My Early Thoughts on the Rock Hall's 2020 Ballot
This past Tuesday was an eventful day. It was my sister’s birthday, so I made sure to call her and make sure she got her card in the mail. But Tuesdays are also one of my busiest days of the week. Working two jobs almost back-to-back multiple times a week, sometimes my days are stretched out to 14-15-hour workdays. That day was slightly worse because I was also dealing with an allergy-induced cold, which was later treated for a sinus infection, that plagued me for almost the entire week. I work as an academic librarian at a private college and teaching library instruction classes are among my primary obligations. On Tuesday I was scheduled to teach 3 consecutive classes, each one lasting approx. an hour-and-a-half, and the first one started at 8am. You know what else happened at 8am that day? The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame finally announced the official nominees for the Class of 2020. For members of the Rock Hall watcher community, this is our Christmas Day. We eagerly wait all year and see if any of our strategically-planned and well-researched predictions came to fruition. Just like a child creating their wish lists, we wondered if the Nominating Committee would shower us with great presents or lumps of coal. I usually listen to the big announcement live on SiriusXM’s Volume, but I had to teach my first class and put my phone on airplane mode to avoid any distractions while lecturing to my undergrad students. My phone would have blown up with messages, social media notifications, and all that sort of stuff if I left it on. As I was teaching, I kept looking at my phone and thought to myself: for a Rock Hall watcher, this is the equivalent of working on Christmas Day. I was missing out on all the fun, but not much I could do about that. When I had a break in-between the first and second class, I turned my phone back on and saw the Rock Hall’s Class of 2020 nominees before my eyes. Was it really wait the wait? I sure hope so.
In case you don’t already know, these are the 16 artists nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020:
1. Pat Benatar
2. Dave Matthews Band
3. Depeche Mode
4. The Doobie Brothers
5. Whitney Houston
6. Judas Priest
7. Kraftwerk
8. MC5
9. Motorhead
10. Nine Inch Nails
11. The Notorious B.I.G.
12. Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
13. Todd Rundgren
14. Soundgarden
15. T. Rex
16. Thin Lizzy
I posted my 2020 Rock Hall predictions in late August and got 6 correct: Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Not too bad, but I felt I could’ve done better. At the same time, however, it’s impossible to know how the Rock Hall’s Nominating Committee will think and what agendas and motives they bring to the room each September. I’m kicking myself for “considering” but ultimately not choosing Pat Benatar, The Doobie Brothers (who I predicted for the Class of 2019 nominees), Todd Rundgren (who I rightly predicted for 2019 nomination), Soundgarden and T. Rex. At first glance, there is a strong case for each of the 16 nominees and they definitely deserve their nominations. There are a whopping 9 first-time nominees this year, including the FYE nomination of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. There’s definitely not a weak link in this bunch, well maybe the Dave Matthew Band but that’s a discussion for another time. But the more I analyze this ballot, I cannot help but find it a bit underwhelming. Not in the sense that the Committee made terrible decisions on the artists they put forth, but I feel this ballot is too derivative of the musical styles/genres represented and overall lacks the musical diversity of ballots in previous years.
Sure, this ballot is a hard rock fan’s dream come true. I mean, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, Nine Inch Nails, T. Rex, Soundgarden, MC5, and even Pat Benatar (yes, I think Pat’s a hard rocker!) are on the same ballot. What’s not to love in their eyes? Hell, even Eddie Trunk declared on his radio show: “Overall, this is maybe the best list we’ve ever had as rock fans for nominees for the Hall of Fame.” Eddie’s ballot might be ready to fill out, but he will probably be disappointed when most of those mentioned artists do not make the final cut when the inductees are announced in January. I have a conspiracy theory in the wake of the announcement: The Nominating Committee purposely stacked this year’s ballot with hard rock artists that will ultimately cancel each other out, ultimately falling short of induction. When their names come in the Nominating Committee room next year, their critics will say “well, they had your shot. They’ll have to wait their turn. Let’s move on to someone else.” And this is not meant to be a knock against hard rock or metal per say. In fact, I believe there has been a bias against hard rock and metal from the Nominating Committee over the years. But the same could be said for New Wave/80s Alternative, Progressive Rock, Modern R&B, Country, and so many other genres. It’s systematic of the biases from the Committee which has created an ever-growing backlog of worthy artists on the outside looking in.
