Any kind of residence of fame is destined to be a polarizing institution, and the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame is no different. The new pot of nominees for the 2010 class were released earlier today, and it's an eclectic list that is destined to light a ton of argument over the following few months (right up until the actual inductees are proclaimed in December). Bon Jovi, Donovan, Alice Cooper, Dr.
John and Neil Diamond have all been nominated for the start time, and they are united by Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Chic, Laura Nyro, Joe Tex, Chuck Willis, the J. Geils Band and Tom Waits.
That's a fairly wide array of people, ranging in styles from classic rock to metal to hip-hop to somebody to tribe to any it is that J. Geils Band used to play. If I had a ballot (and believe me, I do not), I would put my lot for 4 of those nominees.
Beastie Boys These guys absolutely must get in, as they seamlessly straddled the worlds of rock, hip-hop and pop music (don't leave that they opened for Madonna once) while impressing everybody in those respective genres. Old-school hip-hop people respect them, and the rock world has ever loved them for their always-present hardcore leanings and their association with Rick Rubin. As a bonus, they remain relevant, as their coming-soon album Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1 is hotly-anticipated.
Bon Jovi Can you think that the lot who brought us Slippery When Wet has been doing their thing for as farsighted as they bear? No other hair metal band survived the alt-rock era better or more completely than Bon Jovi - not Guns N' Roses, not Mtley Cre - and they are the only band from that era still making relevant records that people need to hear. I would vote them in just so they could be the hair metal era (but they get bonus points for "You Make Love a Bad Name").
Tom Waits If you're talking about influence, it begins and ends with Waits. Though he has never sold very many albums, he has always mashed together his incredible songwriting abilities with a playful approach to transcription and recording. Plus, he has one of the most amazing voices in the story of music. If Elton John and Billy Joel are both in (and they both are), then Waits should pass in without a moment thought.
LL Cool J Say what you will about hip-hop people in the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame, but LL Cool J changed the way people believe about rap music in a live setting and helped usher it out of the streets and into the lives of mainstream radio listeners. I would seriously vote for him but for his performance on "MTV Unplugged," which was an incredible part of television that re-arranged a lot of people's concepts about what rap was and could be.
Who would you invest into the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame? Let us live in the comments!
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