If you read this blog with any regularity, then you probably also frequent the Future Rock Legends web page, an invaluable site for information pertaining to this little hobby of ours. When I first starting hanging out there, one of the more interesting things I found was they not only had a list of every act that had been nominated in the past, but also artists that had been "considered." Now, to be completely clear, what it means to be "considered" in terms of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is still a little foggy. For the longest time, I've assumed that it essentially meant that an artist was formally submitted to be put on the ballot, but never actually made it to the final ballot. While I'm still fairly certain that this is indeed what is meant, an episode of "Who Cares About The Rock Hall" where they had a former member of the Nominating Committee as a guest, mentioned that no less than Ahmet Ertegun himself tried to make a pitch for Foreigner. As I type this out, Foreigner is still not listed on Future Rock Legends' page of "Previously Considered" artists. Maybe Ahmet mentioned Foreigner in a tangent while submitting another artist, or maybe I've been operating under a wrong assumption. Either way, Foreigner is not on this list.
And it's quite an extensive list. Even when weeding out the names that have been officially nominated before, there are still over a hundred names on this list! That's a lot of names over the years. And reading this list, there are names that make you say, "Yes! Absolutely!" and names that make you say, "Huh, I guess it really is all about who you know." And as with the songs for Past Nominees, I've found it a useful habit to keep songs for all these artists too. A lot of the nominees over the years have come from this list, and it has been an interesting spectacle to see names like Rush go from not even being on this list, to being on it, to being nominated, and then becoming inductees. It's not always newer artists on this list either. I remember when names like Brook Benton and Freddy Cannon were not on this lesser roll call. And now they are. And they have songs to honor just being submitted in the room shortly before the Feast Of The Giant Hoagie.
Which brings us to the songs. All 113 of them, if my count is accurate. Even 113 sentences would be a little tedious to both write and read. So, this time, I'm just going to list the artists and their songs, and let that be that. If you have any questions about why I chose a song for an artist, please feel free to ask me in the Comments below, and I'll explain as well as I can. Since this is the Previously Considered list, though, I will also say that if a Song Of Proof is going to be changed, this is the stage it's most likely to happen in. I've changed several in the past at this stage, and it could happen again. Except for Todd Rundgren. That one will never change, because who doesn't love a good rock and roll song that you can polka dance to? And as always, any Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Songs Of Proof will still be mentioned. The two that used to be on this list, but got inducted in the Award For Musical Excellence category, those two being the E Street Band and Ringo Starr, have been removed from this part of the playlist. Also, since the Dominoes have been nominated, I'm not including a second song for "Billy Ward And The Dominoes;" it's the same group, for the most part. So try not to let your eyes glaze over too much. Time to honor our Previously Considered, but never actually nominated, artists for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Lee Andrews And The Hearts: "Teardrops"
Paul Anka: "You Are My Destiny"
Ashford And Simpson: "Solid"
the Average White Band: "Pick Up The Pieces"
Bad Company: "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy"
Brook Benton: "Kiddio"
the B-52's: "Love Shack"
the Big Bopper: "Chantilly Lace"
Big Brother And The Holding Company: "Piece Of My Heart"
Black Flag: "Rise Above"
Blind Faith: "Can't Find My Way Home"
Blood, Sweat, And Tears: "You've Made Me So Very Happy"
Blues Incorporated: "Keep Your Hands Off"
the Blues Project: "No Time Like The Right Time"
Boogie Down Productions: "Love's Gonna Get Cha (Material Love)"
Pat Boone: "Why Baby Why"
Bobby Brown: "Humpin' Around"
Chuck Brown: "Bustin' Loose"
Johnny Burnette And The Rock 'N' Roll Trio: "The Train Kept A-Rollin'"
Canned Heat: "Let's Work Together"
Freddy Cannon: "Abigail Beecher"
Captain Beefheart: "Diddy Wah Diddy"
Chubby Checker: "The Twist"
Patsy Cline: "Crazy"
Joe Cocker: "The Letter"
Judy Collins: "Song For Judith (Open The Door)"
the Commodores: "Brick House" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Easy")
Ry Cooder: "Feelin' Bad Blues"
Country Joe And The Fish: "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
Crazy Horse: "Southern Pacific"
the Crystals: "Then He Kissed Me" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Home)")
Dick Dale: "Misirlou"
the Spencer Davis Group: "I'm A Man"
Def Leppard: "Photograph"
Delaney And Bonnie: "Only You Know And I Know"
De La Soul: "Me, Myself, And I"
Devo: "Whip It"
Dr. Hook: "Walk Right In"
the Doobie Brothers: "Jesus Is Just Alright"
Lee Dorsey: "Ya Ya"
Nick Drake: "Pink Moon"
Emerson, Lake, And Palmer: "Lucky Man"
Fishbone: "Sunless Saturday"
