Something light-hearted: fun with a serious topic.

One of the things that elated so many people with this latest class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was the second induction of Stevie Nicks.  Adding onto that was the induction of Janet Jackson, making this the first time in quite awhile that there were two living female acts inducted in the Performer category.  In their acceptance speeches, both Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson made the plea for the Hall to induct more women.  Around the same time as the induction ceremony, an excellent piece on the pervasive atmosphere of misogyny surrounding the Hall was published, with the subheading insisting that the Class Of 2020 be absent of the Y-Chromosome.  Since then, there have been a lot of comments and speculations about what it could take to get an all-female class, and what it might look like.  I'm not big on jumping on bandwagons.  I'm not keen to make a list of greatest snubs, nor have I taken to ranking songs by inductees in terms of significance.  But this one I like.  People have enjoyed making lists of all-female acts or female-led groups that they'd like to see make the ballot.  So I thought I'd do this too.  What kind of ballot would I like to see if it was comprised of only female acts?  Well, those who know me know this list will skew very heavily toward the early years, but really, there are deserving women in every period.  This is just a list that reflects my personal bent.  I'd love to see your list in the Comments section.  Keeping civil tongues and having fun with this, in my opinion, is the best way to show just how easy it is to do this and how hard it would be to go wrong--even with the knowledge that a ballot of fifteen to nineteen nominees will yield a class of at most seven inductees.  So if I were the entire Nominating Committee, dedicated to the cause, this might be the ballot.

The Marvelettes:  While I've never made any attempt to make a ranked list of snubs, I can say that if I made such a list, the Marvelettes would be in the top three, definitely behind Chubby Checker, and level-peggy against Kraftwerk (the Germans have the edge in my "I-5", but the number of years the Marvlettes have been snubbed whittle that advantage down to a coin flip).  An absolute must for the Hall at some point.

The Go-Go's and The Bangles:  While I would love to give each entry their own paragraph, my reasons for both of these are the same, so I'm lumping them together.  Michelle Bourg of the Iconic Rock Talk Show pointed it out wonderfully: since inductees automatically become members of the voting bloc, to help give women a larger say, the most obvious way would be to induct more living women to become members of the Hall and said voting bloc.  These two groups would do that, and their musical accomplishments more than make them deserving candidates.

The Crystals:  The disparity of inducted men to inducted women is staggering, and no one act can make up the difference, but if they'd induct all the members of all three eras that were credited as "the Crystals," it'd probably be the single biggest move the Hall could make to close that gap.  If they're REALLY generous and want to include every woman who was a member of the Blossoms, whether or not they were on any records subsequently credited to "the Crystals," you could theoretically have a group of eighteen women inducted in one fell swoop, one of them a dual inductee.  Insisting that they have been on a Crystals' record, it'd maximally be about ten women, but that's still probably the biggest gain a single inductee could make.

The Chantels and The Shangri-Las:  Both of these girl groups got the ultimate shaft by having records of theirs "honored" in the Singles category this year.  Let's rectify that slight and simultaneously obsolesce that odious side project in the process by pushing for these two groups to get into the Hall.

Carole King, Tina Turner, and Diana Ross:  Admittedly, I'm not as enthusiastic about inducting Diana Ross solo as the other two, but with Stevie Nicks blazing the trail this past year, these three would all be fantastic candidates to stampede through in Nicks' wake.  It'd be awesome to have happen.

Cher and Chaka Khan:  Another two women I would enthusiastically cheer for being inducted twice.  Admittedly, inducting them as soloists would probably inhibit the efforts to induct their ensemble incarnations, whereas inducting the ensembles first would hopefully springboard the solo efforts to follow.  Still, two more powerhouse names that you wouldn't be wrong to put on the ballot.

Whitney Houston:  How is this woman not in already?  Even the most narrow-minded "rockist" lists of Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame snubs concede that Whitney Houston should be in.  I can't make it any plainer than that.

Pat Benatar:  I initially balked at including Pat Benatar on my list, simply for the fact that her candidacy caters to that aforementioned narrow-minded "rockist" crowd that can't see beyond a post-British Invasion definition of "rock."  However, her resume is too strong to ignore.

Salt-N-Pepa:  Let's not let the crusade to induct more women obscure the importance of recognizing hip-hop and rap as part of the rock and roll family.  This outfit were a formidable force of rap and strong femininity, and it'd be great to acknowledge that.

