Future Rock Legends

I guess this is where the hosts of their podcasts shows will post comments here officially.

Posted by The Dude on Thursday, 08/15/2019 @ 13:55pm

Or where we can have lengthier discussions than would fit in a tweet, and less annoying that posting comments over a string of several tweets.

Posted by Philip on Thursday, 08/15/2019 @ 19:55pm

Already Listened to the newest episode of Who Cares About The Rock Hall, and I just wanna give them a correction. Neither of the Big Four invented thrash metal. In 1981, Overkill (who are from New Jeremy) recorded a song called "Unleash The Beast (Within)." During that year, a high-school act from LA called Leather Charm (James Hetfield's Pre-Metallica band) wrote a song entitled "Hit The Lights."

Just like what Greg Heller would say about the sub-genre, The basic sounds of thrash was born from mixing mean the drum beats of hardcore punk with the technical playing styles of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

While some metalheads would argue thrash started with Venom, but those guys invented black metal and started the 1st Wave in Europe before the second one happened in Norway with Mayhem.

Posted by The Dude on Friday, 08/16/2019 @ 11:20am

I already said this on the Monkees thread, but it belongs here, so I'm copying and pasting here:

This past episode of the podcast "Who Cares About The Rock Hall?" was one I really enjoyed, and had several random thoughts about.

First, it was nice to have them discuss an "Oldies" act. Not their first, but I feel like Dick Dale is someone that younger people mention to prove they know older music, much like how people my age namedrop Billie Ellish to show they're up on modern music. And Lesley Gore, well... if a former NomComm member wants on your show, you discuss whoever the heck they want to. This one was different, and I liked that, just a pure foray into '60s Oldies music.

Kristen... "Jann S. Whiners". Add that to the fricken glossary for our hobby. That's gold right there. Well done, J. Kidding! This was probably her best episode in a long while for how much she was able to contribute to the conversation.

John Levenstein definitely did his homework before the podcast, so good for that, but I feel like for all he had to say, he didn't really "speak the language." If his case for the Monkees had any problems, it's that he didn't nail the talking points using the buzzwords that we instantly recognize. Not always a bad thing, but when he's trying to argue longevity and critical respect using a different definition than most of us generally use, it doesn't help him out too much.

In fact, the extraneous things that John was touting the highest and loudest are probably things that in my "I-5" metric, would be filed under "Intangibles." They definitely help the case as those points add color and depth to the argument, but what I've noticed in how I rank artists by merits, is that if the "Intangibles" category is the strongest of the four pros, you're probably going to be ranked a bit lower. Fortunately for the Monkees, the Impact category is their strongest by a country mile, not the Intangibles.

One thing I definitely need to agree with Kristen about is that even without Nesmith's video project, MTV would still have happened. The impression I get is that they bought Nesmith's vehicle to drive the route they had planned out well ahead of time.

What I don't agree with Kristen about though, is the tributary argument she made. While the "tributary" analogy is basically what we would call "Influence," I don't know if it's really necessary for the Monkees to have opened up a tributary in order for them, or any act, to be worthy of induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. And with the somewhat populist bent of the past few years, a nomination for the Monkees at this point would not be entirely out of place either.

Recognizable songs: I'd be much better equipped to argue with Joe on this one if not for the fact that Oldies radio is pretty much disappearing from the FM airwaves. Growing up and listening to Oldies radio as much as I did, I'd normally argue that Joe gave the Monkees very short shrift. Oldies radio stations did played "Pleasant Valley Sunday" QUITE a lot, as well as the not-mentioned "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," "Words," and "Valleri" (though they played that last one at the end of the song). The theme song actually also did a little bit of airplay once in awhile too, so I would throw that one in the mix as well.

Going back to the question that Seymour Stein asked Bob Merlis of Chubby Checker that also applied to the Monkees, "Do you really think they were great artists?" My response to that remains: KISS. Were KISS "great artists"? I've called them the band that would sell out their principles for a Klondike bar, and even they sometimes admit they were more brand than band. But despite being lowbrow, they were still deserving of their induction, so that argument is a total non-starter, in my opinion.

John tried to bring the point home, but couldn't quite stick it, a point I made earlier: in the end, they were forced to choose between a TV show or a band, and they chose band. Real cred for them. But the listening public wouldn't let them grow and evolve. That's why they weren't bigger after the cancellation after the show. They were already musically typecast, and they couldn't change the public perception about them.

