I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy
Actually, I heard the news on Monday, but who wants to miss the op to use a great Beatles reference?
R.E.M., Van Halen, the Stooges and Patti Smith are among the nine acts on the ballot for the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, to be held March 12 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Also on the ballot are the Dave Clark Five, Chic, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Joe Tex and the Ronettes.
Five artists will be chosen for the final list of inductees, to be announced in January. To be eligible for induction, the 2007 class had to release their first single no later than 1981.
Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie, Miles Davis and record moguls Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were enshrined in the Hall earlier this year.
Billboard.com
My choice for this year’s class: R.E.M., Stooges, Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and a toss-up between the rest. Can you imagine the jam with that group? I must be there … but tickets are $2,000 each, and Mike Mills has yet to return my calls.
I first saw R.E.M. in September 1980, at the 688 Club. At the time, they were just another fun local band. It took another three years before they fully captured my heart and became the greatest loves of my life. And there they’ve stayed, even after Up and Aftermath (both decent albums with moments of brilliance, but definitely not their best work).
Ah, 688. Probably my favorite music club of all time. It’s long gone … but I still gaze lovingly and longingly at the address whenever I drive down Spring Street. Good times and good bands in that club — some well-known, some never heard from again. If you watch closely, Paul Rudd (and who doesn’t watch him closely?) is wearing a 688 T-shirt in Clueless. I’ve seen fellow Atlanta native David Cross wear his on “Celebrity Poker Showdown.”
I guess that petition drive for Warren Zevon didn’t pan out.
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Labels: 688, music, Patti Smith, R.E.M.
posted by Cup @ 5:17 AM
26 comments
26 Comments:
Hi Beth. Thanks for the visit and I'm sending you a rainbow..maybe you've got it already!?
You must have a huge collection of music and T-shirts from concerts! What is your job that you get to go to so many and know so much about every group there ever was? (I missed it along the way) You know more than anyone I know!
Mother, my job is as far removed from the groovy world of music as can be. I just listen to and read up on and talk about music all the time. Yes, you could say it's an obsession. But a lovely one.
Keeping a (very desperate) eye out for that rainbow.
I'll be the first to back your picks. I saw Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five at the 1989 Jazz Fest in New Orleans. My friend Kevin was trying to break dance on the cardboard set up in front of the stage for that purpose. Good times. Of the remaining nominees, I'd vote for Van Halen just for the ensuing train wreck when Diamond Dave has to exist in the same space with the rest of the band.
It really bothers me that Lynyrd Skynyrd is already in the Hall of Fame but REM isn't. Where's the justice in that?
I think you're stepping out too far in hoping the "establishment" would enshrine two punk bands at the same time - even though Patti and Iggy certainly deserve it. But I just know that REM will make it this time because it's just the right thing to do.
Giz...it's all in the timing. Skynyrd had about a 10-year head start on R.E.M.
It's the same reason that the Beatles and Stones didn't get in the inaugural year of the Hall. They started from the beginning, chronologically (Elvis, Chuck Berry, etc.). They've been gradually moving forward ever since.
R.E.M. is a can't-miss for their first ballot (if not, they should fireb*mb the whole place).
DJ CAYENNE: I love Diamond Dave-era Van Halen ... but I'd hate to lose Patti or the Stooges to them. They're probably a shoe-in, though.
GIZMOROX: Bands and musicians aren't eligible until 25 years after their first release ... and R.E.M.'s Chronic Town EP was recorded in 1981 (released in 1981 or 1982? I can't remember.) But, just on principle, it bothers me that Skynyrd's in there; makes me sudder.
KEITH: I had the same though you did. But, c'mon, Patti and the Stooges? That would ROCK.
HAAHNSTER: You gonna join me on the fireb*mb protest?
BTW, DJ Cayenne, I'm very jealous that you saw them at that Jazz Fest. I've only made one so far, in 1995. Time for another roadtrip this spring.
Nile Rodgers also produced records for INXS and the B-52's.
I agree about REM. And Beth, if you ask Mike Mills real nice, he'd probably would say yes. My old girlfriend Karol managed to get backstage with a friend of hers at an REM show in Bloomington, Indiana in the eighties. Mike asked her and her friend to go to his hotel with him. She declined.
Van Halen to me ceased to exist when David Lee Roth left. Sammy Hagar was a right-wing fucktard (thanks Lu!)
BEN: I could see Nile Rodgers himself being inducted more than Chic ... although I do quite love the band. I just can't see them getting in before Patti Smith or The Stooges.
JOHNNY YEN: Yeah, I've heard many of those Mike Mills stories; I think he's having a good time. And I'm with you on the VH thing -- it's David Lee Roth or nothing.
I saw Van Halen when they toured with the Stones in '78. What a horrible show. David Lee is such a prick. Just can't get passed it.