Patsy Cline:  Country artists have a tough time being seen as important to the rockscape, but Patsy Cline is one of the easier sells on this front.

Lesley Gore:  Despite arriving after Wanda Jackson and Brenda Lee, Lesley Gore is seen as the original "Teen Queen" for her powerful pop catalog that spoke so strongly to the teen market during the '60's.  So many great, catchy songs, so many hits.  It's just wrong to keep her out.

Connie Francis:  Like Brenda Lee, her career as a rock and roller is usually met with skepticism because it was also rife with softer ballads, not to mention she later went in a decidedly different direction by the early-to-mid '60's.  But it shouldn't negate those records or her importance.

Carly Simon:  Another act of prominence from the '70's with a solid catalog to warrant serious consideration.

Yoko Ono:  I can hear the hissing and obscenities flying right now.  But really stop and think about it: is there any performer you can think of who would more succinctly address multiple fronts of marginalization going on with the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and within the music industry at large?  I don't think I can.  Vilified for breaking up the Beatles, despite every testimony by the Liverpool lads themselves to the contrary; her aural avant-garde art reviled because it was misunderstood; her music denounced because she isn't the greatest singer by Western conventional standards of music; albums that spoke for abused women everywhere; a political force with her art as well as her music; re-recordings and remixes of early material for the EDM scene (a musical scene heavily underrepresented in the Hall)--re-recordings and remixes that not only strongly aligned her with the (and I apologize if I'm forgetting initials) LGBTQ+ community, but further sought to politically charge the music of EDM from a passive subculture to an active counterculture--there are very few acts that both pushed the rock and roll envelope the way she has, and suffered so undeserved and unwelcome a reputation for doing so, especially to the extent that she has.  She might be the ultimate choice to represent the movement to have an all-female ballot, possibly part of the reason the musically and masculinely fragile loathe her.

That's just nineteen names thrown out, and I didn't even get to Mariah Carey, Bikini Kill, or reviving attempts to induct Mary Wells or Esther Phillips, and the last name to not make the cut was LaBelle.  Whichever five to seven Performer inductees you got from this hypothetical ballot, the inducted class should also include an inductee in the other three major categories:

Estelle Axton:  She really should have been inducted with Jim Stewart in 2002.  Let's rectify that oversight and induct her in the Non-Performer category (Ahmet Ertegun Award, if you prefer, but that's another can of worms).

Ella Fitzgerald:  There's some debate as to whether Big Mama Thornton should be inducted as a Performer or as an Early Influence.  While you're trying to make up your mind about that, let's induct this jazz icon in the Early Influence category.

Carol Kaye:  There are so many great session musicians from so many great house bands not inducted, that they really should pick up that crusade again.  And what better musician to resume that effort with than this ubiquitous bassist?

As I said, there are so many names that I didn't include, simply because nineteen's the largest ballot we've seen in recent years, including names that are probably on your lists.  So have fun and weigh in.  It most likely won't happen, but every name added just shows how important it is for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to heed the plea of Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson and induct more women.

Songs Of Proof: The Class Of 2019

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Class Of 2019 was an upswing from the past few classes.  The most notable aberration was that there were seven inductees in the Performer category.  This was something that had not happened since 2004.  It's a very welcome change, and one that we hope continues going forward.  This is also the most British class we've had, possibly ever.  Five bands from the United Kingdom, and the least American class we've had since 2010, when the Stooges were the only Performer representation from the United States.  The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame still skews highly American, as noted in the nominees that were on the ballot.  The generational shift is notable, as classic rock is not quite so heavily represented.  We may never get away from classic rock completely, not as long as there's a fan ballot, it seems, but classic rock wasn't half the Performer inductees this time around, which is a big change from the past few years.  This is also the first time that we've had two female acts inducted in the Performer category in some time.  In fact, the biggest buzz surrounding this class was the breakthrough of the first woman to be inducted a second time into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  It's the biggest news of the class, and it was led with quite heavily in the public relations narrative set forth by the Hall.

The one thing that seems to have stayed the same though, is the limited racial diversity.  On paper, it looks like we should be looking at the scoreboard and saying all these positive changes versus one sad stagnation.  We have one African-American inductee and the rest are White.  It's not perfect, but regardless, we got a stellar class.  Unfortunately, there are no inductees in the other categories, and so, no songs that I haven't already mentioned, but hopefully a little more in-depth dissection and discussion of each of the seven songs chosen from these seven acts.

