25th Anniversary gala concert at Madison Square Garden over two nights in October) removing any and all personal detachment and objectivity from the equation. Then the 500+ anonymous voters promptly showed how out of touch with rock's evolution they've become as they chose no artist whose career began after the Nixon administration, despite the presence of two first time eligibles whose credentials should have made them automatic selections.

In a way the Hall Of Fame used this year's election to slither around some embarrassing oversights from the past. They thankfully managed to break the long draught on progressive rock with the election of Genesis, a compromise candidate in that regard because half of their career came after they'd abandoned all prog connections and became a hit machine in the 80's. They also were able to get a second reggae artist in with Jimmy Cliff, which proves that the style was more than just Bob Marley, but in doing so they'll pat themselves on the back and say that should be enough reggae acts for another fifteen years. Their next two choices say as much about the aging white Anglo-Saxon voting body as it does anything else, as the Hollies rode their uneven career to a spot in the Hall as a reward for whistful baby boomers, while the induction of mega-successful Sweedish pop stars ABBA gives them a late 70's alternative to funk, disco and the emerging rap scene which the electorate continues to largely be uncomfortable recognizing. Only the Stooges had both the credentials and the cache to make them a widely expected choice, but even that came after multiple failed nominations giving it an air of resignation.

Most shameful though is not who was let in, but rather who was left out. Despite four females acts on the ballot, none were elected, once again raising questions about the gender bias the Hall may have. Of the four Donna Summer's omission is the most glaring, as she was the dominant figure in one of rock's biggest (but most critically detested) subgenres, one which the Hall has yet to fully acknowledge, which makes another troubling issue they need to address, namely how they can continue to reward the relatively small punk style while dismissing the far larger and equally influential disco scene from the same time frame. In another case of critical distaste overwhelming objective analysis KISS's credentials are more than solid enough to get their ticket punched, but more people would rather punch Gene Simmons and the entire fanatical KISS Army than recognize that, and so they were voted down. Their appearance on the ballot however lets the Hall off the hook from charges that there was a conspiracy to keep the group from ever being considered and now with their official rejection by the voters they can resume ignoring them. More unexpected in their failure to make the cut were The Red Hot Chili Peppers who seemed to be locks for the Hall when looking at traditional voting patterns - a big name act with credibility throughout music who also have modern name recognition to draw in younger viewers to the televised ceremonies. Yet they too fell short and thus no artist whose best work appeared in the 90's has been inducted, even as we pass the mid-80's eligibility mark for artists debuts, something that shows just how far removed from modern music culture the voting body has become. The biggest injustice this year however is the denial of LL Cool J, the first solo rap superstar and one of the most influential and successful artists of his era. With rap being the dominant form of rock music, both commercially and influentially, over the past quarter century, it would stand to reason that the Hall of Fame would see an influx of hip-hop artists and producers start to get in as more and more reach their eligibility requirements with each ensuing year, but the voting body seems to be uneasy with this shift away from the rock styles of their youth and have once again turned back to their more favored eras to reassure themselves that the rock world they grew up with is still worth celebrating. It is, but only alongside the rock world it spawned and to do that the nominating committee needs a complete overhaul and the voting body needs to become far more diverse and open-minded than it has been over the past decade. The Class Of 2010 now takes the dubious honor of being by far the poorest class of inductees in the twenty-five year history of the Hall and should serve as the impetus for a major shake up of the electorate who is allowed to decide on granting immortality.