Although the thought of him being on stage with Little Eddie would certainly be worth a watch!
the crappy thing about the baseball hall of fame is that the voters -- most of them pasty-white disgruntled male baseball writers -- apportion out votes like the resentful turds they are, making deserving candidates wait a few years or more until they finally get the required total for induction. it's their way of getting back at the players, who made more money, had more fame, and got more girls than they ever did. i'm not sure what the R&RHoF's motives are -- has Warren not been dead long enough yet to really give the show's TV ratings a big bump? -- but there's not a rock'n'roll fan on earth who doesn't love at least one of his songs. can you say that about anyone else? boo.
KEITH: Did you hear that Wolfgang Van Halen -- Eddie and Valerie's boy -- has joined the band as their bass player?
SCHMECKMAN: You scored some major Cup points, sweet man, with the Zevon rant. I hope you signed the petition. (Oh, and anyone reading this blog should be saying "Well, I love at least one R.E.M. song.") I think I'll start a major Zevon campaign next year. Interesting about the Baseball Hall of Fame; you sure know your sports.
You know, I have a bootleg of their that may date from about the same time as that show you saw. If you want it, let me know. You may already have it, though. It's an excellent recording for that era too.
GRANT: I may have that bootleg, but let's not take chances here. You can contact me at the e-mail address on the navbar.
I remember taking Mike, Wanda, Tana, Garry H to 688 a million years ago. Mike really liked it, especially some of the clientel that hung out at 688. Wanda, Tana, and Garry thought the people there were really weird. I thought I was so cool and hip to know about the club at such a young age.
$2,000.00 to get in? Ouch!
R.E.M., Patti and The Stooges!!!
(and The Monkees as a write in...)
Wow...well If I had $2000 and travel money I would LOOOOOVE to go. Patti Smith is the BOMB. God I love her!
Anyone who was anyone in the early 80's went to the 688 club. I don't think there are any clubs like that around anymore. I was good friends with people from Shamrock and had a chance to see the Indigo Girls before they were famous. It was always fabulous going to little 5 points to see them. Small venues are always fun. I didn't go to UGA so I was kind of late getting into REM. Somehow I did fall into the B-52's web. I love them. They are my alltime favorites.
Good luck to REM. Loved Chic - Niles. Loved his work with the B's.
Beth-- yeah, can't say as I blame him-- as my late friend Mark said, "If I were rich and famous, I could disappoint a LOT of people!"
There is nothing more disturbing then every year the list of nominees come out. It's just a bloated pretentious dinner hosted by Jann Wenner and his rich posse(even the Rolling Stone employees have to pay to attend). The list of people who vote are critics and music industry people who make it onto Jann's list. If you do anything to piss him off, your off the voting list.
R.E.M. and the rest of that list stand on their own, they don't need an induction ceremony, where no doubt Bruce Springsteen will wind up in the Jam session. Besides, are you really that excited to see Mike Mills in a tuxedo. Surely your collection of rock tshirts to your favorite band is a much better honor to R.E.M. than the Hall of fame.
RCOFCHS: You were always hip. I loved 688.
GLASSMEOW: Yep, $2K. I'm praying for a lottery windfall.
MELLOWLEE: I love Patti, too. She's Michael Stipe's biggest influence, so it would be cool for them to be inducted together.
DJ ANDI: Did you ever go to the Little Five Points Pub or The Point? Great clubs, also long gone. I guess The Earl is the closest we have to those ...
JOHNNY YEN: Your late friend Mark sounds like he was an interesting guy.
KIM: Yes, I'd be that excited to see Mike Mills (although I don't really see him wearing a tuxedo) and the rest of the guys. I went to their induction ceremony for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame a couple of months ago, and it meant a lot to me since the band means a lot to me.
It would be a helluva show if all your picks got in but I agree that R.E.M. seems a shoe in Beth. Maybe we should start a petition to get Mike Mills to put you on the list. You deserve it. I'm sure if pressed, everyone on earth might love 2 of their songs. Patti, Iggy, Niles, put em all in there and blend.
I know, Jeffrey-- just shocking.
Yes, Beth, Mark was a wonderful and unique person. I miss him terribly.
You should write a post about him one day, Johnny Yen.
(And I'm ignoring Jeffrey this weekend.)
The challenge in all of this is genre, generation and opportunity.
Rock n Roll has so many sub-genre's, cross-overs and influences that any one good band, singer, promoter or producer has a chance of being named. I can imagine that recognizing only a few on a yearly basis is agonizing.
Those who are older have seen it develop and blossom and understand why some groups make it over others. For instance Lynerd Skynerd over REM. Keith's stance was correct in my opinion. Both groups were highly influencial in introducing a sub-genre, with original songs that are well loved and popular, but at different times.
I wouldn't want to be the one to have to choose!
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