The Cure:  There's no denying that the Cure are one of the most quintessential bands of the entire 1980's despite being formed in the 1970's.  This band is one of the most influential bands of the alternative music scene, and yet, they had a surprisingly steady run of hits.  The voice of Robert Smith delivers some of the most profound lyrics of love, but his voice sounds like the emotionally detached British synth-pop bands.  But then again, the band has the guitar sound at times that is consistent with the post-punk scene.  And sometimes theirs was the music of inner crying of the soul.  It was this willingness to go all over the map and just do what they wanted to do that made them so influential.  The song chosen for them is "Friday I'm In Love," which kind of betrays their overall range of influence, partially because it's a later song, but having influenced the alternative scene in so many directions, that'd be a hard thing to capture using just one song.  This song has the sound and feel of music directed at the college crowd during this decade of history, but was still a sizable hit at the time and remains an enduring classic that one can use to introduce future generations to the music of the Cure.

Def Leppard:  As I said in the opening paragraph, as long as there's a fan ballot, there will probably always be some representation of the "classic rock" format in every induction class, unless the Nominating Committee makes a decision to have none of that on the ballot.  That said, it's not like Def Leppard's entirely undeserving either.  There will always be conflict and argument about the role of popularity and mainstream success in deciding an artist's merit, but it can't be denied that those are factors.  For Def Leppard, their brand of hard rock was good fun, and wasn't ever meant to not be.  There's something to be said about that.  With obvious exceptions, there's really nothing wrong with being good at what you want to do.  The structure of their songs was also something slightly different from what we were used to, as it kept building up and building up before getting to the main chorus.  The ability to lay catchy hooks is something that not every band is good at.  Arguably the most perfect example of this in the case of Def Leppard is "Photograph" and is one of their most enduring and beloved songs to boot.  Hence, it is the song of choice for this band.

Janet Jackson:  The lone representative of R&B music and off the African-American community in this class.  Janet is one of the all-time titans of the rock-era popular music scene.  If any act should have represented populism, it should have been Janet Jackson.  Unfortunately, given the primary demographic for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and especially that of the broadcasts, it was Def Leppard.  Still, Janet Jackson's numbers don't lie.  Her legacy in pioneering New Jack Swing is an oft underplayed aspect of her legacy, but it's often so because her music is so much more than that.  The narrative surrounding her candidacy has been about getting out of the shadows of other members of her family, taking the reins of her professional and personal life, doing what she wanted, how she wanted, and when she wanted.  That's an amazing tale in and of itself to distinguish her from her family, but it ultimately means nothing if the music itself doesn't present a really strong case.  With Janet, it does this and more, as her own music's evolution is a narrative in and of itself.  So many catchy songs, but I ultimately dipped back to the legendary "Nasty" that was among the first to show her own strength of character and strength as a performer.  And it is a blueprint for New Jack Swing to boot.  It's far from my favorite song by her, but it is a succinct and prime example to use to show why her spot in this class is well-deserved.

Stevie Nicks:  And we reach the selling point for this year's induction class.  The most talked about of all the nominees and inductees, even by me.  What makes the induction of Stevie Nicks important isn't just the fact that she's the first woman to be inducted twice into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, though again, the press coverage would tell you otherwise.  However "unquestionable musical excellence" is defined, I think it can be accurately said that there has to be an element of honesty to it.  I think that's something most music-focused people, and especially people who follow the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, would agree is an ingredient of "unquestionable musical excellence."  It's why some only want acts that do pretty much everything with their music: write, play (no guest musicians ever), produce, promote, release, choreograph their shows, direct their own music videos, handle their own publicity and promotions, and even do their own stage makeup for their shows.  It's why some are okay with cover artists, as long as the interpretations have something different to them, an interpretation that is true to who the artist is.  It's why some want artists inducted who partied as much offstage as they did onstage.  It's why some object to those who sing about devil worship but are secretly Orthodox Jews.  With Stevie Nicks's solo career, it's about her no longer hiding her creativity, but baring it boldly in songs that she felt on some level.  It also a recognition of the validity of the simultaneous solo career, which we don't have a ton of in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  And when Stevie broke solo, everyone had to "Stand Back" as she did her own thing, while staying with her band.  It's probably my favorite solo Stevie song, and I think it shows her own strength, despite ripping off "Little Red Corvette."  And I think it's a lot better than "Edge Of Seventeen," so I'm definitely going with that song instead.

