Mid-December is one of my favorite times of the year. Besides my birthday falling on the 14th, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's announcement of new inductees occurs around the same time. In an earlier post, I correctly predicted five of this year’s inductees: Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, and The Zombies. Those were my five choices if the Rock Hall decided to induct five. But the Rock Hall surprised us all with a total of seven inductees in the Performers category with the inductions of The Cure and Radiohead. This is the most inductees honored in the Performers category since 2004. What’s strange about this year’s results is that there were only 15 nominees that resulted in seven inductees, while last year featured 19 nominees with only five inductees. Rock Hall CEO Joel Peresman mentioned on SiriusXM’s Volume the final tallies were very close this year and the decision was made to include seven inductees. Maybe the Rock Hall did not want to go another year without the likes of Radiohead and Janet Jackson not getting in, but either way this is a win-win and helps clears some of the logjam of major snubs. 

            I will admit, this year’s group of inductees is one of the strongest and most prolific classes in recent memory. This year’s inductees present a great narrative of popular music over the last half-century. I correctly predicted five inductees: Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, and The Zombies. I pegged LL Cool J as a possible sixth inductee after watching a video of Questlove saying the hip-hop pioneer keeps coming close in the final tallies. After being rejected for the fifth time in 9 years, the Rock Hall will go another year without a Hip-Hop inductee. Hopefully LL’s time is right around the corner. But to my delight, the Rock Hall will also honor two supremely influential alternative bands that I thought had very slim chances: The Cure and Radiohead. They are not only being among two of my favorite bands and I’m delighted to see alternative rock finally get the respect from their peers that they deserve. This is a breakthrough moment and now their induction opens the doors to other supremely influential post-punk bands/artists such as Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Joy Division/New Order, and Kate Bush. 

            Let’s get the most obvious choice from this year’s pool of candidates out of the way: Def Leppard. After winning the fan vote by overwhelming numbers, the British hard rock band continues the trend of the artist/band getting inducted after topping the fan vote. Joe Elliott’s comments in the wake of their nomination is both welcoming and refreshing for a classic rocker. He is knowledgeable about his fellow nominees’ contributions to the history of rock music and his thoughts are always insightful. His enthusiasm for the likes of Roxy Music, MC5, Kraftwerk, and Todd Rundgren is nothing short of infectious. As a new HOF voter, I hope he votes wisely and not just his classic rock peers.

            The Cure’s induction is easily the most pleasant surprise of this year’s inductees. Like many HOF bloggers and watchers, none of us knew which alternative/new wave act would break through and receive induction. Some thought The Eurythmics, others thought Depeche Mode, but The Cure ultimately persevered. But for an 80s British alternative act to receive induction, the artist had to have some commercial success in America. There’s almost an unspoken truth that the Rock Hall heavily favors artists who charted here and that’s why a supremely influential act like Kraftwerk has such a tough time getting enough votes. In hindsight, The Cure being the first British 80s alternative act makes sense. Besides maybe Depeche Mode, they are the most commercially successful alternative act that broke out on the American mainstream charts in the late 80s. Like Depeche Mode, The Cure’s success in America was a slow build that paid off in the long run with a string of iconic hits and memorable music videos.  Both bands are instrumental for ushering in the 90s alternative rock boom here in the States. After being neglected so long, the time has come for The Cure to get validation from their peers and rightfully sitting alongside rock’s most pioneering figures.

            I don’t know why, but Radiohead’s induction surprises me for a few reasons. First, I did not think the voters would support this time around. Despite being the most critically acclaimed and influential band of the last quarter-century, Radiohead is very polarizing and often divides music fans. Anytime I ask anyone about the band, I always get different answers (some good, some not-so-good). But whether one likes (or dislikes) Radiohead should not determine whether they belong in the Rock Hall. It’s all about impact and innovation and Radiohead’s got that in spades. How they failed to get inducted last year in their first year of eligibility is one of the biggest mysteries in Rock Hall history. I still cannot comprehend the fact that Bon Jovi got more votes than Radiohead. But I still believe Radiohead got enough votes last year. When the band announced they had a show in Argentina on the night of the 2018 ceremony, the Rock Hall probably held off their induction a year to accommodate the band’s schedule. But the band’s lukewarm response is a bit concerning, but now it’s a matter of whether they actually show up and perform. 

