Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Where's the Fire Marshall?

This is a perfect example of a great show almost being ruined by a bad venue. The venue in question, the Uptown Nightclub in downtown Oakland, is a nice place, but a horribly designed one. This would become apparent as the club filled with patrons for this jam packed show.



The headliner is the legendary punk band The Buzzcocks, a Manchester-based group formed in 1975 who were there for the birth of the punk movement in the UK. They are punk royalty, the architects and pioneers of punk-pop, influencing everyone from Husker Du to Green Day to Weezer to Blink-182.



Their legacy rests on the peerless run of singles they released from 1977 to 1979. Many of these were released on the classic compilation 'Singles Going Steady' in 1979, an essential artifact of the era.They carried on having serious chart hits in England until the early 80's. Their hot streak ended in about 1980, not helped by the fact that their label United Artists had been purchased by EMI, a label that didn't seem that interested in them. They broke up in 1981, but band leaders Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle reformed in 1989 and have been together ever since, touring and releasing respectable studio records.



While the punk movement in the UK was filled with rage and social commentary, the Buzzcocks lyrics tended to look inward and deal with the kind of emotional terrain that is universal and eternal. While other acts were calling for "Anarchy in the UK" or a "White Riot" or even to "Smash it Up", the songs of Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle asked questions like "What Do I Get?", "Ever Fallen In Love (with Someone You Shouldn't ve?)" and "Why Can't I Touch It?" (in the existential sense,not the physical, you pervs out there). These were songs of yearning, vulnerability and frustration. It is obvious that fellow Mancunian, Stephen Patrick Morrisey, was taking notes for his future band the Smiths. And I suppose the roots of emo-punk can be traced back here as well--unfortunately. I think these songs endure long after many others because the themes are timeless.



The Buzzcocks brought a certain melodic sense to punk's three chord rush, but also a serious dose of Krautrock that is not often seen in the groups they inspired. This German influence is apparent in the minimalist rhythms to certain songs, courtesy of their obsession with Can. There is also unexpected, and atypical for punk, bits of jagged guitar interplay which stretch out some songs in interesting ways that again betrays the Can influence.



Now back to the gig. The Uptown is a newish punk/alternative club that opened in 2007. The crux of this venue's problem is that it is two separate rooms crying out to be one room. Upon entering the club, one is met by a long (40 feet maybe) and fairly narrow space with a mirrored bar on one side and a brick wall on the other. On the other side of the brick wall is the performance space, also long and narrow. While this is fine when sparsely populated, when a sizable crowd gathers it can be problematic.



The problem lies in the fact that when the headliner takes the stage, the crowd for the entire place moves into the performance room. While the venue may not technically be oversold, the imbalance of too many people in one room and very few in the other made it seem like it was. When the Buzzcocks came on the room was hot, cramped and claustrophobic. That long and narrow room began to resemble a human corral. There were some desperate folks wading through the crowd looking for an exit and some fresh air. I am tall and not as susceptible to a crush of people, but I was very uncomfortable throughout.



The show itself was tremendous. On this tour the Buzzcocks are engaging in the latest trend for live band marketing:playing entire albums from start to finish. Tonight the Cocks do two: the first album 'Another Music In a Different Kitchen' and the second, 'Love Bites'. Pete Shelley looks like a middle age pub landlord these days,but he still has the voice and the energy to put the songs across. Steve Diggle may look like a middle age cabbie, but tonight he is a punk rock guitar god, flailing at his instrument and doing half windmills. They are ably supported by two younger musicians that make up their rhythm section.



They dispense with the two albums with nary a word spoken, other than occasionally calling out the song title. Both of these albums are considered punk classics, in a genre known more for singles than albums. Nevertheless, there is some filler on both records in my opinion, but they are mostly great. The crowd is loving it, but they go particularly nuts for any of the 'Singles Going Steady' tracks.'Kitchen' contains the singles sides "I Don't Mind" and "Autonomy", while 'Love Bites' has "Ever Fallen in Love" and "Just Lust". When the band returns for the encore they wheel out other 'Singles...' chestnuts in rapid succession: "Promises", "Love You More", "What Do I Get?", "Harmony In My Head" and finishing with "Orgasm Addict". The crowd is going ballistic at this point and is heartily singing along to the choruses of each.



