Newt’s Rock Hall inducts Rainbow, BTO, Steve Earle, Judas Priest, Little Feat, Todd Rundgren, and Mahogany Rush

By Steve Newton

As you may aware, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame crapped the bed again yesterday, inducting the likes of Whitney Houston and Depeche Mode over nominees like Thin Lizzy, Soundgarden, Judas Priest, and the MC5.

So today Newt’s Rock Hall is gonna match their six additions, and add a seventh to replace T-Rex (because the Cleveland Rock Hall inducted Marc Bolan’s band yesterday, and the rules of Newt’s Rock Hall forbid any overlap between who’s in mine and who’s in Jann Wennerschnitzel’s.)

Rather than go on at length about how great the inductees in Newt’s Rock Hall’s Class of 2020 are, and why I chose them, I’m just gonna include one of my fave tunes by each of them. So here they are:

Rainbow: “A Light in the Black” (Rainbow Rising, 1976):

Bachman Turner Overdrive: “Second Hand” (Not Fragile, 1974):

Steve Earle: “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” (Exit 0, 1987):

Judas Priest: “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” (Screaming for Vengeance, 1982):

Little Feat: “Oh Atlanta” (Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, 1974):

Todd Rundgren: “I Saw the Light” (Something/Anything?, 1972):

Mahogany Rush: “The Answer” (Mahogany Rush 4, 1976):

There now. Doesn’t that beat ole Whitney Houston all to hell?

So to recap, here’s who Newt’s Rock Hall has inducted so far:

Class of 2015: Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, Link Wray, Iron Maiden, and Thin Lizzy (replacing Deep Purple in 2016 after the official Rock Hall finally inducted them).

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.

Class of 2019: Mountain, the Cramps, Roy Buchanan, Nazareth, the Georgia Satellites, the New York Dolls, and the Tragically Hip (yes, I’m Canadian).

Class of 2020: Rainbow, BTO, Steve Earle, Judas Priest, Little Feat, Todd Rundgren, and Mahogany Rush. (Mahogany Rush will replace T. Rex in the Class of 2018 because the official RRHOF finally inducted them this year, and they can’t be in both Rock Halls. Those are just the rules, people.)

Can you believe that none of the above bands and artists–other than T. Rex–are actually in the official, non-Newtonian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Shocking, right? Depressing, almost.

To hear my audio interviews with the legends of rock since 1982, become a patron of the Newt on Patreon. The interviews posted so far include Newt’s Rock Hall inductees Link Wray, Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, and Steve Harris), Blue Oyster Cult (Buck Dharma), Warren Zevon, Albert Collins, Ronnie Montrose, Gary Moore, Motorhead (Lemmy Kilmister), Mountain (Leslie West), the Cramps (Poisoon Ivy), Roy Buchanan, and the Tragically Hip (Gord Downie).