Radiohead:  When this band missed out on induction last year, there was a lot of head-scratching, and even some murmurs about conspiracies centered on their relative apathy for the accolades.  The one thing everyone can agree on is that this band is extremely deserving of the honor, even if the band members themselves don't understand why it's considered an honor.  An artist is generally considered worthy of induction if it can be pointed to how they contributed to the evolution of rock and roll.  It becomes an easier sell when the evolution of the band itself is highly recognizable as being from one album to the next, or even from every other album to every other album.  Maybe it takes two albums to fully mine a particular vein, while also beginning to reveal the next vein you'll be excavating.  I feel that's how Radiohead tends to work; however, as someone who hasn't followed Radiohead since the beginning, this is speculation on my part.  Someone else could easily take me to school if I'm way off-base on that.  Anyway, that's the train of thought I was going for when I chose "Paranoid Android."  As the first single from OK Computer, it still has lingering hints of what the band accomplished from the days of Pablo Honey and The Bends, but it also contained a lot of elements that piqued the listeners' collective curiosity, making them ask (some maybe even aloud), "Where are they going with this?"  If nothing else, following the evolution of Radiohead's music is less like a trajectory that's easily calculable, and more like riding Space Mountain where you can't always see whether you're about to go left or right, up or down.  "Paranoid Android" is far from my favorite Radiohead song, but I figured either this one or "Fake Plastic Trees" would be the best example.  As a personal aside, I really only started listening to Radiohead when they were nominated last year, and I have to admit, I'm a little resentful of how much I relate to their music, because it's seldom for the better.  Despite the fact I prefer the music of the first two decades of rock and roll, I really don't feel any shame in being a millennial, so it doesn't so much bother me so much that my enjoyment of them is a reminder of what a millennial I am.  It's more a matter of what songs I relate to and why that makes me hate myself and love-hate their music by extension.

Roxy Music:  Despite not being such a huge band here in the United States, Roxy Music is a band you know of because your favorite bands of the '80's and '90's were fans of them.  You didn't even have to know more than "Love Is The Drug" to find them worthy of induction, because your favorite bands knew their songs.  Or maybe you just know what a musical dynamo Brian Eno is and that he's a Roxy Music alum.  Whatever the reason, you just know they're worthy of induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame before you even hear a second song from them.  And as Joe Kwaczala said, once you hear their music, you hear it in all those other bands.  That's influence, and there's no escaping it.  For their own catalog, the unconventional nature of their songs is the essential motif.  Despite songs like "Avalon" and "More Than This,"  they really had a way of being unconventional, whether it was subject matter, the way they created sounds, odd juxtapositions, or maybe all of the above.  "Love Is The Drug" certainly isn't so unconventional in the subject matter, and even the idea of being addicted to love isn't entirely new.  And yet, Roxy Music managed to write about it in a manner that almost makes it sound like an anthropological study.  And the sonic landscape that they fashioned around those words was definitely different, odd, and catchy.  True, while they languished in the "Previously Considered" category for years, I chose this song mainly as something recognizable to use, but the more I listen to them, this song really is the happy medium that kind of makes their body of a work a coherent collage, so we're going to catch that buzz after all.

The Zombies:  If the musical evolution of Radiohead's career is difficult to follow, try telling the story of the Zombies to someone unfamiliar with them.  Their biggest hit was after they broke up, their landmark album only grows in popularity and stature each year, there was an impostor group trying to capitalize on their newfound success at the time while the keyboardist was off doing his own thing with his new band... not to mention they started out as a British band covering American R&B, but became a keyboard driven, moody, quasi-jazzy, and almost Baroque-sounding band.  Oh, and the real band reunited a few times, and has put out some high quality, but more conventional, songs.  I'd make a comparison to Avengers: Endgame here, but that movie's still in theaters as I type this, and I really don't want to spoil anything for anyone.  Anyway, the music is still more fascinating than the story, which is what really matters.  I actually really like the pre-Odyssey And Oracle stuff and the new songs too.  It's not just about that one album for me.  Give me "I Love You" and "New York" as well as "Imagine The Swan."  And while I didn't want to be so obvious with every inductee this year, the song used for the Zombies is indeed "Time Of The Season," and that's still okay, because it's such an iconic song for not just the 1960's, but for rock and roll itself.  It needed to be that song.

