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| moy |
Keef, Bruce to Do Honors at Rock Hall of Fame
Thu February 19, 2004 08:41 PM ET
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys and Tom Petty are among the artists who will be on hand to induct the 2004 class into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15.
Rolling Stones guitarist Richards, a Hall of Famer since 1989, will be on hand to enshrine ZZ Top, who have opened for the Stones on several occasions.
Springsteen, a 1999 inductee, will introduce Jackson Browne at this year's event. Dave Matthews will do the honors for Traffic, while Petty and Jeff Lynne will induct their late Traveling Wilburys bandmate George Harrison. Keys will be joined by hip-hop duo OutKast to welcome Prince.
Steve Winwood has pledged that Traffic will perform at the event, as has inductee Bob Seger. Also set to be inducted is harmony soul act the Dells and, as a non-performer, Rolling Stone publisher Jann S. Wenner.
The ceremony will take place at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and will be taped for a VH1 special that will premiere March 21 on the music channel.
Reuters/Billboard
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| FPM C10 |
Ack. They should shut that place DOWN. Do ANY of these acts being enshrined DESERVE it? ZZ Top is a blues-based novelty act wearing prospector beards, and it is completely beneath Keith's status as a TRUE Hall of Famer to have anything to do with their induction. You know, when he got up and talked about Chuck Berry, there was some resonance there. What can he possibly say about ZZ Top? "Er, they gave me a guitar last year, so here I am."
Traffic was a genuinely great band at times, but most of their greatness was too cerebral for rock & roll in general. I don't recall them being too popular when they were together, except among obscurists like me. It seems backwards to recognize them now. Steve Winwood is the only one who really IS Hall of Fame material, and even he diluted his credibility with his horribly homogenized 80s adult contemporary hits. I prefer to remember him as the wunderkind who channeled Ray Charles when he was in his teens.
I saw Traffic on their last official go-round, about '74. They were just a 4-piece, and one of those pieces was a flute, so when Winwood played guitar (his playing is excellent and overshadowed by his other talents)there was no keyboard, and vice versa. Although there were some great moments (my favorite being the sparse, acoustic medieval ballad "John Barleycorn Must Die"), it was mostly summed up by one of their more recent songs: "Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired".
When Winwood says Traffic will play, does he mean with Dave Mason? Because otherwise it's just him and Jim Capaldi (Chris Wood is dead), and THEY got back together in the 90s and NOBODY noticed or cared. And what gas station has Dave Mason been working at for the last few deccades? Yawn. Snore.
PRINCE. Now Prince is someone I have respect for, actually. He rubs some people the wrong way, but his talent is as big as he isn't. But is it Rock & Roll? I think he should be in some funky Funk Hall of Fame, right beside James Brown and George Clinton. (If their parole officers allow them to attend.)Was Alicia Keyes even born when he was big?
The people who DESERVE to be in are already IN. Please stop, or our children will end up with the hideous spectacle of Justin Timberlake being sworn in both as a solo act and a member of a group - like George Harrison this year. Come ON. That's a pity vote. He had ONE big hit, which he stole from the Chiffons or whoever, and the rest of his career as a krishna-based adult pop star was NOT popular OR rock & roll. (Is it comparable to his OTHER induction, as a Beatle? Er....NO.) It's fitting that he's being sworn in by Jeff Lynn, who (as producer and best friend) squeezed every bit of spunk out of everything Harrison attempted for most of his life. Is ELO in the HOF yet? They shouldn't be - they were fucking horrible - but they will be.
OK, I forget who else is even being honored this year. Let me just sum up by saying: Burn Down The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame!
Oh....you can't, it's all glass. OK, then throw a brick through it! |
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| glencar |
FPM, good post overall. ZZ Top was fun but did they do anything to affect rock & roll? No. Prince should be in there because he actually had an impact & he made some damned good music. Traffic was good but I'm surprised they're only getting in now. Is it some sort of "last chance" entry? And points to you for the Geo. Harrison thing. The Concert For Bangladesh will get mentioned frequently because that's worth more than anything else he did post-Beatles. Will Ringo get in after he dies? |
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