If you think about this year’s ballot for a minute, there’s one representative of the following genres and styles: electronic (Kraftwerk), New Wave/80s Alternative (Depeche Mode, an argument could be they’re really electronic but they are definitely this year’s 80s Alternative pick), Funk (Rufus featuring Chaka Khan), Industrial (Nine Inch Nails), Hip-Hop (Notorious B.I.G.), and Modern R&B (Whitney Houston). The ballot appears, in many ways, appears to be strategically-planned by the members of the Nominating Committee to make the paths for induction easier than others. Give Tom Morello and Dave Grohl all the credit for getting their pet projects finally on the ballot, but I fear hard rock and metal fans will be disappointed with the final results.
I have several other thoughts about this year’s ballot I feel need to be addressed and discussed in greater detail. In many ways, this blog serves as my initial reaction to the 2020 ballot. Sure, it could change in a few weeks, but I don’t think that’s happening. I will be honest with my readers: I purposely waited a few days to reflect on the 2020 ballot. There’s a lot to unpack here and I don’t think I could’ve collected all my thoughts the same day that the nominees were announced. Plus, I wanted to see how things played out in both the fan votes and the nominees’ reactions to the big news. It’s been a busy and chaotic month for Rock Hall watchers and the release of the 2020 ballot is the cherry on top. The following are, in no particular, some observations I noticed about this year’s ballot. Well, here goes nothing:
No progress from the Nominating Committee to increase the number of women appearing on the ballot: Let’s address the elephant in the room—the Nominating Committee’s continues to struggle adequately nominating and celebrating the accomplishments of women in popular music. Absolutely no progress made from the Committee to increase the number of women deserving of a Rock Hall nomination from last year. In the last year or so, there have been many articles, podcasts, and news stories about the Rock Hall’s gender discrepancies and many Rock Hall watchers thought the Committee would put more women on this year’s ballot. Well, we were disappointed to discover that only 3 (!) women nominated for induction into the Class of 2020—Pat Benatar, Whitney Houston, and Chaka Khan—which is the same number of women nominated from last year’s batch of nominees. The Committee obviously did not take Janet Jackson’s cue to “induct more women” at the end of her acceptance speech last March. This is wrong and unacceptable, plain and simple. To make matter worse, there are 70 men nominated for potential induction and women only accounts for 4% of this year’s nominees. That’s it, how pathetic. In an interview earlier this week, Rock Hall CEO Greg Harris had the nerve to say this year’s ballot: “It’s an incredibly diverse list of artists…There’s three women on the ballot, which is a new step for the Museum.” To quote the great Kristen Studard, co-host of the podcast Who Cares about the Rock Hall?, “Excuse Me?” Over the past year, the Rock Hall has been rightfully critiqued for the dearth of women honored as inductees. Rock writer Evelyn McDonnell has been the most outspoken critic on this issue and wrote “The Manhandling of Rock ‘N History” as a critique of the Rock Hall’s continuous gender biases from the institution. A rock writer for over three decades, McDonnell receives a ballot each year as a member of the larger voting body. Honestly, she is more than qualified to sit on the Hall’s Nominating Committee and I even started an online petition to get her a seat on the table. Sadly, thou, I do not believe she was given the opportunity to serve on the Committee (as least for now, maybe next year?!?). She would’ve breathed some new life to those meetings and get more women on the ballots. She is our warrior, our champion in the pursuit of gender equality at the Rock Hall. Although she posted her initial reaction on Twitter last night, I cannot wait to read her thoughts on the 2020 ballot in greater detail. In a way, Evelyn will get the last laugh because Pat Benatar is currently polling at #1 on this year’s fan vote and likely to keep that spot until the poll until sometime in January. If Benatar does top the fan vote, she would be the first woman to do so. If that’s not a huge middle finger to the Rock Hall patriarchy, I don’t know what is.
The kiosks at the museums had little impact on this year’s ballot: Beyond Dave Matthews Band, none of the artists finishing in the top-8 of the Rock Hall’s museum-run kiosk poll appeared on the 2020 ballot. I believe Pat Benatar was somewhere near the top 10, but the main interface only displays 8 at a time. I predicted Motley Crue simply because they topped the museum’s fan kiosk this year. It was definitely not based on musical excellence or quality, that’s for sure. Beyond Iron Maiden and Cher, there were abysmal choices rounding out the top-8 including Blink-182, Styx, and Freddie Mercury as a solo artist. When Stevie Nicks and Def Leppard topped the museum’s kiosks last year and subsequently appeared on the ballots (leading to their eventual inductions), many Rock Hall watchers believed the kiosk played a significant factor in their nominations. Maybe they did last year, but apparently those names were already discussed and the kiosks increased their chances. Boy we were wrong this year. I’m pleased the Committee passed on most of these names and sometimes populism doesn’t always equate to musical excellence. On a side note, I want to give a big shout-out to SiriusXM’s Classic Vinyl radio host Katherine Boyd for taking weekly snapshots of the kiosk’s results. She did not have to do that and I can speak for everyone in the Rock Hall watcher community that I am grateful for her kindness and generosity. She’s awesome and a rock star in my eyes.
