By Steve Newton
The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s class of 2019 were announced recently and, as expected, Jann Wenner and the other dimwits in charge of the place proved themselves jackasses of the highest order.
For the past eight years I’ve been keeping tabs on the RRHOF’s shameful derelictions of duty in the section of my blog called This Is Where We Slag the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you’ve checked it out you’ll know that there’s been three main rockers who I’ve been adamant deserve inclusion, namely Johnny Winter, Link Wray, and Rory Gallagher. Between the three of them, they’ve been illegible for induction for decades, yet are constantly overlooked.
What the hell is wrong with people?
Hasn’t Wenner ever tossed on Still Alive and Well and got the party started? Hasn’t he ever grooved to the groundbreaking riff of “Rumble”? Does he even know that there’s a phenomenal live album called Irish Tour ’74 out there?
Here’s this year’s nominees, in alphabetical order: Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, John Prine, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Roxy Music, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Stevie Nicks, the Cure, the Zombies, and Todd Rundgren.
Of those 15 I seriously can’t think of any that are more qualified for induction than Johnny, Link, and Rory. The MC5 and Todd Rundgren are probably the most worthy, and Chaka Khan can sing her ass off. Roxy Music had some great albums in the ’70s. But Janet Jackson? Def Leppard? LL Cool J? The Cure? Is there anyone on the face of this earth with a modicum of musical knowledge who could declare with a straight face that those acts are more deserving of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame than Johnny Winter, Link Wray, and Rory Gallagher?
It’s total bullshit, I’m sure you’ll agree. I mean, these are the same people how inducted Bon Jovi last year.
Bon…freakin’…Jovi.
Not Johnny Winter, Link Wray, or Rory Gallagher.
Bon…freakin’…Jovi.
As you may know, since 2015 I’ve been inducting my own fave artists into my own Newt’s Rock Hall:
Class of 2015: Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, Link Wray, Iron Maiden, and Thin Lizzy (replacing Deep Purple).
Class of 2016: Blue Oyster Cult, Mott the Hoople, UFO, Ten Years After, and Robin Trower.
Class of 2017: Warren Zevon, Albert Collins, Jethro Tull, Ronnie Montrose, Rick Derringer, and Gary Moore.
Class of 2018: Motörhead, T. Rex, Free, the MC5, Humble Pie, and the J. Geils Band.
You may also know that anyone already in the official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–or who is subsequently added–is automatically disqualified from being in Newt’s Rock Hall. It’s strictly for the artists Jann Wenner and his nimrod buddies refuse to acknowledge, which is why I had to remove my Class of 2015 inductee, Deep Purple, and install Thin Lizzy, when the RRHOF finally pulled its head out of its ass long enough to induct Purple a year later.
The RRHOF will announce its inductees for the Class of 2019 sometime in December, so without further adieu, here’s my 15 nominees for Newt’s Rock Hall, Class of 2019:
The New York Dolls, Mountain, the Cramps, Wishbone Ash, Dick Dale, the Georgia Satellites, the Doobie Brothers, Nazareth, Little Feat, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Badfinger, the Black Crowes, the Replacements, and the Tragically Hip (yes, I’m Canadian).
I’ll announce my winners right after that other Rock Hall announces theirs (they usually choose five or six) in December. So get your votes in!
They are too obsessed with putting up a diverse line up for an induction show and don’t care at all about who really represents rock and roll and should be in there.
I am a huge rory fan and agree with your three. But of this years nominations, Def Leppard deserves it more than any others for this alone:
As one of the world’s best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide,[8] and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria.[9] They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S.[10][11