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Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates 25 years with two-night concert
Rock hall of fame commemorates 25 years of history-makers with a two-night concert.
By PRESTON JONES
dfw.com
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Donna Summer MCT
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The rear of the seven-story hall of fame building in Cleveland. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will celebrate a quarter century of recognizing musical greats. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum were a band, rather than a building, 2009 would mark its first year of eligibility for induction.
The nonprofit institution based in Cleveland and New York City celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, an occasion it will mark with two nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden, beginning Thursday. (Candidates for the hall aren’t eligible until 25 years after the release of their first album, be it a full-length recording or an EP or single.)
Musicians on tap to honor "the history of rock ’n’ roll" at Madison Square Garden include Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, U2, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Metallica, and Eric Clapton.
"Twenty-five years ago, a group led by legendary Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun created this foundation to recognize and celebrate the music and careers of artists whose music helped shape and define our generation," Jann Wenner, founder and chairman of Rolling Stone and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. "These once-in-a-lifetime concerts are designed to celebrate the artists and their music."
In addition to the star-studded concerts, the rock hall has rounded up another crop of potential inductees for next year’s ceremony (see below), released a lavish coffee-table book about its first 25 years and collected several years’ worth of induction-ceremony performances for a nine-disc DVD set.
We take a look at who might make it into the seven-level museum and hall in Cleveland, as well as those who, inexplicably, aren’t nominees, and how the whole process works.
And the nominees are . . .
This year’s nominees (who will be voted upon and, if chosen, announced in January and inducted into the hall in March) include Swedish foursome ABBA, Darlene Love, Donna Summer, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, KISS, Laura Nyro, LL Cool J, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Chantels, the Hollies and the Stooges. Of this group, the Stooges have the most nominations, with eight.
More than half of the dozen nominees are being considered for the first time, according to Future Rock Legends, a Web site that closely tracks the goings-on in Cleveland and New York City, and the 2010 class is slightly larger than previous years, when there were only nine nominees.
"This year the committee members discussed a very wide range of artists, from those whose careers began in the ’50s to some who are still very active," wrote Jim Henke, the hall’s chief curator, in a Sept. 11 blog post on the hall’s official Web site. "Overall, more than 50 potential nominees were discussed and debated. . . . In the end, 12 artists made the ballot, and five will ultimately be inducted into the Hall of Fame."
Who’s out?
Scores of popular and influential acts remain on the outside looking in. According to Future Rock Legends, among them are George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Tina Turner and Sonic Youth. Conversely, there are just as many acts that have been considered (the Replacements, Tom Waits and Kraftwerk, to name just a few) but didn’t make it past the nomination stage.
The nomination process is largely kept secret, much to the consternation of fans and even some bands that make it through. In 2006, inductees the Sex Pistols sent an infamous note to the hall, declining to attend the induction ceremony and calling the institution "a [urine] stain."
"I think there needs to be a better balance and greater deliberation put into the nomination process," wrote music journalist Fred Mills in a 2007 Harp magazine story. "Maybe lengthen the eligibility period to 30, 35 or 40 years instead of 25. Even better, why not have a two-category approach to induction whereby one set of nominees is drawn from the 25-year criteria pool and a second set drawn from a 40-year . . . thereby ensuring that deserving elders receive a more equitable consideration."
Getting there
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame currently inducts members from one of four categories: performers, nonperformers (music journalists, label executives, producers, etc.), sidemen and early influences (artists whose careers predate 1955, rock’s designated birth year).
How does someone make it in besides practice, practice, practice?
We’ve mentioned the 25-year rule, the period that has to elapse between the release of a group’s or performer’s first record (for instance, bands or solo acts that dropped a debut in 1984 are eligible for the first time this year).
The nominating committee must determine whether potential nominees have "demonstrable influence and significance within the history of rock and roll."
A larger group of music-industry people (500-600 according to the hall of fame foundation’s current CEO, Joel Peresman) then votes on the finalists to determine who gets inducted.
"Candidates are reviewed and discussed relative to their impact on this music that we broadly call rock and roll," wrote Terry Stewart, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame president and CEO, in a 2006 letter. "The innovation and influence of these artists is also critical. Gold records, No. 1 hits and million-sellers are really not appropriate standards for evaluation."
So while fans can start petitions, whine on blogs and write angry letters to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which they do — just Google "not in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" for a sampling), their input has no bearing on the 31-member nominating committee’s final decision.
SOURCES: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; futurerocklegends.com
Preston Jones is the Star-Telegram pop music critic, 817-390-7713
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