Google’s takeover of the Fan Vote: In all honesty, I purposely waited a few days to see how the fan vote would play out. When I first voted online, I found the process confusing and frustrating. For the first days, the standings were not readily available and many fans wondered if the Rock Hall would publicly release those standings. But when the Rock Hall did finally release those standings, I had an epiphany: the genius on the Rock Hall’s part to not immediately release who was leading the pack. By voting with their hearts and minds, the public had to choose who they wanted in the Rock Hall without feeling they were wasting their votes on nominees polling low. Sure, the top-five could easily change and there’s been some movements in the last day or so (Dave Matthews Band nearly the top-five as an example), but I think a lot of the groundwork has been set. As of today (October 19, 2019), the following artists are polling—in order—in the top-five: Pat Benatar, The Doobie Brothers, Soundgarden, Depeche Mode, and Judas Priest. There’s a lot more thoughts I have about this year’s fan vote and it will probably take another blog to unpack more this topic.
Little Steven’s influence on the ballot is not readily present: Steven Van Zandt is one of the most outspoken and long-standing members of the Nominating Committee. He has successfully advocated several of his favorite artists to become Rock Hall inductees (e.g., Cheap Trick, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The Hollies, The Small Faces/Faces, Darlene Love, Donovan). In recent years, however, Little Steven’s pet projects have gone nowhere with the larger voting body. Many Rock Hall watchers, including myself, usually pick an artist that Little Steven wants in the Hall such as Procol Harum, The J. Geils Band, and Link Wray. But none of those artists appeared on the 2020 ballot and I’m starting to wonder about his waning influence on the Nominating Committee. Sure, there are a few artists nominated this year that regularly plays on his SiriusXM station Underground Garage (T. Rex, MC5, and Todd Rundgren), but it’s a stretch to say he was responsible for getting those artists on the ballot. In the wake of the disaster known as the HOF Singles (which got scraped from the HBO telecast despite Little Steven staring on the network’s signature show The Sopranos) and incoming Rock Hall chairman John Sykes’ revelation that the Rock Hall will largely move past the 1960s (admittingly a bad move on the Rock Hall’s part and this is, after all, Little Steven’s favorite era), Little Steven’s influence on the Nominating Committee is definitely on the decline. On a related note, I thought Paul Shaffer was vouching for Willie Nelson on this year’s ballot? With reports of Willie’s health diminishing in recent months, I figured this would’ve been a ripe time to honor one of Country’s biggest icons into the Rock Hall. And yes, I believe he had an impact on rock music. His brand of Outlaw Country, for better or worse, influenced many modern-day rockers and that alone should cement his name among the greats in Cleveland. It’s a shame this didn’t happen and hope Willie’s name comes up again next year.
Lots of dead musicians on the ballot: The most recent class of inductees featured mostly living musicians which is great because those artists could attend and perform at the ceremony. Perhaps HBO played a significant role since, after all, they want to put on a star-studded show of music’s biggest names getting inducted into one of the highest honors in the industry. They want people are alive to show up and perform to attract viewers. But beyond HBO’s desires (and possible demands), living Rock Hall inductees become voters and are mailed ballots each year. When I looked at this year’s ballot of nominees, I thought there were quite a number of deceased musicians nominated. Whitney Houston, Lemmy Rob Tyner (MC5), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), and Marc Bolan (T. Rex) are all singers nominated this year and they’re all (unfortunately) gone. If any of these six are inducted, expect the Rock Hall to pull off great tribute performances in their honor. Although I somewhat joked about it on Twitter the other day, I believe a rendition of The Righteous Brothers’ “Rock and Roll Heaven” would seem appropriate if those were the only inductees. Just re-write parts of the song to fit to mention the inductees and you’d have a great all-star on your hands. Make it happen Rock Hall! I’m just joking, of course, but maybe this would help other worthy deceased musicians finally appear on the ballot in the future such as Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson, Lesley Gore, and Barry White. One can only dream.