And with that, we've kept the Songs Of Proof catalog current.  It's a further look at the songs that I mentioned back on the merits evaluation entry about six or seven months ago.  But like every other post like this one, feel free to weigh in using the Comments section below.  And of course, the recap:

the Cure: "Friday I'm In Love"
Def Leppard: "Photograph"
Janet Jackson: "Nasty"
Stevie Nicks: "Stand Back"
Radiohead: "Paranoid Android"
Roxy Music: "Love Is The Drug"
the Zombies: "Time Of The Season"

2019 Induction Ceremony, From The Comfy Chair

It's kind of hard to put together some thoughts in a coherent form for a blog entry on this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.  Part of that is because I'm watching it for the fourth time as I type this.  "Shake Dog Shake" is being performed right now.  But this is the fourth viewing for me, so obviously I have had time to assemble a few thoughts.  I was originally going to to dissect it by segments: video packages, acceptance speeches, presentation speeches, performances.  Changing directions, I'm going by program flow.

Stevie Nicks:  I've had a lot of negative things to say about Stevie Nicks's solo nomination and induction. I still maintain the validity of my complaint that the push at the museum was borne out of the ignorance of John Q. Public; however, I've since come to realize how silly it's been of me to be upset that it's her first and not Carole or Tina.  Que sera, sera.  And this is the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, after all, and as Gregg Geller said on the "Who Cares About The Rock Hall?" podcast, they are consistently inconsistent.  Speaking of the podcast, I want to thank Joe Kwaczala for his comparison of Stevie Nicks's solo induction to that of Jeff Beck's.  I really did not think of it in that light.  Ultimately, I still prefer comparing Stevie Nicks's solo career with Ringo Starr's.  And I believe that if the museum poll had been around in 2014, Ringo would have been inducted as a Performer in 2015 instead of his consolation prize Award For Musical Excellence induction (which still counts as a second induction).  Anyway, having said a lot of negative things about her solo nomination and induction, it's time to give her credit.  Her performance was one of the best of all for the entire night.  She knocked it out of the park.  I actually dislike "Leather And Lace," and I knew what was going to happen from reading livestream tweets, and I still cheered when Don Henley walked out on stage.  Great performance.  Her acceptance speech was the best of everyone's too.  She laid it out, in more than one way, explaining her debut outing as a soloist really was supposed to be an outlet, almost like a creative catharsis for things that just couldn't properly coalesce in the Fleetwood Mac canon, similar to the solo projects by all four members of the Who, while maintaining an active band.  She also addressed the way the music industry worked back then, with the gentle strength of a velvet brick, against the backdrop of the current social climate, letting the audience infer and decide for themselves what should and should not have been acceptable, even back then.  Lastly, I applaud her promise to use her legacy and clout to illuminate the twists, turns, and pitfalls for others to follow to pursue their dreams.  Fantastic.  Her video package was notable too, in that it featured her narrating it, telling the story from her perspective.  Previously, video packages were semi-chronological video clips of performances, interviews, and other amusing one-off moments.  But having this voiceover narration caught my attention because of something that Joe K. and Kristen Studard pointed out on the "Who Cares About The Rock Hall?" podcast.  A lot of the acceptance speeches include the inductee giving their recollection of what happened.  By having this narration in the packages, they're getting that out of the way, and helping keep the speeches shorter.  It's a practice that wasn't in all of the video packages for the night, but one I hope becomes more common in the future.  I even enjoyed Harry Styles' speech, mostly, though I think he could have stopped before he got to how the name Stevie Nicks is both a verb and an adjective.  By that point it was dragging, but overall still entertaining.  I had previously joked that Stevie Nicks would probably be inducted first to get Harry home by his bedtime.  And sure enough, Stevie went first, and we don't see Harry any other time in the broadcast.

