Friday, 26 June 2015

YES: Axing a third of Rock Hall nominating panel imperils those who created rock (commentary)

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Rock fans already upset that groundbreaking bands like Yes, Chicago, the Moody Blues, Grand Funk and the J. Geils Band are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have even greater reason to be disgruntled.

The Rock Hall Foundation has bumped as many as 16 of the 42 members of the nominating committee, according to a report from Billboard and confirmed – anonymously – by some of those ousted.

The majority of those who've been given their walking papers are the "old-timers'' who have long advocated for R&B pioneers and the older bands, like the ones I mentioned, as well as Deep Purple, King Crimson, Chubby Checker, Todd Rundgren, the Cars and even Bon Jovi.
According to Billboard, "the move has wiped out more than half of the Hall's Early Rock and R&B Influencers subcommittee.'' Billboard said at least four of the seven members have been shown the virtual door.

Additionally, the move seems to coincide with a push by Rolling Stone editor and Hall of Fame co-founder Jann Wenner to skew the induction process to younger audiences. A report from Showbiz411 blogger Roger Friedman says Wenner may use the realignment to help with his own push to allow bands who've only been around for 20 years to be eligible for enshrinement. Currently, a band or artist becomes eligible 25 years after the first recording.

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