More Representation of the 90s: This year is a breakthrough for more modern artists appearing on the ballot. The Notorious B.I.G. is a fine and worthy FYE and the sole representative of hip-hop on the ballot. Although I think LL Cool J should still be on the ballot, he’s still not resonating with the voters and it’s time to move to someone else from hip-hop that could get inducted. I’m pleased to see the return of Nine Inch Nails, which I think had a lot to do with Trent Reznor inducting The Cure last March and making nice with the Hall. Maybe this will be his year, especially considering the ceremony is taking place in his hometown. Soundgarden is welcoming surprise on the ballot and quite honestly the next grunge band that should be inducted into the Hall. Respected by their peers (many of whom are Hall of Famers themselves) and liked by critics, Soundgarden will likely waltz right into induction on their first try. Dave Matthews Band, on the other hand, is a real head scratcher. When the likes of Beck, Outkast, and other A-listers from the 90s haven’t even been nominated yet, it’s bizarre and quite puzzling to have DMB on the ballot. Even their bio page fails to articulate their musical importance beyond their popularity. I have to put together more thoughts on DMB for a future blog, but I just don’t get it.
American “one-hit” wonders: As Michelle mentioned on her blog a few nights, the 2020 ballot is less British-centric, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. But something else came to mind when I skimmed through this year’s ballot: there’s quite a number of nominees known for primarily one song here in America. T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” are perhaps the sole songs most Americans would know from these bands. Of course, they are not one-hit wonders and those bands have several great songs in their catalogues. If each of these bands appeared separately on the ballot (as opposed to all being nominated on the same ballot, like this year), I would say they would have a strong shot to become as become inductees on their first try (also known as FYNs, first-year nominees). But to be frank, I don’t like Thin Lizzy and Motorhead’s chances this year. I do, however, believe T. Rex will mostly likely get inducted in the aftermath of Roxy Music’s induction this past March. Like Roxy Music, T. Rex influenced several future genres and trends including punk, new wave, alternative, and even metal. More of a bigger deal in the U.K. than here in the U.S., that shouldn’t be a black mark against T. Rex’s Rock Hall chances. Although Motorhead and Thin Lizzy are influential in their own right, T. Rex’s influence is more widespread and likely appeal to voters of all ages. T. Rex is the kind of artist that should stake right into the Rock Hall and rightfully so. Plus, the legend of Marc Bolan is far too important to ignore. I mean, when you’re name-dropped in songs by legendary artists such as The Who and David Bowie and still not inducted into the Rock Hall, there’s something wrong.
The 5+ timers club, Rock Hall Nominee Edition: MC5 received their 5th nomination, the first back in 2003 and they’ve been nominated each of the last four years. Although Jon Landau (who produced one of the MC5’s albums who later become Bruce Springsteen’s manager and currently serves as the chairman of the Nominating Committee) and Tom Morello are obviously the MC5’s biggest advocates, I’m surprised they re-appeared on the ballot. For one thing, they finished last place on last year’s fan vote, which is usually the kiss of death for an artist’s likelihood to reappear on another ballot. I don’t know if their chances will be any better this year, but happy to see these proto-punk pioneers again. Beyond the MC5, only two other artists on this year’s ballot received more nominations: Kraftwerk and Chaka Khan. Like MC5, Kraftwerk was first nominated in 2003 and did not receive another nomination for a full decade. Starting in 2013, they received four more nominations in odd-numbered years, which made many Rock Hall watcher wonder if they would be on the ballot this year. They sure did. These German musical innovators are now tied with Chuck Willis for receiving the second most nominations in Hall’s history (Chic, of course, still holds the record with a whopping 11 nominations). Despite being the Rock Hall’s most egregious snub, Kraftwerk hasn’t resonated with the voters, so I’m unsure how they will fare on this ballot. Maybe this could finally be their year, who knows at this point. There have been reports surfacing online that Kraftwerk and MC5 could be inducted as Early Influences. This is a totally stupid and absurd idea that defeats the purpose of the Early Influence category. I say keep putting them on the ballot until they get inducted. They deserve it. Chaka Khan, on the other hand, received her sixth overall nomination. First nominated in 2012 with her band Rufus, Khan received nominations for her solo work (in 2016 and 2017) and again with Rufus (2018, 2019, 2020). Technically this is Rufus’ 4th nomination but Chaka Khan’s 6th overall nomination. I’m still hoping this funk icon gets her roses soon because I’m tired of seeing her as a bridesmaid each year.