            Roxy Music was probably my choice as the biggest HOF snub. They are the missing link for art and experimental rock from The Velvet Underground to Talking Heads and influenced hundreds, if not thousands, of bands in their wake. Roxy Music was always pushing the boundaries of rock and roll and moving the artform to unexplored territories. Their first five albums are among the best consecutive albums in rock history and they are among my all-time favorite bands. I predicted Roxy Music as a nominee this past summer and once they appeared on the official ballot, I never doubted their chances as a first-time nominee for a second. They are highly respected in the music community and have fans all over. Plus, it helps to have big names like Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry. Roxy Music’s induction proves that a band does not have to sell millions of records in America for voters to see their massive influence on contemporary music. Their induction bodes well for a band like The Smiths who are hugely important in 80s alternative rock, but never made it big in America. Or, and most likely, Roxy Music’s induction will lead the nominating committee to finally nominate Marc Bolan’s T. Rex as the next 70s glam/art rock choice. 

            Janet Jackson’s Rock Hall induction is so long overdue that there is not much left to be said. Instead, I want to thank the grassroots campaign @InductJanet for their perseverance and hard work over the years. You never gave up on your icon, even when it looked like the Rock Hall would continue snubbing one of the most successful and innovative female performers of the last three decades. It’s absurd she waited this long and now her time has finally come. @InductJanet has set the standard for how HOF grassroots campaigns should run. Janet should book each of you flights to the ceremony and enjoy the spectacular show she’ll deliver. This moment is just as much for them as it is for Jackson herself. 

            Stevie Nicks made history as the first woman to receive a second induction for her solo work (she is, of course, already inducted as a member of Fleetwood Mac back in 1998). Although her nomination and eventual induction has received mixed reactions from the Rock Hall community, I do not mind her induction at all. She does have some great songs in her catalog including “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand Back,” “If Anyone Falls,” “Leather and Lace,” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Sure, some of her hits are duets but that should not take anything away from the massive influence Nicks has on modern female singers. While there are stronger female candidates waiting in the wings, Nicks’ induction signals one of the major points of the Rock Hall ceremony that is often forgotten: bringing big names to the stage and perform. Nicks is still a big draw and she will bring down the house. But Nicks’ induction will hopefully bring more women to the nominating committee’s table next fall. Given Alan Light’s claim that other female performers’ names were brought up in the nominating committee’s room earlier this year, I expect to see the likes of Pat Benatar, The Go-Go’s and Cyndi Lauper all getting nominations in upcoming years. Of the three, Benatar has the potential to become the first woman to win the Fan Vote and probably get inducted on her first try. 

            The Zombies finally prevailed on their fourth nomination and I couldn’t be happier for them. The band’s very active social media presence definitely contributed to their strong showing in this year’s fan ballot (finishing at #4). Their strong relationship with the Rock Hall and its museum also contributed to their continued appearances on Rock Hall ballots. The band’s members have been so humble about the Rock Hall that it’s impossible to dislike them. After almost 30 years of eligibility, they are arguably the last important British Invasion band to receive a Rock Hall induction. Their organ-based arrangements made them stand out among their peers and they have some of the biggest hits from the 60’s such as “Time of the Season,” “She’s Not There,” and “Tell Her No.” I bet those are the three songs played at the ceremony, although maybe they’ll swap “Tell Her No” for “This is Our Year” just for the hell of it. They benefited from not competing on a Classic Rock-heavy ballot and had a clear pathway to induction. 

            Does the Zombies’ Rock Hall induction close the book on pre-1960s artists in the Performers category? Nope, I do not think so. When popular artists like Tommy James and the Shondells, Dick Dale, Connie Francis, Link Wray, Johnny Burnette and the Rock N Roll Trio, The Marvelettes, Love, MC5, The Guess Who, and The Monkees are on the outside looking in, then the book will and should stay open.  If the likes of Steven Van Zandt remains on the nominating committee, then they will continue to explore the earliest decades of rock and roll and put them on the ballots. If the voters will vote for them is a totally different story and kind of depends on who these artists are competing against. 

            But where does the nominating committee go from here? Will they go back to the populist classic rock acts that dominated the ballots from 2013-2018? Or will they put forth nominees who might be less commercially successful, critically acclaimed, and/or hugely influential to the history of rock and roll? While it is too early to predict anything at this point, next year’s nominees will be an exciting time for HOF bloggers and watchers to see where the nominating committee will go from here. I hope the Rock Hall remains inclusive and tells the story of rock and roll with an eclectic selection of nominees across different genres, time periods, ethnic groups, and gender identities (both women and LGBT performers). With Janet Jackson and the members of The Cure, Radiohead, Roxy Music, and Def Leppard, and as new voting members, hopefully the death grip the Baby Boomers had in previous years is slowing going away. Hopefully these new voters will choose wisely and ensure high-quality candidates are chosen. If they continue inducting artists this high of a caliber, then the Rock Hall will stay relevant, diversified, and exciting.