The induction of Stevie Nicks also might prove a useful barometer for rap acts in the future.  Much of the criticism against her solo career (by people other than me), is that about half her memorable songs are duets.  And the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, as a collective body, decided that didn't matter.  We're getting to rap artists of the '90's and later and approaching a sub-culture that deems it necessary to give label credit in the form of "and," "featuring," "with," or "introducing" to every person whose voice or instrument is heard on the song.  We kind of have that with 2Pac already, but it will get even more prominent as time goes on to the point where its inescapable.  Maybe as with Stevie Nicks and 2Pac, we'd all better get used to shrugging our shoulders and saying "Cool beans."

The Cure:  Though they were inducted later in the evening than shown here, I suspect the Cure were shown second on the broadcast because of Robert Smith's joke before launching into "Boys Don't Cry."  It was obvious he was joking about cursing Stevie Nicks, but he still walked it back with an "I'm joking" that can somehow best be described as "coquettish."  That, and after they finished, he said, "Enjoy the rest of the night," implying it was still early on, which it wasn't by the time they got to the Cure during the actual evening of the ceremony.  Their video package also had that seemingly narrative voiceover compiled from previous interviews that told the history of the band.  I have to admit to giggling when I saw the video excerpt from "Love Cats."  Kind of disappointed that we didn't see a clip of Stan Marsh and Kyle Brovlofski thanking Robert Smith for his help and saying Disintegration is the greatest album ever.   Trent Reznor gave one of the best speeches of the night.   I pointed out on Twitter that it seemed like Trent Reznor was rebutting Howard Stern's speech for Bon Jovi last year.  Stern spent a lot of his speech equivocating quantity with quality, with regards to Bon Jovi's 150,000,000 records sold, and Trent Reznor seemed to be responding to that when he said that the Cure sold the greater part of "who-gives-a-shit-how-many million records."  Nicely done.  Don't know how many picked up on that, but I loved it.  The Cure gave the best performance of the night, though I did notice that Robert Smith could seemingly only sing in a higher register, even on "Lovesong" and "Just Like Heaven."  That may just be part of getting older, along with looking like a cross between Courtney Love and Bette Midler's character in Hocus Pocus.

The Cure was also the first group (during the broadcast, that is) to have one person speaking for the group.  I have to admit to having some mixed feelings about that.  It's true that it keeps things tighter, and it prevents that odd moment when some lesser-known band member decides to kick off his stand-up comedy career that night.  But at the same time, the Cure is more than just Robert Smith (which didn't help that he was the only person Trent Reznor mentioned by name), Roxy Music is more than just Bryan Ferry, and Def Leppard is more than Joe Elliott (and Rick Allen).  This is probably the one chance that some of the other band members are gonna have to really be heard in their own words, where people who aren't die-hard fans of the band want to listen to these other members, and it's a shame to step on their opinions for the sake of keeping it short for HBO's convenience, for a tail that shakes shakes shakes shakes shakes shakes shakes shakes shakes the dog, shakes it, I tell ya!  (Sorry, not sorry.)

Janet Jackson:  Another great video package with a biographical narrative overlaid atop the action in the clips.  It really works well. Again, I chuckled when I saw her performing "The Beat Goes On" at a very young age.  Janelle Monae had the best presentation speech of the night, in my opinion, highlighting Janet's music as well the emotional impact, just as well as Trent Reznor did for the Cure.  But Janelle gave it just a little more oomph, talking about her credentials at large, as well as her social impact.  I also caught what seemed to be another rebuttal to Howard Stern's speech last year, as Janelle casually dropped the number 180,000,000, beating Bon Jovi's 150,000,000, but didn't dwell on it, opting to move on instead.  I admit, I cringed a little at the tortured pun of "womanifesto," but I somehow suspect that will not be the last time I hear that word.  Better get used to it.  Janet's speech was very touching as well, as she was humble and quick to acknowledge the people who had a big part in guiding her career.  And as did Stevie Nicks, the impassioned plea to induct more women.  No argument there.  Just too bad there was no performance.

Roxy Music:  This segment was right in the middle, and for me, it was one of my less favorite inductions of the night.  There was nothing wrong with it, though.  I still enjoyed it.  Like when the lowest grade on a test was a 93%.  That's still really good.  The video package went back to the usual interview clips that aren't quite chronological, and don't have that narrative guidance atop it all.  In this case, though, we did get to see interview clips with multiple members of the group, and I really appreciated that, especially when Bryan Ferry turned out to be the only one to speak for the band.  Simon Le Bon and John Taylor did a wonderful job presenting them, too.  Simon touched on the virtuosity of each player via their instruments, though he didn't name them all.  John's personal anecdote was amusing and pointed in how the influence was primarily in the United Kingdom.  That's particularly important, given the accusations of the Hall having an Americentric bias.  Bryan Ferry did a great job speaking for the band, and the songs that were broadcast were really well done, with a lot of help from the borrowed personnel, especially the lady singing the soprano solo on "Avalon."