As soon as "Orgasm Addict" ends, I am out the door and happy to have finally seen one of my favorite punk bands after 25 years, but also glad to be out of the Nightclub's sweat box of a performance space.

Enjoy Yourself: The Specials @ Club Nokia

It may have been 2010 and not 1980, but the reconstituted Specials proved they could still bring enough energy and verve to their performance at Club Nokia last week.



First thing I saw when I entered the hall was the sight of what looked like Terry Hall dj-ing at the front of the stage. Only this wasTerry Hall circa 1979, buzz cut and all, just like he looked in the "Dance Craze" movie, except with a more tan complexion. Oh, wait a minute,of course that can't be him. However, if that isn't Terry Hall progeny then I need my eyes and head examined. It turns out it is his son, Felix, who is playing tour dj and spinning reggae 45s only. Kid has his dad's temperament too: at one point some jerk took exception to all the reggae music and young Felix threatened to take him outside and smack him.



I arrived early enough to receive my wrist band allowing me into the pit area. I was nervous about this due to my bad experience at that Bad Manners show in Hollywood last year. I scanned the crowd anxiously for skinheads and piss-heads and general troublemakers of every stripe. There were a few benign looking skinheads out with their girl, but no gang of them or any sense of menace evident. That's a relief.



The Specials hit the stage and launched into the party starting anthem "Do The Dog". Six of the seven original members are present and accounted for: singer Terry Hall (absent from any Specials-related shows until last year), singer-guitarist Lynval Golding (who exuded the friendliest vibe and seemed just so thrilled and grateful for this reunion to be happening), singer-toaster Neville Staples (with the sleepy eyes and sly grin of someone who must be smoking some great weed), bassist Horace Panter (dapper in his suit and demonstrating the calm reserve of many great bass players), guitarist Roddy Radiation (big eared, suspenders-wearing rockabilly freak), and drummer John Bradbury (looking lean and hard behind the kit). The band were also supplemented with a keyboard player standing in for absent founder Jerry Dammers, as well as a three piece horn section on a few songs.



Seeing this line-up is a dream come true for me. The Specials actually played in Davis in either 1980 or 1981 at the UCD coffee house. I would have been 12 or 13 at the time and was a year or two away from discovering this band--probably in early 1982 is when I became aware of the whole 2-Tone thing. This show represents not only a reunion of six of the original seven Specials, but also Terry, Neville and Lynval who split from the band and formed Fun Boy Three in late 1981. The two original Specials albums as well as the two Fun Boy Three albums were a big deal for me during my high school years. No FB3 songs are being played tonight,of course, but it is a thrill to see that trio back on stage and performing again.



Terry Hall has always been one of pop music's strangest ducks. He always has a permanently dour expression on his face,yet he is also capable of being drolly hilarious. His participation is what really makes this a legitimate Specials reunion. The other five guys have worked together in various incarnations of the Specials (or sometimes as Special Beat with English Beat members) since the third wave ska revival of the 90's. What was missing was Terry's vocals and general presence to make it authentic.



Terry is center stage but he lays back and doesn't get too close to the front. His general demeanor is one of someone who would rather be anywhere else but on that stage. Coming from any other performer this might seem offensive, but with Mr. Hall it is part of the act and makes perfect sense. Terry demonstrated a bit of like father, like son early on in the show when he called out an idiot fan who was trying to "gob" like it was 1977: "If you do that again I'm going to come down there and smash your fookin' head in", much to the delight of the audience. Of course it is easy to be hard when you have nine band members and several crew members to back you up. Terry also facetiously announced to the crowd they should come back to the band's hotel (the celebrity swank-fest that is the Sunset Marquis) for an after show party. "Just tell them you're there for a reception, they will love it. I won't be there, I will be asleep in my room." He also said quite randomly at one point "I'm delicious".



The band was a real well-oiled machine as it tore through virtually the entire first album (no"Too Hot" or "Stupid Marriage") and exactly half of the second record. They also tackled the classic single "Ghost Town" and its b-side "Friday Night and Saturday Morning". The energy level, while perhaps not the same as in their prime, was high and the audience was enthusiastically skanking away and showing their appreciation the whole time. The performance was only marred by Roddy Radiation taking over lead vocals for "Concrete Jungle" while Terry took break. Roddy's guitar work was ferocious but the guy cannot sing. It would also have been nice to hear the cover songs from the 'Too Much Too Young' EP that they have performed at other shows.