Whereas this was one of Kristen's strongest episodes, I feel this was one of Joe's weaker. He was definitely being a courteous host, giving John a lot of room, but I feel like he maybe should have kept a tighter control on the proceedings here. And I feel he needed to press the prefab issue a little harder. It's just the elephant in the room. You have to deal with the prefab problem when making the case for the Monkees and I think that the word "prefabrication" was used only once.

I was actually oversold to the point of almost being unsold on the Monkees. I've been okay with the idea of them being inducted, but when John kept arguing and repeating the same points, I got a little burnt out on it. And that's where I think Joe should have held the reins a little firmer, imo.

That said, one thing John said that I really liked was suggesting "listenability" as a category. This is for a couple reasons. While it's subjective, it's almost the closest palpable thing we have to "unquestionable musical excellence" that the Hall claims to care about, so having that as a yardstick maybe should be a thing; two, for some time now, I thought they should have a sidebar after "Iconic Songs" and "Recognizable Songs" for "Other Quality Songs." This would totally be the moment to let the guest share what songs they think a person needs to listen to to help make an artist's case for induction into the Hall. It helps to have that kind of moment to let you understand an artist through the ears of the guest, a chance to really understand their enthusiasm for the artist. The songs a person immediately thinks of when they think of an artist probably help shape the opinion of whether or not that artist should be in the Hall Of Fame. So, if I had any constructive criticism for Joe and Kristen, that might be it.

Lastly, if there is another bigger selling '60's group (not including soloists) who are not in the Hall Of Fame yet, I think it might be Herman's Hermits. And that's actually something to take note of. The Monkees were formed to be America's "answer to the Beatles," but listening to the music, and even knowing a little of the backstories, they were probably more like America's answer to Herman's Hermits. That's not a bad thing. But I'll bet that there aren't too many people who are for one of those two groups, but against the other. One might even say the Monkees are the end of the Herman's Hermits tributary.

A great episode, really. Knowing how they choose their guests, it's gonna be few and far between that they discuss Oldies acts that I really love (Oldies being my fave genre, and most of my favorite Oldies acts are already in the Hall anyway), but this was a fun one for me overall. Thank you Joe, Kristen, Josh, and everybody that Joe thanks at the end of every episode!

Posted by Philip on Friday, 08/16/2019 @ 23:27pm

Looking at this year's nominees. Dave Matthews Band, T. Rex and Depeche Mode are the only ones who have yet to get their own episodes of Who Cares About The Rock Hall.

Posted by The Dude on Friday, 11/29/2019 @ 14:16pm

Oh, and I almost forgot about Biggie; they should be making an episode about him soon.

Posted by The Dude on Saturday, 11/30/2019 @ 12:45pm

Grand Funk Railroad Must Be In The Real Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Otherwise Your Hall of Fame Has No legitimacy.

Posted by luke on Friday, 01/17/2020 @ 15:24pm

badfinger not in, rrhf shame on you, boston, really? how do you guys sleep in your cars at night.

Posted by richard dixon on Wednesday, 11/18/2020 @ 15:07pm

Another year, Another Snub of The Jester of Pop, Master of Stage, TV & the BigScreen with the most beloved movie on AFIs list of Victoria Jackson Movies. A triumph that should dwarf the measly efforts of the ET guy, Star Wars Dude, The Good Weinstein Brother, The Abyss guy, The Halloween synthesizer guy, Guy who faked the Apollo moon flick, or David Lynch, Jim Varney, Paul Reubens, John Waters or The Chiodi Bros from Killer Klowns. A man who mocked Kings, Queens, & Gods of Grunge & Yabba Dabba Do Daa LA Heroin Funk. Not to mention his refusal to Fear the Wrath of Americas most feared Gangster Rap CARTEL master Coolio. The Late "Capone of the Soundtrack Rap Scene' & the only man able to stop Kid N Play from making House Party 69: Drop Dim Dentures Granny NUB. The MC of Maddness W.A.Yankovich. Come on R&RHOF. And what about the Only Stylophone Maestro On Earth? Me You can ask Trent Reznor He want's me in or he's kicking the Filter guy out! Ok Now Delete Me. I tried

Posted by Subset The Reject (Orlando Music Scene Historian & "The Last Stylophone Master w/the passing of Bowie) on Thursday, 12/1/2022 @ 06:14am