In an attempt to get caught up before the next ballot comes out, we're going to get to the Class Of 2025 for their songs to add to the Great Playlist. A slightly smaller class than the previous one, but similarly chock full of amazing inductees that truly earned their spot in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. As I told Joe this past summer on my guest episode for the Patreon of "Who Cares About The Rock Hall?", I voted in the fan vote for six of the seven Performer inductees, and I was extremely stoked about most of the inductees in the other categories. It was a great ceremony, given what they had to work with, doing justice to most of the people involved. So what songs are appropriate to celebrate these thirteen inductees? Let's get into the discussion.
Bad Company: First to be inducted at the 2025 ceremony, first to be listed here. The whole Paul Rodgers contingency has been satisfied--hopefully--with the induction of this band. And Mick Ralphs was absolutely no slouch with an axe, with some hot licks. If I were to make this selection based solely on what I felt the overall gestalt was of this band, lyrically, it'd be "Shooting Star," as that would be the quintessential song about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll--except that it ends tragically. It also doesn't feel like we really get the quintessential Paul Rodgers vocal performance either. When I first had them on the "Previously Considered" list, I was planning on using "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy," but in the end, it just doesn't stand up either. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, I can't justify using "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love," either, as it's just not detached enough from the Free oeuvre. And since we're leaving out the Brad Howe era altogether, we're pretty much left with "Feel Like Makin' Love." There are a couple more we could have considered, but I think this one has low and high vocal rips, guitar riffs that are memorable, and ultimately summarizes their sound succinctly. There's a reason it was performed at the ceremony, after all, so I'm using it here.
Thom Bell: The maestro behind the sound of smooth Philly soul. Philly soul is one of my favorite styles of soul, whether it was produced by Bell or not, but Bell's touch really seemed to be a defining style of the era. Most famous for his work with the Spinners, but I'm actually not going with a Spinners' song, though "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)" was a strong contender, and also a good indicator of what comes to mind first when I think of Philly soul. I'm actually going with a song that is said to be one that the Spinners let get away. "I'm Doin' Fine Now" by New York City is an absolute masterpiece with its string section, guitar playing with some fuzz, silky smooth vocals, tight harmonies, and a groove that made you want to dance. It's almost the quintessential Philly soul song. There are songs by the O'Jays that could have worked, as well as the Stylistics, the Delfonics, and the Manhattans, just to name a few. But for my money, this is the optimal song to use. One a side note, though, Bell's induction definitely begs for a follow up along this train of thought and means the next thing should be an induction for Linda Creed. Inducting Bell alone was the right call, but the collaborations, along with her writing on her own, Linda is absolutely worthy of induction and would be a great induction for the Class Of 2026. Let's hope it happens.
Chubby Checker: The Song Of Proof for Chubby Checker will indeed by "The Twist," but that is by no means giving his entire career short shrift. How many songs have been franchises? You have some songs that are sequels or answer songs, but very few that became a musical franchise unto themselves. There was the Snoopy one that was the Royal Guardsmen's, starting with "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," but that franchise was insular, not really catching on elsewhere. "The Wallflower" started with Etta James, had an answer song by The Midnighters, which spawned a song or two more involving Annie, but little to nothing more about Henry, staying in that moment between those two artists. But "The Twist" as a song was a franchise, spawning a barrage of songs about or involving the twist, and the twist itself was a cultural touchstone to the point of being cultural exchange at the diplomatic level, as Jackie Kennedy demonstrated American cultural excellence by demonstrating the twist with foreign dignitaries. But while it wouldn't have happened without Hank Ballard's original version, it didn't happen because of Hank's version either. And you can't give all the credit to Dick Clark either for wanting that song to be performed on American Bandstand. At some point, you have to acknowledge the talent of Chubby Checker as a singer and charm as a performer. And his continued string of successful records that followed is a testament to his talent. One big record can be a moment, but talent keeps you successful. Chubby managed to keep coming back, and also helped make the Superbowl halftime show the rock and roll event that it is now. And, as he said, it all began, but didn't end (though you could argue that it bookends) with "The Twist."
