Chris Griffy | Music Examiner
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The list of 2012 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been announced. They include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses, Donovan, Laura Nyro, The Beastie Boys, and Freddie King. As always, the list has generated much more talk about who was not included than who was. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a host of bands who aren’t inductees who so obviously should be that most people don’t even know they aren’t already in.
Here is a list of who we see as the biggest snubs in Rock Hall history:
Kiss
Kiss is one of the world’s most polarizing bands. People either love them or hate them and there is very little middle ground. Yes, they’re extremely derivative and we were opposed to their inclusion until the two bands they cribbed their gimmick from, Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper, were in. But both now are and it’s time for Kiss to be as well. We consider a proper Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act to be one that combines longevity, sales, and influence. Kiss has them all in spades. They’ve been in continuous existence in some form since 1973. Their worldwide album sales top 100 million. And original or not, there’s hardly a Heavy Metal artist around since the 1980’s who won’t admit to air guitaring to Ace Frehley on Alive as a kid. It’s long past time to make this happen while all four original members are still alive.
Rush
Love them or hate them, Rush is another of those bands that, like Kiss, most people who aren’t voters for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will admit should be in the Hall. In continuous existence since 1968, and keeping the same three members since 1974, Rush possesses 24 Gold records and 14 Platinum records. They are third behind long time Rock Hall inductees The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums. They have been cited as influences on bands like Metallica, Primus, and Dream Theater.
Cheap Trick
While not quite at the “so obvious it’s stupid” level of Kiss and Rush, Cheap Trick are still more than deserving of a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Along with Kiss and Peter Frampton, Cheap Trick made having a great live album an essential for any Rock band. Cheap Trick at Budokan is considered by many to be one of the greatest live albums in history, and certainly one of the most famous.
Deep Purple
Another WTF moment in Rock Hall history, and an indication of the voters’ disdain for Hard Rock music, is the snubbing of Deep Purple. They’ve sold over 100 million albums worldwide and are widely considered, along with current Inductees Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, and Led Zeppelin, to have created the mold from which Heavy Metal was born.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Considered by most to be one of the greatest guitarists in history, Stevie Ray Vaughan has been passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters for years. Of the Top Ten among Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, only Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ry Cooder are not Hall of Fame inductees.
Kraftwerk
If there’s any genre the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters like less than Heavy Metal, it’s Electronic Music. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the snubbing of highly influential Electronic Music pioneers Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk is to Electronic Music what Alice Cooper was to Shock Rock, a band that was so unique they had to invent a genre to contain them, Synthpop. While it can certainly be debated if Kraftwerk counts as Rock and Roll, considering the Hall’s past inclusions of Rappers like Grandmaster Flash and The Beastie Boys, Blues musicians like B.B. King and Freddie King, and Disco acts like Abba, that ship has already sailed. It’s time to induct Kraftwerk on influence alone.
Joan Jett and Heart
This year, Joan Jett and Heart were passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voting for Laura Nyro. Let that sink in for a moment as you ponder the sheer snobbery it took to make that decision. While we don’t doubt Nyro’s solid credentials as a songwriter, the fact that she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ahead of Joan Jett and Nancy Wilson, the two women who obliterated the glass ceiling that pigeonholed female guitarists into the Joanie Mitchell Folk Rock mold, is a crime. Joan Jett and Nancy Wilson strutted onto the stage and proudly proclaimed that girls could hit a power chord right alongside Jimmy Page or Ace Frehley any day.
While those are the most glaring, there are tons of other multi-platinum Rock and Roll acts that have been snubbed by the Hall including Yes, Iron Maiden, Journey, and Ted Nugent. What groups do you feel have been unfairly snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters? Let us know in the comments section.