Still, as Neville Staples, at age 50-something, ran across the tops of the band's monitors just like in the old days, the only thing I could do was to marvel at the fact that I was finally seeing this band after a mere 28 years and that the wait had been well worth it.



Set List

'Do The Dog'
'(Dawning Of A) New Era'
'Gangsters'
'It's Up To You'
'Monkey Man'
'Rat Race'
'Hey, Little Rich Girl'
'Blank Expression'
'Doesn't Make It Alright'
'Stupid Marriage'
'Concrete Jungle'
'Friday Night Saturday Morning'
'Stereotype'
'Man At C&A'
'A Message To You Rudy'
'Do Nothing'
'Little Bitch'
'Nite Klub'
'Too Much Too Young'
' You're Wondering Now'
--------------------------------------
'Ghost Town'
'Enjoy Yourself'

Peter Gabriel and The Soft Pack

Two current releases that I am really into.



1) Peter Gabriel :"Scratch My Back" is Gabriel's covers record. It has twelve tracks performed without drums or guitars, but plenty of piano and orchestra. Really lovely interpretations of older tracks/artists like Paul Simon ("Boy In The Bubble"), the Talking Heads ("Listening Wind") and Randy Newman ("I Think Its Going To Rain Today"), as well as Gabriel tackling such younger/newer tracks and artists as Bon Iver ("Flume"), Elbow ("Mirrorball") and Arcade Fire ("My Body Is A Cage").



Mood is very somber, though " The Book Of Love" (Magnetic Fields song) and "Power Of The Heart" (Lou Reed song I was unfamiliar with) provide some uplift and are both very powerful. This is not what I would call a sunny day record. The tone is very hushed throughout, the vocals at times so conversational that it seems like Pete is not having to exert himself too hard to actually sing. On the whole, it is a subtle and restrained work that I am really digging and I highly recommend it.



2) The Soft Pack: The self-titled album by this San Diego band formerly known as the Muslims is a real grab bag of influences from 60's garage rock, 70's punk and 80's alternative. I suppose one might rate them as a Strokes-ish type band, but I have to say that this debut is short and too the point with no excess filler. All the songs are catchy as hell and it is rare for me to come away from listening to an indie rock release where I can say that the whole thing was good to great.



This band has been buzzed about since late 2008. Last year I read about them in the LA Weekly as the "Pick of the Week" for their show at the Echo (in Echo Park). I went to check them out, though for such a supposedly buzzed about band they attracted maybe 50 people. It was a Wednesday, but still, out of population of 12.9 in the LA Metro area it is kind of surprising. This would hardly be the first time I experienced this in LA. If you were not the hipster band of the moment, often bands could look forward to the kind of apathy and low attendance that I have experienced so many times in Sacramento. The band was good, especially the rhythm section--really tight. Not the most dynamic performers in the world, but then again the audience was small and not too fired up.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nZGv8VTBVE This is a fan video for Peter Gabriel's "The Book Of Love". As soon as I heard it I thought there must be a music supervisor scrambling to get this included in a TV show. Turns out I was right: I read that it was included in the final episode of "Scrubs", not a show I have ever watched or was too keen on.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgU2NhcoqWg This is video for The Soft Pack's "C'Mon".

Bomp #20-- January 79'--Penultimate Issue

These five photos are taken from the January 1979 issue Bomp! magazine. I found a copy in a local Davis comic book and hobby store the other day. It is a document of what was an exciting time in popular music.



Published by Greg Shaw, Bomp! specialized in punk, power-pop, new wave and 60's garage and Brit Invasion influenced guitar rock. There was also a record label called Bomp! that released similar fare. It documents an time in which the 45, at least for this type of music, became king again and three minute manic pop thrills of guitar, melody and energy came to stimulate a soporific music scene dominated by the Bostons, Eagles and Yeses of the day. You of course know all this.



Publication of Bomp! began in 1970 and ran until Bomp! number 21 in 1979. That make this the second to last issue they ever published. That's a shame as it looks pretty jam-packed with cool stuff to me, including a very detailed discograghy of British Beat groups. This issue covers the letter F (Tony Fabian) to Fi (First Gear); it's a shame they were not able to complete it.



#1: Nick Lowe adorns the cover and the headline reads, "Nick Lowe Insults Everybody. An Outrageous Interview". The article doesn't quite live up to that hype, but Nick is definitely opinionated. These were booze and what have you days for him.