Joe Cocker: I've made it clear in past entries what my opinion of Joe Cocker's music is, so we'll move on past the fact that he's the only Performer inductee that I didn't vote for in the fan vote. The man's legacy as an interpreter of songs is well regarded, and his versions often bring the party. And that's just the early career. Songs like "You Are So Beautiful To Me" and "Up Where We Belong" cemented his legacy with versatility. An electrifying stage experience, his Song Of Proof almost necessitates that it be a live 45 hit record, or at least one with all the energy of a live performance. It's not required, but I do feel that is the lion's share of his credibility as a Hall Of Famer. With all that in mind, I'm going to go with "Feelin' Alright," the studio version from his album With A Little Help From My Friends. I couldn't justify using the title track because, while impressive, it doesn't feel like it exudes as much of Joe's image as a rocker who makes people feel good when they play his records and watch him perform as this selection does.
Nicky Hopkins: The video package for Nicky's induction was amazing, showing the sheer number of records he played on and how his piano playing help give a song shape or tone to how the record will sound and feel by the time you're done listening. However, where the video package really kept trying to steer the audience to pay more attention to his work with the Rolling Stones, I will not be using a Stones' song to represent Nicky Hopkins in this project. That's not to say a Rolling Stones' song would be a bad selection. The run of albums they had where he played with them stand out as some of the strongest in their entire catalog, but I simply felt pulled in a different direction. Nicky played with a wide variety of musicians on some major hit records, including some major stars. And when I think of songs where Nicky's playing really impresses but doesn't overpower, where it just feels like some good, fun rock and roll, and was a major hit, I have to go with Ringo's cover of "You're Sixteen." Say what you want about Ringo singing this song or the problematic nature of the lyrics when you assume that the character played by the singer is anything but another sixteen year-old, or possibly seventeen, in a society that widely felt children shouldn't start dating until they were sixteen--whatever you want to say about all that, you have to admit that Nicky's tickling of the ivories instantly grabs your ears and takes you along for the simple rock and roll fun that this record is. By the way, on the back cover of the album Ringo, the track listing includes the parenthesized "(You're Beautiful, And You're Mine);" however, the labels on the 45 RPM singles that were pressed, and therefore the song's listings on the pages of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1973 and early 1974, do not include the parenthesized part. So, either way to list the title is correct.
Carol Kaye: The only living inductee who got a video package induction but did not have a a video message from the inductee accepting the honor. And it's a shame. I actually understand her indignance, first because of the "Wrecking Crew" label that she abhorred, but also because she thought of herself as a jazz musician, rather than a rock musician. Because of the technical challenges that jazz frequently has that rock seldom does, I've heard that those who are accomplished as jazz players definitely feel it as an insult to be called or compared to a rock star. Even so, I feel like if someone could have pointed out the induction of Miles Davis, explaining that even though he was a jazz musician, his music made an impact and had influence on the evolution of rock and roll, just like her contributions on all those records, they could have gotten a video message out of her as well. Maybe. And I think we can all agree that her video package induction was absolutely stellar. Watching it, I boiled it down to two. One of them was a song I had in reserve for a duo that is on the Previously Considered list, and the other is for a band that is not, and probably never will be at this point. I actually like the latter song better, but the statement made by the former is just a little too on the nose to ignore. Besides which, the duo is also probably never going to be inducted either, since the female half of the duo was inducted as a soloist the previous year. In my midnight confessions, I have to come clean and concede that the better choice to represent Carol Kaye as her Song Of Proof is "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny And Cher.
Cyndi Lauper: A stunning singer who was big, but also wasn't as big as she deserved to be. A vast repertoire that covers multiple genres from country to EDM to pop and beyond. Simultaneously beloved and controversial. It's almost impossible to put into words, but just about everything screams Hall Of Famer. And this is going to be one of those moments where I really have to disagree with the other members of the Rock Hall hobbyist community. Her set when she performed at her induction was "True Colors," "Time After Time," and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." That's what a couple of the podcasts either predicted or said they hoped it would be. But I felt slightly slighted when one of the guests mentioned some of the other possibilities, saying that wasn't what she wanted, and saying, "I don't need to hear 'She Bop'" with a tone that I interpreted as dismissive. Maybe that wasn't how she meant to sound, and maybe my own biases and tastes are blinding me, but I do need "She Bop." "She Bop" is also feminist, boundary pushing, norms challenging, but also extremely catchy with a beat that is undeniable. The only thing I would have done differently with this song would be to have a cowbell line. For some reason, I think a cowbell would've really added to it. But that's neither here nor there. It's an exceptional, unusual song, and that's the one I'm naming for Ms. Lauper.
