Great mind to the Star Ledger a Newspaper in Northern New Jersey is loss to be creating a Virtual New Jersey Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.
Props to the for finding a show in their archives of Jon, SSJ & BRUUUUUUCE.
What are your thoughts?
Props to the for finding a show in their archives of Jon, SSJ & BRUUUUUUCE.
Virtual New Jersey Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Celebrity to be created
Published: Sunday, June 12, 2011, 6:50 AMUpdated: Sunday, June 12, 2011, 6:52 AM
By Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
Star-Ledger File Photo
Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny and Bruce Springsteen at a benefit concert at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank in 2003. All are leading candidates for the virtual New Jersey Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
There`s a Stone and Roll Hall of Fame. And there`s a New Jersey Hall of Fame. But there`s no New Jersey Rock `n` Roll Hall of Fame.
But there will be. Soon.
By the end of this summer, The Star-Ledger will produce a virtual New Jersey Rock `n` Roll Hall of Fame on its website, New Jersey Online (nj.com/njrockhall). Readers will be capable to go there to learn about the inductees, look at photos and videos, and discuss who should be inducted.
We desire to love what New Jerseyans think about various candidates. As a first step, we will have a panel discussion - and ask audience members to lobby for or against candidates - at the Morris Museum in Morris Township (which is now hosting an expose on New Jersey rock history), on June 22.
The Star-Ledger staff will be the sole determiner of who gets inducted. But we will heed to what everyone has to say, and understand every online comment. Yes, we are tilted in certain ways, for certain candidates. But our minds are not made up.
Our choices may not be universally popular. But I guarantee this: We will do a better job than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with its elaborate selection process, has been capable to do.
GROUND RULES
Why are we doing this? We consider it will be a valuable online resource. We believe it will be a fun ongoing debate to have. Most important, we need to give props to the Jersey artists who deserve it.
Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger
Bass drumheads from the circle the Smithereens, which are section of the "Jersey Rocks: A History of Rock & Roll in the Garden State" exhibit currently at the Morris Museum.
We will define rock `n` roll as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does - basically, all pop music, from the fifties on. We may have separate categories, as in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for sidemen, early influences and non-performers. But we`ll also think about adding some categories.
What some one for venues, past and deliver? The Stone Pony, Maxwell`s, the Capitol Theatre _
What some one for songs that are near the commonwealth in some way? "Palisades Park," by Freddy Cannon, "Jersey Girl" by Tom Waits. Or are by Jersey artists who might not have it into the hall on their own? "Brandy (You`re a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass, "Set Afloat on Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn _
Whereas the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame requires a 25-year period since the departure of an artist`s first recording, we will make no such rule. As shortly as you`ve accomplished enough, you`re in. We will initiate the strongest candidates in the 1st year, and so add more inductees annually. (Inductees will have nothing, by the way, except the page on nj.com/njrockhall devoted to them.)
Star-Ledger File Photo
Patti Smith, onstage at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, last year.
All musicians who have lived in New Jersey for at least some share of their lives will be eligible. But we will take the number of time artists have been in the state, and how involved they have been in the local scene. There are tremendously important musicians who became famous elsewhere, then bought mansions in New Jersey - Stevie Wonder, a New Jersey Hall of Fame finalist last year, is an exercise of this - but that probably won`t be enough.
Do people think of you as a New Jerseyan? If the result is no, you likely won`t get in.
RIGHTING WRONGS
What is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame`s track record on New Jersey artists? Mixed, at best.
Bruce Springsteen was selected in his first class of eligibility - rightly so, though the E Street Band should have been inducted along with him (and will take a position in our hall). The Four Seasons, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Patti Smith, Steely Dan, the Shirelles, the Rascals, the Isley Brothers and Les Paul (as an early influence) are all in - no arguments there.
But looking at some New Jerseyans the lobby has left out.
• Bon Jovi. Granted, they`re not the most original set in the world. But they get a lot of hits and have been a dependably dynamic concert act for decades. Like it or not, they`re one of the defining rock bands of their generation.
JOCHEN LUEBKE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston, together in 2004.
• Whitney Houston. She`s got the hits, and she`s got the artistic impact: She`s been a principal influence for everyone from Mariah Carey to Lady Gaga. Yes, her decline has been sad to watch, but that`s no reason not to keep her achievements.
• Dionne Warwick. Brought a rare sense of musical sophistication to the pop charts in the `60s and `70s.
• Frank Sinatra. Yes, he hated rock `n` roll, at first. But he did soften that stance a bit, as the days went on, recording songs by the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, and dueting with Bono. His swaggering vocal style helped pave the way for rock `n` roll and, like Les Paul, he should be esteemed as an early influence.
Then there are the Jersey acts that likely will never have much consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame itself but are natural fits for a statewide hall: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Connie Francis, the Smithereens, Gloria Gaynor, Yo La Tengo.
How near the Feelies? Their albums were never commercial juggernauts, but they had a big influence on many alt-rock musicians. Or the Misfits, who loom similarly prominent in the tough world?
And, of course, since we suffer no restrictions on eligibility, we can consider younger artists too. The Fugees. Queen Latifah. What about My Chemical Romance? Fountains of Wayne? The Jonas Brothers?
What about a lot such as Stone Temple Pilots? Two of the guys are from New Jersey, two aren`t. Or, returning to older artists, people like Carole King, Trey Anastasio, Al Anderson (of Bob Marley`s Wailers) and Joe Walsh? All have Jersey roots.
Should Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean be considered as solo artists, or merely as Fugees members? Or as both?
We`ll get to see all that out, with your help.
Let the debate begin.
What are your thoughts?
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