Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

I was speaking to Natalie Luna the other night, and she was amused by John Lydon's refusal to show up to his own band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The note is available on Lydon's website, and indicates that he should not look for a second career in either diplomacy or conflict resolution.

Many rock mavens are perpetually angry that the hall even exists. (The title I used for this entry is from an article that Jimmy Gutterman wrote in Spin magazine fifteen years ago; slightly different versions of his "33 1/3 Rules of Rock and Roll" are available here and here.) I'm not so naïve to think that there have never been commercial considerations in rock. What offends me most is the anti-populist nature of it all. I don't think that there is anyone that has been inducted that shouldn't be there, 'cept maybe Aerosmith. Although the timing on some makes me wonder. I mean, I understand that you can only get inducted 25 years after your first release. But, I have to wonder why Santana, who had been eligible and deserving for years, gets inducted in 1998, right on the eve of his biggest release? Makes me wonder if there are other considerations. I mean, far be it from me to be cynical.

Who makes the selections? I don't know either. The Rock and Roll Hall's website seems to be free of this rather important information. I don't want this to be the People's Choice Awards or American Idol, but this "Star Chamber" set up just smacks of industry elitism, and doesn't have anything to do with the spirit that guides great Rock and Roll.

Many wonder how much the choices have to do with the personal tastes of Rolling Stone scribe and Hall of Fame pooh-bah Jann Wenner, who was himself convieniently inducted in 2004. Now that we are moving into a time when inductees can no longer be drawn from bands that boomers like Wenner liked when they were younger, I'll be interested to see what sort of variety we will actually have. Will hip hop pioneers such as Run-DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five be inducted? What about other important New Wave bands, not just the ones that then-aging-but-still-trying-to-be-hip boomers liked such as the Talking Heads, but other important and influential ones like Joy Division and Depeche Mode?


There are two omissions that I find downright criminal: Link Wray and Wanda Jackson.

Wray invented the power chord for God's sake! The guy walked into a ballroom, played a piece of a D chord twice, and then an E. He later on wanted to recreate the sound of that room and the song in the studio, but found that he had to punch a hole in the cone of his amp to do it: the first distortion purposely recorded. When he died last year, both Bruce Springsteen (inducted 1999) and Bob Dylan (inducted 1988) opened their shows with his famous hit "Rumble" for weeks in tribute. Anyone, anyone, who plays guitar with any sort of care for what went on before worshiped this guy.

Side note: he was a Shawnee, so would be the only Native American in the hall.

Wanda Jackson! Wanda Jackson was the first female rock star, playing guitar and writing songs in an era when women in music were expected to be waifish and pretty and sing male written songs in front of better a better paid male band leader. Her style and attitude is now aped by just about every female country, rockabilly, alt-country singer around, as well as many female rock singers as well. The fact that Jackson can't make the hall just confirms in many minds that the "white boy rocker" mentality still governs "establishment rock" institutions like Wenner's Rolling Stone.

There is hope. There are online petitions for both Wray and Jackson to enter the hall. Of course, we don't know who actually picks these people, so it is difficult to have any influence. The petition for Jackson includes a note from Rock and Roll Hall inductee Elvis Costello. Both are in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.


I understand that there are complaints from Canadians that they are unrecognized in the hall. Neil Young was inducted in 1995. Who else do they think should be in there? Gordon Lightfoot? Rush?

Well, Loverboy becomes eligible this year.


Have I been ranting too much?


I need to give them some props for recognizing people who aren't rock, but without whom most rock would be unimaginable, like Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Wiliams, Les Paul and Robert Johnson. Here are some more people who I think need to be inducted, besides Wray and Jackson:

• Freddy Fender: Latino rockers like Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys (and wanna be Latinos like Calexico) take much of their inspiration from the former Baldemar Huerta. I've always believed that Fender was far more influential than Ritchie Valens (inducted in 2001). I saw him play ten years ago with the Texas Tornados. He would have been nearly sixty, and his worn out Harley-Davidson shirt was stretched across his considerable gut, but when he sang "Before the Next Tear Drop Falls," there wasn't a woman in that place who wouldn't have taken him right there.
• Buzzcocks: These Manchester punks were far better songwriters than the Sex Pistols ever were. Their "power pop" sound can be heard in bands like Green Day and the Click Five. Their biggest hit, "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone That You Shouldn't Have (Ever Fallen in Love With))," has been covered by the Fine Young Cannibals (horribly!) on the Something Wild soundtrack and Pete Yorn on the Shrek 2 soundtrack.
• Lalo Guerrero: I'm a bit biased here, since he is a Tucsonense. Guerrero's influence in Latin music in general should be recognized, especially since much he did inspired folks like Carlos Santana and lesser known Hispanic rockers like El Vez.
• Love: Of course, the induction ceremony would have involve breaking vocalist Arthur Lee out of prison; Lee was an early victim of California's Three Strikes law. I can't explain how these guys are influential without actually playing them for you. If your favorite band is a bunch of paisley clad smokeheads pounding on Farfisa organs, or feedback loving popsters, you are hearing Love.
• Joy Division: They are eligible now. Without them, millions of teenaged black-clad goths would be more happy and listening to Clay Aiken.
  

Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.