the Five Keys: "Ling Ting Tong" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Close Your Eyes")
the Five Satins: "In The Still Of The Night" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "To The Aisle")
the Flying Burrito Brothers: "Christine's Tune"
the GAP Band: "You Dropped A Bomb On Me"
Lesley Gore: "That's The Way Boys Are"
Johnny Hallyday: "Gabrielle"
Tim Hardin: "Simple Song Of Freedom"
Slim Harpo: "Baby, Scratch My Back"
the Harptones: "Why Should I Love You"
Donny Hathaway: "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know"
Herman's Hermits: "No Milk Today"
Hot Tuna: "Winin' Boy Blues"
Whitney Houston: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me"
Ivory Joe Hunter: "Since I Met You Baby"
Iron Butterfly: "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
Iron Maiden: "Run To The Hills"
Mick Jagger: "Just Another Night"
the Jam: "Town Called Malice"
Tommy James And The Shondells: "Mony Mony"
the Jayhawks: "Waiting For The Sun"
Jethro Tull: "Bungle In The Jungle"
George Jones: "He Stopped Loving Her Today"
Grace Jones: "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)"
Fela Kuti: "Zombie"
the Last Poets: "E Pluribus Unum"
Living Colour: "Cult Of Personality"
Love: "Alone Again Or"
Manfred Mann: "Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)"
the Marshall Tucker Band: "Heard It In A Love Song"
the Monkees: "The Girl That I Knew Somewhere" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Valleri")
Motorhead: "Ace Of Spades"
the Neville Brothers: "Spirits Of The World"
Sinead O'Connor: "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Junior Parker: "Next Time You See Me"
Teddy Pendergrass: "Close The Door"
Pixies: "Here Comes Your Man"
Poco: "Crazy Love"
Billy Preston: "Will It Go Round In Circles"
Cliff Richard And The Shadows: "Summer Holiday"
Keith Richards: "Take It So Hard"
Roxy Music: "Love Is The Drug"
Todd Rundgren: "Bang The Drum All Day"
Otis Rush: "I Can't Quit You Baby"
Mitch Ryder: "Sock-It To Me Baby"
Sade: "Paradise"
Doug Sahm: "(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone"
Boz Scaggs: "Lido Shuffle"
Jack Scott: "Goodbye Baby"
Gil Scott-Heron: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
Neil Sedaka: "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"
the Shangri-La's: "Leader Of The Pack" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Long Live Our Love")
Simple Minds: "Sanctify Yourself"
Huey "Piano" Smith And The Clowns: "Don't You Just Know It"
Sonic Youth: "Teen Age Riot"
Sonny And Cher: "The Beat Goes On"
the Sugarhill Gang: "Rapper's Delight"
Ten Years After: "I'd Love To Change The World"
Rufus Thomas: "Walking The Dog"
Three Dog Night: "Joy To The World" (Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Song Of Proof: "Celebrate")
Peter Tosh: "Legalize It"
the Treacherous Three: "The Body Rock"
T. Rex: "Bang A Gong (Get It On)"
Tina Turner: "Better Be Good To Me"
the Turtles: "It Ain't Me Babe"
Junior Walker And The All-Stars: "Shotgun"
Junior Wells: "Little By Little"
Barry White: "Never Never Gonna Give You Up"
Lucinda Williams: "Get Right With God"
Johnny Winter: "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
X: "Los Angeles"
And with that long list, we are not only done with our look at the Previously Considered, but also our entire run of the Great Playlist. The end of the Songs Of Proof. I hope you've enjoyed reading this series as much as I've enjoyed compiling it and writing about it. I do have other songs squirreled away on my computer too, of artists that have never been considered, but might conceivably be considered or nominated someday. I'm choosing to not even get into that list because everybody's going to be quick to mention one artist that I should have stored away, but don't at present. And really, we can debate who might be and who should be all day long. That's part of the allure of this hobby of ours. This entire project, though, is simply a reflection upon who is and who has been, the names that we definitely know of. And that's where the line is being drawn. I want to thank everyone who has read this series, everyone who's weighed in, either in the Comments sections, or on social media or other forums. And once more, feel free to add your thoughts or questions about this or any previous entry in the series in the Comments section below. And even those who haven't weighed in, but just read. I hope I've prodded your brains to think about similar undertakings in our celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Hopefully, I gave at least one person the curiosity to check out an artist, or at least a song. Soon to come, my predictions for the nominees for the upcoming ballot for the Class Of 2019. I don't guarantee that it'll follow the weekly deadline that I set for myself on this project, but it'll be soon.
Once again, thank you for your readership. It's been fun sharing and celebrating this passion project that has continued even as my career in commercial radio appears to be entirely in the past. It's clearly evolved beyond that now, and it's fun to see where it will take me in the future. So, that's where we'll continue to look. Thank you for taking this journey with me through The Great Playlist: The Songs Of Proof Celebrating The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
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