2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

[va_vacious]

That video was awful.

But I digress... why was the induction ceremony held in New York, when the hall is in Cleveland?

[Buzzstein]

I don't like Donna Summer.

[Ella Minnow Pea]

How did I know all the words to the chorus, but didn't recognize the rest of "Boom, Boom, Boom"?

In my musical education, it will probably scare/depress/etc. some of you that JCM made it into my musical database much earlier than The Boss. I associate JCM with either fourth or fifth grade - in particular a end of year sleep over (where I first encountered "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board").

Bruce didn't register until eighth grade - at another slumber party, as a matter of fact. Perhaps the last one at which we played "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board".

At the time, I didn't particularly care for either one. It was all Duran Duran for me!

[kcneon]

why was the induction ceremony held in New York, when the hall is in Cleveland?

Always has been.  May have been because when they first started to induct people the building was not ready and logistically easier to get everyone to NY.  Did I just hear that next year it will be held in Cleveland?

[va_vacious]

That makes sense, but since the hall has been open for some time, they really should move it to Cleveland. 

As a museum nerd, it seems a waste to have all that PR for your site happening in another city!

[rva]

See, the thing about Donna Summer that she just happened to be a huge star during the disco era.  But comparatively, she wasn't that disco.
This was the time when Grateful Dead put out Shakedown Street and Kiss put out I Was Made For Loving You, and even Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones were flirting pretty heavily with disco.

Look at Blondie.  I don't remember them being a punk band at all.  First I heard of them was "Heart of Glass," which is disco.  The band even had that song for a long time and intentionally reworked it to be disco.  "Call Me" is also totally disco.  So disco it was produced by Georgio Moroder who is the guy who did Donna Summer's stuff.  So for her time-- one in which disco was king and there were few women around-- Donna Summer rocked pretty hard.

Let's face it.  Very few people have actually heard the famous punk CBGB's Blondie.  They heard crappy disco, hip-hop sell-out pukeriffic ridiculous Blondie and yet their reputation as innovators is still intact.  They skated into the hall of fame on a bunch of rather lousy massive hits and a reputation.

Which is how Mellencamp got in as well.  I'm nowhere near as big a fan as some you apparently are, but he's actually a pretty decent songwriter.  He's deeper than people think, and some critics have picked up on that.  As a result, he's got a bit of an aura of respectability around him.  Which is all the voters need.  I bet most of them have no idea *why* he has that aura, they just know they once read a Rolling Stone that mentioned it.  Tom Petty kicked serious ass for about ten years, but that's not why he's in the Hall of Fame.  He's going in for Full Moon Fever and Traveling Dingleberries.  I don't have any problems with those acts getting in, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is still a huge joke.

Which brings me back to Donna Summer and Madonna.  What makes Madonna kinda cool in my book is her talent OUTSIDE the music.  She's just smart as shit, gotta hand it to her.  She knew how to market herself as a star and a rebel, she had a knack for finding great unknown (to the general public) producers.  She controlled her career more maybe more than any other artist, certainly more than anyone who sold that many copies.  All very impressive.

She's such an icon that she has to get in.  But her iconic status has always superceded her music.  Madonna's not getting in because she had a bunch of good songs or even because she sold a bunch of albums.  She's getting in because she's MADONNA.  Which is cool, I guess.  But she couldn't have done it without Donna Summer-- perhaps unintentionally-- laying out a template for how to be a huge female rock star.  She built off that and perfected it, only without having nearly as much actual talent.

I bet you hear more Donna Summers at weddings, clubs, karaoke, and in hip-hop samples than you do Madonna.  Her influence is from the music whereas Madonna's is from her personality.  Not that Madonna didn't have some pretty decent songs as well.

[trixi]

Thanks for the flashback Poncho...that took me right back to my soph year at Miami.  I'd never seen the video, but unlike Ella, remember more words than just the chorus.

[rva]

I don't understand that video.  The brunette is trying to get into a party and she gets thrown out so she starts taking her clothes off?  And why is Paul Lekakis apparently trying to bed multiple hot women?

[Poncho]

I was saddened to find myself actually knowing the spoken parts.  Apparently, I know that song a lot better than I thought.