Outkast: Proof that I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing, I've been having to change my mind multiple times when it comes to these Songs Of Proof. I remember playing "B.o.B." back in college. That, and "Ms. Jackson" were my introductions to Outkast. And I loved "B.o.B." and when I saw how big they were blowing up, I was sure that that had been a big pop crossover hit. So sure in fact, that was gonna be the song chosen. And I was wrong. No Hot 100 action. I still could use that song, but I'm keeping to my guidelines. And besides, the pop crossover cache is a huge part of their legacy, so it should be a song that made Top 40. Unfortunately, a lot of the songs that crossed over, and where they are the sole artist of credit, are the slower ones. The sole artist of credit rule, of course, disqualified "The Whole World" and "The Way You Move." It's a bit of turnaround for me, given this song annoyed me when it first came out, but I've come to like it, it showed them having a serious message, it was a massive hit, and has a good flow. I'm sorry, but it's "Ms. Jackson." I am for real, for real.
Salt-N-Pepa: It's usually a big "duh," but availability of the song is kind of necessary. With the mechanics of the Great Playlist being digital now, being able to find the song on the streaming services is a prerequisite to adding it to a playlist. In this case, though, we almost made an exception, for a couple reasons. One, availability is a fluid thing. When I first started putting my project on Spotify as a playlist, the only Dave Clark Five song available was a "Tequila"-like instrumental called "Chiquita." The songs for Ray Charles, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell were all unavailable on Spotify at some point. So, things could change, and for Salt-N-Pepa, I sure hope so, although it appears their suit for their rights is temporarily dismissed. However, only recently, I was able to find the song on Spotify, and I have formally added "Let's Talk About Sex" to the playlist. The second reason I'm determined to use that song is because of the importance of the song, socially. When the Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, wants to use and adjust a hip-hop song to fight the AIDS epidemic and to promote safe sex practices, that is noteworthy. That's not just hip-hop smashing the wall in a similar way to Run-D.M.C. when they teamed up with Aerosmith; that is hip-hop changing the world and continuing the work of social conscience, similar to the work rock and roll music was said to do back in the late '60s, in a way that should have made Rolling Stone magazine proud. If that's not part of the rock and roll attitude and spirit, I don't know what is. No disrespect to the rest of the catalog, but this was not up for debate.
Soundgarden: Trying to find a song for Soundgarden made two things abundantly clear: one, how woefully deficient my knowledge of grunge is; two, how much grunge may have had to adapt to break through to the mainstream. The difference between hearing "Rusty Cage" at the induction ceremony, for example, and relistening to some of their songs that charted the highest on the Mainstream and Alternative Rock charts is slightly jarring. Sure, some of that can be chalked up to the live experience versus listening through a laptop speaker, as well as having to adapt to a different singer's style, but it wasn't just volume. It was tempo, it was overall feel, it was the emotions that were expressed. Maybe there's a difference between angst and anger that is best depicted in those different types of songs. I guess I always figured Soundgarden as more of angry grunge versus angsty grunge. But the two are the same band, and the same is true for Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The same band that gave us "Even Flow" also gave us "Jeremy." That said, I feel like "Black Hole Sun" is too much of an outlier to accurately represent Soundgarden and what they did for grunge and for the evolution of rock and roll as a whole, outside of breaking through and being someone's introduction to the style. And really, that was more of what Nirvana accomplished. I'm going with "The Day I Tried To Live," from the same album as "Black Hole Sun", that being Superunknown, as it was a respectable hit on both of the two big rock charts at the time, but may not be super familiar to those who aren't big into grunge, and is a quality meshing of the angst and the anger that the entire band brought in the main guitar lines, the timely drumming that feels delayed, plodding bass, and of course, the lyrics and emotion expressed in the vocals.
