Another year ends, and another batch of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are anointed worthy of remembrance in a building in Ohio, which looks like a mix between a Scientology conference retreat and the NAMM convention showroom.
Yes, the gateway to proclaimed Rock immortality is in Ohio. In Cleveland, no less, which Forbes ranked America’s Most Miserable City in 2010 – the perfect location for an utterly meaningless homogenization ceremony posing as musical authority. The list of this year’s induction omissions is almost as long as the tally of things wrong with the R&RHOF. And the selection process is industry-designated – the public gets one total vote out of more than 900 ballots cast. It’s hardly a precious sentimental protest to observe that this arrangement is rooted in the very sense of establishment that Rock was born to reject and rebel against. Yet somehow, these arbitrary designations bring the public in droves to what amounts to Hard Rock Cafe without the overpriced burgers, looking at dead relics of What Came Before under glass.
Skip the hype charades. We’re countering the groupthink ridiculousness with a mixtape playlist of omitted eligibles. While your dad plays air guitar in tighty whities and a fuckin’ fanny pack to the news that Tupac is in while Kraftwerk, the Pixies, Devo, Nick Cave, Motley Crue, Fugazi and Brian Eno aren’t, we’ll be over here listening to this goodness.