He does say that his favorite bands as a teen were the Small Faces and the Move. He also liked the Creation and the Who. He says "I used to go see the Small Faces in the mod era, and I had a scooter and spikey haircut and the kids used to go and dress up in the new clothes. That's the thing with the New Wave, that's part of the fun of it, the clothes."



Another quote: "Oh, Jimmy Page, wanker. He hasn't played a good solo for f-ing years. He's just a wanker"



On the Damned: "When I first met the Damned, I hated their group. I thought they were terrible but it was the fact that other musicians I knew hated them as well. They just didn't think they were a shitty group, they hated them. I thought, well, any group that can stir that emotion up in people must have something going for them so I started going around with them and going to see a few gigs and I changed my mind about them."



Praise for Cheap Trick: "Cheap Trick are the best group I've seen in years. They're great because they've got a sense of humor. There's so many people who take themselves seriously. Cheap Trick are tight. They got it all covered. They've got two pretty boys and two bozos. It works perfectly...I'd really like to work with them."



#2: The Human Being Record Chart-- a chart compiled from fan votes. The Ramones are all over the singles chart. Many punk and new wave gems mixed in with Cheap Trick, the Cars and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Nice to see the Jam on there at #34. I have most of these gems, though I don't know the Pleasers and the Zones, both Arista acts. Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City" looks out of place here.That album chart is loaded with classics.



Such a great time for music back then. This is from a period that I wouldn't discover for another 3 to 5 years. Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, the Clash, the Jam and Nick Lowe came first, around 1982 or 83'. I see no Joe Jackson on this chart: his first two albums were popular, accessible and favorites of mine.They were all among the more commercially successful of the "New Wave" and college student staples of the time, Davis being no exception. The Buzzcocks, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and some of the more abrasive stuff was more 1984 and 85' for me. The Cars, Cheap Trick and Tom Petty would actually get played on true commercial rock stations. They kind of had their feet in different camps. I was always aware of them, knew the radio hits and liked them I suppose; I wouldn't truly appreciate them until years later.



#3,4,5: Full page adds from the era. The add proclaiming "Take No Prisoners" the best live album of 1978 seems very funny now. That album was notorious for Lou telling bad jokes and harassing rock critic Robert Christgau, who was in the audience.



Anyway, thought you might dig it.

Pirate Radio

I saw "Pirate Radio" (or as it was known by its terrible UK title "The Boat That Rocked") here in Davis and it was the kind of light-weight fare that I could have waited to see on video. I love the era, the music,and the subject matter, but the treatment was sort of like a late 60's comedic "romp" with a stellar cast of actors playing one dimensional characters. There are a couple of plot twists I found to be quite hokey and predictable. Some of the humor played out like a bad sit-com.



Great cast. Phillip Seymour Hoffman gets a couple of good scenes. Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh,Rhys Ifans-- all shine, as to be expected. Rhys Ifans looks dead on Liam Gallagher; he even shouts "I'm going to live forever" at one point. The soundtrack was cool, though a touch predictable. Then again, I'm sure it was fairly accurate as to what was being played on these stations, considering that the BBC allowed so few hours in a week for any pop music to be played. Of course I was playing amateur music supervisor and it did bother me when I saw them cue up an A&M record with the late 70's logo in what was supposedly 1967 or 68'. There were, no doubt, some other anachronisms, but probably only the kind that geeks like me would care about.



It was written and directed by the same guy (Richard Curtis) who created (either as screenwriter and/or director) "Notting Hill", "Four Weddings and a Funeral" ,"Love Actually" and "Bridget Jones Diary". All of those films are as superficial and cutesy as any Hollywood rom-com, though they are not without their charms if one is in the mood for that. He is also the guy who wrote for all the "Black Adder" and "Mr. Bean" shows with Rowan Atkinson, so he certainly has a great track record.



I just wish the film was a bit more grounded in reality and had believable situations and characters. My mother says there was a pirate radio station that pre-dates the British ones called Radio Nord (North) that she listened to in Sweden in 1961' and 62'. The boat was stationed somewhere offshore from Sweden in the Baltic Sea and was only operational for less than a year. I would love to hear more about that tale and of the British ships like Radio Caroline.



I'm sure there is a great story to be told, unfortunately, this fictional account ain't it.