Lenny Waronker: The video package for Lenny Waronker made it seem like Waronker was the Mort Shuman to the Doc Pomus of Mo Ostin, at least in the sense that they were inducting the other half a good two decades after the first. Business executives that in some sense might be considered joined at the hip seemed to be the way Lenny was presented, at least in his early career. That said, I don't quite see it that way, and I definitely did not go in that direction with the song chosen. When Mo Ostin was inducted in 2003, they really focused on the role he played in bringing up the whole singer-songwriter scene of the the early 1970s, especially the career of James Taylor. If I were to go that route, the obvious artist to go with would be Randy Newman. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe that's because Randy, despite all his critical acclaim and cache in the industry, is a one-hit wonder, and that really doesn't make the best case for a record executive when talking about enshrinement into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It's also why anything by Van Dyke Parks was a non-starter. The other factor is that the Rock Hall, when inducting these executives in the Non-Performer category, always tell the same narrative about how they respected their artists, listened to their artists, let the artists experiment sonically to best express themselves, and that's how they always ended up with the highest quality of music to bestow upon the masses. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it just seems like that's the story we always get when it comes to inducting record label owners and executives. And the same is true here as well. It was under his presidential tenure at Warner/Reprise that Prince had his meteoric rise to superstardom, and a lot of that was because Waronker let Prince be Prince. He let Prince... go crazy... get nuts. And let's face it, we could use a little more Prince in this playlist, so "Let's Go Crazy."
The White Stripes: Every once in awhile, you have to go with the obvious. So, the choice here is indeed "Seven Nation Army." It's an enduring song, thanks to its prevalence at sporting events, was one of their biggest hits, showcases both Jack's guitar chops as well as Meg's drumming, the vocals are archetypal of how most people remember Jack's singing, and is a cultural benchmark for the aughts. This band was certainly more than that one song, but it is a modern day touchstone for rock and roll music. Even though there are some twenty-first century songs in this playlist already ("Vertigo," "Ain't No Other Man," i.e.), and despite having a couple singles and one album released before 2000, the White Stripes are basically regarded as the first inductee whose imperial reign was wholly in this new millennium. That's a significant benchmark for the Rock Hall. With a foot in the door and eyes fixed on moving forward, it makes sense to introduce that new momentum for the Hall with an obvious choice for the Song Of Proof, rather than an opuscule.
Warren Zevon: There's something somewhat satisfying about closing this chapter of the playlist with a song by a man known for incredible songwriting, whether it was his novel yet accessible ways to express universal emotions, or his wit which could be sardonic or just fun. He didn't have a ton of hits on any Billboard chart, so I'm not feeling any pressure to have something that crossed over to the masses. In fact, it's probably more fitting to use a song that was not a hit, possibly not even released as a single, but yet something that is known by those in the know. He's the kind of singer-songwriter that one would say was so brilliant that he was ahead of his time. And the song chosen I think echoes that esteem. Roughly forty years before the #MeToo movement, Warren Zevon was calling out toxic masculinity, the way we excuse it, the stigmatization of mental health, and so much more with the song "Excitable Boy." The character in the song was an exaggeration, but also not an exaggeration. A social commentary that went unheeded for so long. That song alone is just such a clear demonstration of what some of the great works of art seeks to accomplish, and shows exactly what kind of artist he was.
And with that, we complete our celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Class Of 2025. And we are caught up. I fell behind there for a couple years for a couple reasons, both within and beyond my control. But we're caught up and ready to face the upcoming nomination cycle. I have my predictions all written up as a draft and ready to post, but I wanted to sneak this one in first, just to get back on track. Hope you enjoyed this writeup and that I've given you something upon which to cogitate. Which songs would you have chosen? Is my reasoning reasonable to you? Feel free to comment below or on social media. As a recap:
Thom Bell: "I'm Doin' Fine Now" by New York City
Chubby Checker: "The Twist"
Joe Cocker: "Feelin' Alright"
Nicky Hopkins: "You're Sixteen" by Ringo Starr
Carol Kaye: "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny And Cher
Cyndi Lauper: "She Bop"
Outkast: "Ms. Jackson"
Salt-N-Pepa: "Let's Talk About Sex"
Soundgarden: "The Day I Tried To Live"
Lenny Waronker: "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince And The Revolution
the White Stripes: "Seven Nation Army"
Warren Zevon: "Excitable Boy"
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