Matt Cameron could be the next two-time Rock Hall inductee: In the aftermath of Stevie Nicks becoming the first woman to become the first female two-time Rock Hall inductee, many Rock Hall watchers were pushing for second inductions for Carole King and Tina Turner. Both women absolutely deserve another induction, but sadly they were overlooked once again by the Nominating Committee. In the aftermath of the 2020 nominee announcement, it’s been overlooked that Soundgarden’s drummer Matt Cameron could potentially become the next member of the esteemed “Clyde McPhatter Club” (named in honor of the late soul singer who became the Hall’s first double inductee in 1988). Inducted as a member of Pearl Jam in 2017, Soundgarden’s nomination was only a matter of time, especially in the wake of singer Chris Cornell’s death a few years ago. Currently polling at #3 on the Rock Hall’s fan vote, Soundgarden has a very strong chance to get inducted from this class. And most of us thought Dave Grohl was gonna be the next two-timer, but Cameron will likely beat him to the punch.
Neil Giraldo is nominated alongside wife Pat Benatar: I love Pat Benatar and I’m absolutely thrilled she’s been nominated for induction into the Rock Hall. I am beyond ecstatic she is currently at the top of the fan vote and, like I said before, it’s a middle finger to the Nominating Committee for putting only 3 women on this year’s ballot. She will most likely be the first woman to win the fan vote and, historically speaking, every winner of the fan vote has been inducted in that year’s class. Pat’s nearly a lock for induction at this point. However, I do not like that her husband and frequent collaborator Neil Giraldo is also included in her nomination. On her Rock Hall bio page, it says “Pat Benatar,” not “Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.” In all honesty, I think this could set a bad precedent for future inductions. Are producers, frequent collaborators, and session musicians gonna be included in solo artists’ nomination going forward? I just don’t like this in the slight bit. As a counterpoint, Trent Reznor is the only member of Nine Inch Nails included in their nomination. Sure, it’s a different situation and Reznor is technically the only consistent member of Nine Inch Nails (akin to Steely Dan), but I’m sure a case could be made to include others in Nine Inch Nails’ nomination. Perhaps the Rock Hall is throwing Benatar an olive branch so she would be willing to accept her award in-person and perform at the ceremony. It’s what HBO would want and the Rock Hall agreed.
Direct links and connections amongst the nominees: There are quite a few connections between several of this year’s nominees. Chaka Khan has two connections: Whitney Houston and Michael McDonald. Whitney Houston covered Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” and scored a hit which appeared on the blockbuster Bodyguard soundtrack. A side note: I sent out a Tweet the other day saying it’s amazing that both Khan and Whitney on the same on the ballot and how the former should perform that song if they both are inducted. Chaka Khan even liked the Tweet and that alone made my day. On a related, Khan just wrapped a tour with former Doobie Brothers’ singer Michael McDonald, so maybe those two could perform together again. Finally, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayll joined guitarist Wayne Kramer on the “MC50” tour, a supergroup considering of members from other rock bands (Fugazi, Faith No More, Zen Guerrilla) performing MC5 classics. If they are inducted together, I’d expect Thayll to partake in the MC5 tribute performance. There’s probably a few more connections, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind.
Delaying both the Announcement of the 2020 Inductees and the Annual Ceremony: At first, I was annoyed when I heard reports that the Rock Hall was going to delay announcing the inductees until January (usually that occurs in the second week of December). The online fan vote will be extended to next year too. Even more pressing, the Rock Hall decided to move the date of the ceremony to May 2. I wish the inductees were announced before the end of the year, but I’m glad the ceremony will take place in May. Why? Because I will definitely be able to attend the ceremony. At the college where I am employed, the semester ends in late April and it would have been hard to get time off to travel out-of-state. I was lucky this past year’s ceremony took place in Brooklyn, which is like an hour from where I currently live, and my only travel expenses were an Uber (to-and-from from my house to the train station) and a roundtrip on the LIRR. I know this sounds selfish, but I’m happy the ceremony is postponed. On a positive note, Rock Hall watchers get to talk about this Class for another month. A win-win in my book.
Those are my initial thoughts on the 2020 ballot for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this piece and opened some new discussions and topics on this year’s nominees. More blogs on the Class of 2020 are on the horizon, so stay tuned. Any thoughts or comments on this post? Respond in the comments section below or reach me at @NickDBambach on Twitter.