Xmas in October: Bob Dylan's "Christmas In The Heart"

I can handle Christmas songs for approximately one week, that being the week of Christmas itself. There are some nice, comforting songs that evoke the holiday spirit, even if one lives in an environment lacking snow or much change of season--like Davis, Sac or LA. These songs are part of an annual tradition and therefore can give one a Proustian link to Christmases and times past. I'm down with that.Give me Bing doing "White Christmas", "I'll Be Home For Christmas" or "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy" (with David Bowie);Nat doing "The Christmas Song";Elvis doing "Blue Christmas" or Charles Brown crooning "Please Come Home For Christmas" once or twice during that week and I'm a happy guy. Hey, I can even handle a version or two of "Silent Night", or if I have dipped into the eggnog, even a little "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".



The rock era has given us some gems like Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph", John & Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War is Over) ( which usually gets me,except when Yoko starts her warbling), The Pretenders "2000 Miles", and of course what might be my favorite Xmas song of all, The Pogues "Fairytale of New York"--best opening line ever: "It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank...".



Unfortunately, the Christmas season also means I have to endure the sheer torture of such yuletide classics as "Frosty the Snowman", "The Chipmunk Song", "Feliz Navidad","Jingle Bell Rock", "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Winter Wonderland". The modern rock era is responsible for The Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping", which can irritate the hell out of me,too. I know this makes me sound Scrooge-like, but no amount of yearly repetition or the spirit of the season can make me appreciate this treacly crap. Let us not forget that most of these beloved classics are forms of 20th century pop music--tin pan alley stuff written to cash in on the holiday market.



The Christmas market being so potentially lucrative, and frankly, so easy to try and capitalize on--sing 10 or 12 trad Christmas tunes and you got yourself an album--that seemingly everyone has tried their hand at a Christmas album. Even being Jewish does not necessarily exclude one from the rush for Xmas bucks: Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, Mel Torme, Barry Manilow. Even more interesting is that every one of the following Christmas songs have Jewish authors:

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Santa Baby
Holly Jolly Christmas
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Silver Bells
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Sleigh Ride
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
White Christmas






Some great stuff here, as well as some of the songs I can't stand. Point being, professional songwriters such as Sammy Cahn, Irving Berlin and Johnny Marks knew an opportunity when they saw it. Not to say they couldn't genuinely get into the holiday spirit themselves, but bottom line is that they were composing songs for a Christian holiday.



Which I suppose brings us finally to Bob. Bob's faith is of no relevance to me. His Bobness (or anyone else for that matter) can record an album of Koranic chants for all I care. It is, after all, allegedly a free country. I don't buy into the theory that it is a sly joke on Bob's part either. There is a segment of Bob obsessives who are always trying to second-guess their hero. They are of the belief that Bob is always just putting us on, that his god-like powers would naturally prevent him from unintentional blundering and that all of these bizarre moves he has made over the years are just Bob's way of amusing himself. I disagree, I believe that the he really does sing like sh*t these days, has made bad albums,chosen dreadful movies to be involved with,done Victoria's Secret ads for the money and not the irony and generally does things because he wants to do them (or maybe goes along with something his management cooked up) with total disregard for his so-called mystique or what his fans might think.



Now he puts out this Christmas record. What can you say? It is being done for charity and will most certainly generate a lot of cash and awareness for the Feeding America organization, which I'm sure is a worthy cause.The music? Almost beside the point. In recent years Bob has become increasingly fascinated with music of the first half of the 20th century; you heard this on his radio show every week. Growing up in Minnesota in the 40s and 50s he would have heard most of the songs he covers here with regularity.Yes, this also includes some traditional songs which may be a couple hundred years old and not artifacts of the 20th century. Maybe as an act of nostalgia he has elected to record some of these and I can only see it as an act of genuine affection for songs that remind him of his youth. He is not suited to sing these songs, that's for sure. The arrangements are pretty standard, which when you consider this is a Bob Dylan record, make it sound totally incongruous. Anything with those female backing vocalists sounds ridiculous and laughable to my ears. Other selections, like "The Christmas Blues" work better--Bob being more in his element and his band lending sympathetic backing.



