The So Called Rock Hall Of Fame 2020 inductees

Remember last year when the class of 2019 had some notable folks?

That was last year.  This year the Jann Wanner Favorite Bands Hall Of Fame announced their picks and the popular vote didn't count at all.  Dave Matthews and Pat Benetar who finished one two are on the outside looking in.   And for the first time ever, the non musicians were the most rocking that got in.  Jon Landau who produced MC5 Back In The USA and (of course) Bruce Springsteen's albums and Irving Azloff, who for a time tried his hand as President of MCA Records and Giant Records and is superstar manager to The Eagles, Steely Dan and kept Dan Fogelburg's memory alive is the other.

The fan vote didn't count since Wanner overlooked Dave Matthew Bands or just avoided them.  Per usual, Wanner got slammed.  Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest called the HOF "a joke", and he's right.  But it is a cold day in Hades when we see the likes of Whitney Houston and Notorious BIG get in before Jethro Tull, Mott The Hoople and Pat Benetar, who finished second in the voting.  But we have been resigned to the fact that this is no longer rock and roll that gets in but rather dollar signs and bullshit rap.  Per usual. we try to make sense out of this all and put together the ratings of importance to each inductee.  But to be honest, this is the most wimpy of all inductees and the most meaningless.

The inductees:

Jon Landau-We have to have a Bruce Springsteen supporter in there (Gary US Bonds, who had two albums produced by the boss is still on the outside looking in) but Landau was a damn good critic and he did produced The MC5, Back In The USA album (tho the tinny sound sucked). He also managed Bruce Springsteen too.  The more you read into these things the more you wonder if this was a pat on the back for himself and Jann too.  Must be nice to have friends in high places.  Produced Jackson Browne's The Pretender album in 1976.

Irving Azoff-The most powerful man in the industry, he is part of the Azoff/MSG Entertainment. Started out managing REO Speedwagon and Dan Fogelburg, then became part of the Eagles management team.  Later was MCA Records President from 1983 to 1989, then started up Giant Records via Warner Brothers.  Also formed Full Moon Records.


The Doobie Brothers-To me, the best of the bunch.  The Doobies started out as a guitar driven, double drumming band with Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons leading the way, then Micheal McDonald took over when Johnston had health issues and changed the sound to yacht rock.  The band called it a day in 1982 and then in 1989 reformed with Johnston, fully healthy again and Simmons leading the way once again.  The Capitol albums had moments and then one offs for Pyramid and a country collection on Arista.

T Rex-Guitar hero of the glam movement, Marc Bolan was overdue for inclusion.  But I found his albums somewhat spotty, including Electric Wizard which gave us the hit Get It On (Bang A Gong)  Warners put out a best of in 1986, to which I did get, but I don't think I ever played it. His other top 40 hit was Hot Love a five minute song that repeats itself most of the way.  Later moved over to Casablanca Records before his life ended in a 1977 car crash.

Depeche Mode-UK Electronic Dance Band that I never got into tho Some Great Reward and Construction Time Again are two classic albums.  The Best of Depeche Mode pretty much has everything I need to hear from these guys.  Vince Clarke would leave DM early and form Yazoo with Alison Moyet and later Erasure.  DM would hit big with Personal Jesus.

9 Inch Nails-US industrial noise band led by Trent Reznor.  Pretty Hate Music and The Downward Spiral are the high water mark, tho I must admit I thought Ministry did a better job with industrial noise than Pretty Hate Music.  Which is their classic moment.

Whitney Houston-The ultimate oversinger of our time.

Notorious BIG-Joins Tupac in the music hall.

With that, I cannot comment on the last two, since they were not part of my music journey.  I did listen to Whitney's second album Whitney and it had some moments, it wasn't enough to garner my attention. Rolling Stone called BIG the best rapper of all time, at that time and I suppose if you want proof, try Ready To Die.   That said, that pretty much wraps up the wimpiest crop of music inductees in a HOF that is no longer rock and roll and continues to dilute the quality of the HOF.  Next year. New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys.

Also, the NFL announced their crop of 2020 folks to the NFL HOF and it's more believable, tho  the self congratulatory continues with Paul Tagiablue, another NFL commissioner that did more for the owners than players.  Steve Sabol, who's NFL shows made ESPN worth watching is a worthy one. He made watching pro football a lot of fun (including the old 60s NFL that showed back then the NFL was smashmouth football and not the glitz it is today). Donnie Shell, Cliff Harris, Jim Covert, Harold Carmichel, Ed Sprinkle, Mac Speedie, Winston Hill, Giants GM, George Young, Bobby Dillon, Duke Slader, and finally the legendary Alex Karras who should have been in there a long time ago.  However, while Cliff Harris got in, Drew Pearson was left on the outside looking in. A great injustice since Drew Pearson was Mr. Clutch and is forever hated by making the catch that won the game in 1975 against the Vikings to which a bottle whopped a referee upside the head after making a bogus PI call against the Vikings.    I'm sure in the future, Drew Pearson will have his rightful spot in the HOF.

Just like Jethro Tull in the Rock HOF.

New Year's Eve Beaker Street 12/31/19

https://beakerstreetsetlists.com/2020/06/07/12-31-19-new-years-eve-show/?fbclid=IwAR3hGnnWYE1gaycb6ODpgAoMszEcds3A94S7GNiMrultEwldSwKLzTUM3nQ/


The first Beaker Street Broadcast since 2011.  We finally got the playlist


Hour 1

Pink Floyd-Time>The Great Gig In The Sky
Atomic Rooster “Hold Your Fire”
Roger Waters “What God Wants”
Traffic “Tragic Magic”
John Fogerty “Change of the Weather”
Blind Faith-Presence Of The Lord
Leon Russell-Roll Away The Stone
ELO-Do Ya
Blue Oyster Cult “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”
Grateful Dead-West LA Fadeaway


Hour 2

Tommy Bolin-Post Toastee
Loggins And Messina-Angry Eyes
 The Alan Parsons Project “May Be A Price to Pay”
The James Gang-The Bomber
Blood Sweat And Tears-God Bless The Child
John Stewart-Gold
Wishbone Ash-Time Was
Steppenwolf-Magic Carpet Ride

Hour 3

Aerosmith-Walk This Way
Robert Palmer-Salin Shoes/Hey Julia/Sneaking Sally Through The Alley
Moody Blues-Tortoise And The Hare
Blue Oyster Cult-Transmaniacon MC
Steve Miller Band-Wintertime
Oingo Boingo-Dead Man's Party
Beatles-A Day In The Life
Mike + The Mechanics “Par Avion”
Trapeze-Medusa
Allman Brothers-Hot Lanta' (Fillmore East Live Version)
Deep Purple-Hard Road (Wring That Neck)

Tyler Vincent managed to get the playlist.

Notes:

Nothing like Beaker Street play Time and the annoying Great Gig In The Sky.  I'm surprised nobody ever bothered finding the chiquita banana commercial that used Great Gig In The Sky to sell bananas.

Time Was, like Transmaniacon MC were Beaker Street favorites, tho' they have yet to play Cities On Flame With Rock N Roll, to which I heard that only on Beaker Street.  Also Angry Eyes, the long version also got a lot of Beaker Street lovin too.   Deep Purple's Hard Road was played many times as well on KAAY after hours, it's the B side to Kentucky Woman.