Bret Michaels Looks Ahead To Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame

I don't have a crystal ball and neither does Bret Michaels, but he's apparently looking ahead and positively anticipating a Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame nomination. Maybe I'm negative, but I never see Poison getting a nod. Quite frankly, I hope they do. Poison deserves a spot in the hall way more than the pile of pop and hip hop artists that get in each year. I also like that Bret is being positive here. So many rock and metal musicians just automatically diss the Hall. It's not very respectable to openly mock a lifetime achievement award.

Comments

[Gator]

Haven't commented on here in some time, but this topic never ceases to "get my dander up", so to speak.. Look, it's easy to bash the HOF (I leave the Rock & Roll part out as a protest, just as they often do...), and we all have our opinions on who, or often more to the point who should not, get in.

It's no secret they have been ignoring the R&R part of music for some time now. Last year was a step in the right direction, what with Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Chicago, and Steve Miller all finally getting in. Then they ignore Yes, and put NWA in there. I recognize NWA has their place in music history, but not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sorry. Too many bands have been ignored or looked over, and the nomination/induction process continues to be frustrating to comprehend, if not completely arbitrary and ridiculous...

I try to keep it relatively simple, and break it down more or less into 2 categories:

1) Bands / Acts who probably should be in: Journey, Pat Benatar, Yes, Bad Company, Moody Blues, Foreigner, George Thorogood, Duran Duran, and even Kool & the Gang (they keep nominating Chic and the Spinners regularly, so why not K&tG?)

2) Acts that reflect "our genre" of music. Except for rare cases (Metallica, AC/DC, VH, Alice Cooper, G n' R), hard rock & metal have been criminally overlooked. IMHO, induction starts and ends with Priest / Maiden / Scorpions. All deserving, yet all regularly screwed, and not even on the nomination list.

Next tier would be Dio / Motorhead. For obvious reasons.

Then, let's look at longevity / popularity (2 categories the HOF rarely takes into consideration...): Crue, Def Lep, Bon Jovi lead the way here. DL and BJ have actually been nominated at least once before, surprisingly. But nothing since... Joe Elliott basically told them to fuck off, so doubt that DL will get in anytime soon, if ever. And Nikki Sixx was told that their chances are right around zero at best, so don't even think about it... I actually wouldn't mind too much if Poison got in, but I try to be a realist and realize their chances are also slim to none. So well it's nice of Bret to come out and say what he did, still don't think he has a snowball's chance in hell... As for other bands we discuss here, I don't think most of them have a chance either. Possibly Ratt, Twisted Sister, Tesla, or Kix, based on longevity alone. Or possibly even Queensryche, Stryper or Slayer (all still releasing new music and touring regularly after 30+ years).

But on a final note, we have to be honest and realize that most of our old 80's glam and metal favorites will never get in. And that's fine. It doesn't diminish what we think about them to this day. If anything, the next wave of Rock-oriented acts to get in the HOF will be the 90's grunge-type bands. You can bet the house on Pearl Jam getting in the next year or 2. Nine Inch Nails will be in soon, and deservedly so (already been nominated recently). I see Rage Against the Machine getting in, for political reasons if nothing else... But if I had a vote, I would vote in Alice in Chains and/or Soundgarden before any of the previous acts I listed. I guess we will wait to see what happens.

Fun topic, and interesting to revisit at least annually...