Radiohead:  Far and away, Radiohead's video package was the best.  Stevie Nicks promised to show the way in her future interviews.  This video package sort of did that.  It wasn't a thorough step-by-step, but I loved how pragmatic yet philosophical the interview clips were, talking about the roller coaster of fame, the stages of finding a sound together, learning how to make an album, to deal with fame, to grow, to evolve, and to endure.  Just a fabulous package.  David Byrne's speech was short, and as someone who influenced them, rather than as someone who was influenced by them, it sadly didn't have as much personal connection to the music as it otherwise would have.  However, their innovation was a big part of why they deserve to be in, and David nailed that terrifically.  Ed and Phil gave great acceptance speeches, and they probably said all that Thom, Johnny, and Colin could have added.  No performance, sadly.  Since David was really converted, as he said, by Kid A, maybe they should have had him sing "Idioteque," backed up by Ed and Phil, as well as a few other musicians on hand.  Oh well.  that's the way it goes.

The In Memoriam segment was lovely.  The first time I saw an induction ceremony in its entirety, and saw the In Memoriam segment, it just blew me away about all the people they included: producers, engineers, agents, label founders, as well as musicians.  I was touched by its depth, and that continued through this year's segment.  I was floored that they even included the girl who inspired the Buddy Holly classic "Peggy Sue," and the "Ticket Queen."  I doff my hat to the Hall's thoroughness in this regard.  But there should have been a tribute performance to Aretha Franklin.

The Singles segment featuring Little Steven got scrapped entirely from the broadcast.  Having lowered the boom on this category in my previous blog entry, some of you may be wondering what my thoughts are on the choice to omit that segment, and that would be a fair question for you to ask.

The Zombies:  Despite not being quite narrative, the video package definitely had a biographical chronology feel to it, similar to the packages for Stevie Nicks and the Cure.  It was great to hear about the evolution of a band that felt moody and jazzy, to find out they started in R&B.  Kudos to Susanna Hoffs giving a great speech about her personal connection to the music of the Zombies.  A lot of fuss has been made about Susanna being 60 and still looking like she does.  I really have no take on that.  I've been taught that it's rude to say someone looks amazing "for their age," and not knowing Susanna personally, it wouldn't even be appropriate for me to say she looked good, period.  It's clear she takes great care of her health, but her age shouldn't be too surprising, given it's been almost thirty years since the height of the Bangles' success.  Either way, it's beside the point.  Her speech was great not just for the personal touch, but also how she focused on more than just one member.  I rolled my eyes slightly when she went for the low-hanging fruit to say, "This will be your year; it took a long time to come," but I have to admit, I probably would have done the same darn thing.  Each member taking a turn to speak was actually quite appreciated.  It was edited well, and I hope it wasn't too long a deal at the actual event.  I saw some on Twitter saying that the Zombies were the weak link, performance-wise.  I disagree.  While binge-listening to their music to properly assess them in my merits and personal enjoyment ranks, I came to appreciate the latter day material, and they sounded just as good that night as on those later-era songs.  I also noticed that during "She's Not There," they sneaked in the keyboard and rhythm section riffs from "Gimme Some Lovin'," possibly to suggest their advocacy for the Spencer Davis Group.  Maybe not, but possibly.

The Zombies' induction is a bittersweet moment for me as well, though.  Last year, when I revealed my Songs Of Proof playlist, I mentioned that in 2004, I created a list of one hundred entities that I wanted to see inducted, and why.  Every year, starting with 2005, at least one name has come off the list.  This year it was the Zombies.  However, this class also shows a decided turn by both the Nominating Committee and the voting bloc to start moving to more modern acts.  The list was created in 2004, and skewed very populist, though it didn't include the plethora of classic rock acts you might suspect.  But as the Hall tries to face forward, I'm having to face the reality that the Zombies will be the last name to be crossed off my list.  It was a good run though.

