After the Rock Hall introduced the “Singles Category” at the 2018 ceremony there were no shortage of questions, criticism, and speculation about the purpose and future of the award. After all, the Rock Hall had previously published a list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll,” so how would this be different? Last year, Steven Van Zandt made clear to state that there was only one rule for a song to be honored: “the records are by artists not in the Rock Hall.” With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 2019 recipients*:

• The Chantels - "Maybe" (1957)**
• The Champs - "Tequila" (1958)
• Barrett Strong - "Money (That's What I Want)" (1959)
• The Shangri-Las - "Leader of the Pack" (1964)
• The Shadows of Knight - "Gloria" (1965)

• The Isley Brothers - "Twist and Shout" (1962)

The whole point of this category is that its artists that aren’t in. Bullshit.

— Who Cares About the Rock Hall? (@rockhallpod) March 30, 2019

As you probably know, the Isley Brothers are in the Hall of Fame, inducted in 1992. So in the second year of this brand new Rock Hall category, the one and only rule gets trashed.*** What are we even doing here?

The Rock Hall’s own website and museum have been slow to acknowledge the category after it was introduced as a surprise at last year’s ceremony. Greg Harris, the Museum’s president and CEO has tried to emphasize that the songs are not inducted into the Rock Hall, and “Singles” isn’t even a Hall of Fame category (what?). A year later, the museum still hasn’t accommodated the song list in its Hall of Fame exhibit (although Harris says the songs will eventually receive a special place of honor). It took months, but their website finally listed last year’s singles on the “Induction Process” page (but they weren’t actually inducted, right?), and hasn’t bothered to add this year’s winners, four weeks after the ceremony.

Just like last year, the artists of the honored songs were not in attendance at the Induction Ceremony, and according to a source close to one of the artists, weren’t even notified about the “honor” in advance.

In January, Joel Peresman, the Rock Hall Foundation’s President & CEO, who is theoretically in charge of this mess, said that this category “will be included again this year and always going forward.” Always! If that’s the case, someone needs to turn Steven Van Zandt’s vanity project into something meaningful. Otherwise, there’s really no point in discussing it further.

* - In his introduction, Steven Van Zandt said they don’t always select the original version of the singles, but they honor “the most iconic versions that time has proven to have had the biggest impact on the soundtrack of our lives.”
** - With this honor, it’s likely the Chantels won’t be back on the Performer ballot, where they had been twice been nominated. The other non-Hall of Famers have never been nominated.
*** - So, out of the hundreds of foundational songs to break the non-Hall of Famer rule, why “Twist and Shout”? It was written by Bert Berns, whom Van Zandt had gotten inducted in 2016. Just one more reason the entire system is broken.

Steven Van Zandt, of course, narrates the new Berns documentary and is a producer for the Broadway show about Berns. #RockHall2016

— Future Rock Legends (@futurerocklgnds) March 24, 2016