I like a lot of unconventional vocalists: Bob, Tom Waits, Marianne Faithful, Edwyn Collins, Shane MacGowan, etc. I don't need technical perfection, I will take feel and passion over it most of the time. However, I generally don't expect these and other oddball vocalists to tackle holiday classics as earnestly as Bob does. I tend to think of those kind of singers being a little too cool to tackle that kind of material anyway. The "Very Special Christmas" compilation series (also for charity) has spotlighted all manner of pop, rock, R&B and even rap artists tackling Christmas standards and no one is the worse off for it. They are also albums I would never dream of owning or playing. Why on earth would I ever want to hear Michael Bolton sing "White Christmas" or Sheryl Crow do "Blue Christmas"?



All I can say is that if there was ever a superfluous addition to the Dylan catalogue, this is it. And I'm even taking "Dylan and the Dead", "Dylan" (1973 revenge-exploitation release by Columbia for Bob's defection to Asylum for two albums), "MTV Unplugged" and "Under the Red Sky" into account here. But who cares what I think. Bob freaks own everything else anyway and will certainly pick this up to be completists. I have to wonder how much this disc will ever actually be played,though.

Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame Nominees 2010

The usual R&R Hall o' Fame nominee nonsense begins again. Another list of obvious and questionable contenders. Never know what the 500 person voting committee will do.



There are certain folks past and present (Seymour Stein, Amhet Ertegun) who have held a lot of influence and have gotten perhaps some less deserving people in while other, seminal artists remain shut out. Alice Cooper, The Stooges, The New York Dolls not in Hall, but Percy Sledge and Ritchie Valens are? I am always baffled by exactly what the criteria is to get into this goofy museum. It seems having the right lobbyists helps.



Would love to see such cult-ish types as Love and The Zombies in there, but I am probably dreaming.



The list:



KISS-- Love em' or hate em', they should have been in there long ago.



Genesis-- Same as above.



Stooges-- The godfathers of punk not in Hall, but Sex Pistols and Ramones (both directly influnenced by Iggy and co.) are? C'mon, dummies!



Laura Nyro-- Great songwriter. Cult-ish type artist who is certainly worthy, but not exactly rock and roll. If she makes it, then where is Harry Nilsson?



The Chantels-- Output is pretty slight, even by girl group standards, though they are credited with being R&R's first great female group.



The Hollies-- Great and underappreciated 60's pop group who had tons of hits. If they make it, well deserved.



Donna Summer-- This is disco or R&B, but the "Rock and Roll" moniker hardly seems to apply for this organisation. Miles Davis is in there, for god sakes! Miss Summer certainly sold a ton of disco records in her time.



ABBA-- Again, not what one would call Rock and Roll, but considering they have sold more records than anyone but the Beatles and the fact they cranked out a string of pop classics that for better and worse continue to influence pop music, they should be a shoo-in. If Madonna is in there, then ABBA should definitely be in there.



Red Hot Chili Peppers-- This one may ruffle a few feathers too, but they have had a 25 year career of critical and commercial success. I know, there are those who hate them with a passion, but I have liked some of their stuff and the musicianship from Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith is phenomenal. Now if the voting committee can just forget about the socks on cocks episodes or some of Anthony Kiedis' raps, they should be in there.



LL Cool J-- WTF. Another example of the East Coast bias of this organisation. How many rap acts are you going to include in this thing? And if I had to pick 5 or 10 of them for inclusion, I don't think Ladies Love (who has had his moments) would be one of them. Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC are in. Wouldn't The Beastie Boys or Public Enemy be the most obvious next choice?



Darlene Love-- Great girl group singer. Not sure she has accomplished enough to get in, but you never know.



Jimmy Cliff-- This would make reggae artist number two in the hall behind you-know-who. If called upon to induct another reggae artist,would not be my next logical pick. That would probably be Toots & the Maytals. He had a few gems in the early 70's and helped to popularize reggae on an international level, but I just don't think his work warrants inclusion here.



Why should we care? Isn't this just a tourist trap that honors a very populist history of, well if not exactly rock and roll, at least popular music of the last 50-odd years. At least the Hall serves the functions of taking this music seriously and commemorates some of the old-timers. You and I know who Little Richard, Chuck Berry,Jerry Lee Lewis and so on are, but future generations may need some gudiance.

Will these future generations care about these artists or will they be relevant years from now or will they be like those old Baseball Hall of Fame players like Pie Traynor and Tris Speaker whom fewer and fewer people remember seeing and whose careers are only important to historians? At least these Hall of Fame members have something that can always be experienced in the here and now: their music.