Def Leppard:  As much as I loved Def Leppard growing up, this induction was a bit underwhelming.  Still the video package was good, explaining the ethos of the band, and even a little chronology, starting with the T. Rex influences.  Brian May's speech, though, didn't do it for me.  I enjoy a good story told well, but I wasn't feeling this one.  And I felt like he really didn't talk about the music nearly as much as he should have, though I did like his sharing the further advice on remaining successful that he received back from Joe Elliott.  The speech from Joe Elliott was terrific too, for the most part.  I especially like how he said, "the '90's had no fucking chance."  Although, I almost wish that Joe Elliott hadn't mentioned Rick Allen's loss of his arm.  It happened, and it definitely speaks to the band's credit that he adapted and persevered, but at the same time, I don't think of Def Leppard as the band with the one-armed drummer.  I think of them as the band that rocked my childhood with Hysteria, Pyromania, and even Adrenalize.  And ultimately, I think the music is what they'd like to be remembered for foremost, and not for being "the band with the one-armed drummer."  Again, not downplaying the commitment and fraternity of the the band's members, and it served as a set up for the punchline about the '90's, but that particular bit got just a little more time than it should have, in my opinion.  As they performed, Joe Elliott seemed to be struggling a little bit with the high notes, but he was still rocking the house, as was the rest of the band.  Overall, a very solid performance from the winners of the fan ballot.

Very little in the way of low points for me personally, but I wasn't thrilled with the final jam on "All The Young Dudes."  It was great to see a nice cross-section of the ceremony onstage together, but I really wasn't thrilled with the way the all-star jam was used to stump for Mott The Hoople.  No, I'm not kidding or deluding myself.  Using the ceremony as the opportunity to push for other artists is practically a formulaic constant.  We saw it this year in the package for Def Leppard, when T. Rex was cited as an influence.  We saw it in the presentation speech by David Byrne, when he mentioned Can as an influence on Radiohead.  Maybe it was just an observation, but it could be construed as a plea to represent krautrock.  It often happens in the acceptance speeches, such as U2 in 2005, Metallica in 2009, and Daryl Hall And John Oates in 2014.  This year, we didn't get that so much, except when both Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson asked the Hall to induct more women, though neither mentioned any specific women they'd like to see inducted.  We've even seen it in attire, noticeably Jeff Ament's shirt when he was inducted with the rest of Pearl Jam in 2017.  We've also seen it in the performances, like when Madonna asked the Stooges to perform in her place in 2008, and this year, when the Zombies were jamming towards the end of "She's Not There,"where they sneaked in the bit from "Gimme Some Lovin'." But the all-star jam?  It's supposed to be a jam with those who are in, and possibly their presenters.  I really didn't care for using the closing scene, the final call for fraternity, to push for another act.  Should Mott The Hoople be inducted?  Maybe, but that should be for a different time and place.  That said, "All The Young Dudes" is still a great rock 'n' roll torch song to bring the house down, so at least we got that out of it.

So that wraps up my fourth viewing (now fifth, as I've restructured this entry while watching the entire ceremony again) and my observations on this year's induction ceremony.  Great production job, good editing, great speeches and performances... great television in other words.  I really loved it.  I'm still not thinking about 2020 yet, but I'm about ready to put a cap on this year's class.  Think of it as putting the bookmark on the last page of this chapter, but not yet turning the page to the next one.  What were your thoughts about the ceremony?  How many times did/will you watch it?  To close out, while there was really not much to dislike, I'm still gonna rank what I saw and how much I liked them, even though I genuinely enjoyed each segment, even the all-star jam.

Video packages:
1. Radiohead
2. Janet Jackson
3. The Cure
4. In Memoriam
5. The Zombies
6. Stevie Nicks
7. Roxy Music
8. Def Leppard

Presentation speeches:
1. Janelle Monae
2. Trent Reznor
3. Simon Le Bon And John Taylor
4. Susanna Hoffs
5. David Byrne
6. Brian May
7. Harry Styles

Acceptance speeches:
1. Stevie Nicks
2. Janet Jackson
3. The Zombies
4. The Cure
5. Radiohead
6. Def Leppard
7. Roxy Music

Performances:
1. The Cure
2. Stevie Nicks
3. The Zombies
4. Def Leppard
5. Roxy Music
6. All-star jam