Committee Chairman

RIP: Ox Baker

Oct 21, 2014

It was reported yesterday that former Professional Wrestler, Douglas “Ox” Baker died at the age of 80 due to congestive heart failure. Baker was not the best known or most talented professional wrestler that the industry had ever seen, but he certainly had one of the most unique and menacing looks in a business that has seen its fair share.

Ox Baker, with his clean shaven head, black bushy eyebrows, and menacing fu manchu, stood out from any crowd, regardless, of whether they were familiar with the game of wrestling or not. Baker, who stood six foot three and weighed in at over 300 pounds would become infamous when after a tag team match against Alberto Torres and Cowboy Bob Ellis, Torres died of a ruptured appendix, which he suffered during the match. Ox, and his famed heart punch were blamed and that was worked into what was already an infamous heel persona.

Baker, would go on to terrorize fans and brutalize opponents in territories across the United States and would win multiple regional championships in Florida, North Carolina, Minnesota, New Zealand, Los Angeles, Georgia and Detroit, though would only have one brief stint in the WWF, which took place in 1980.

Most fans may remember Ox best for his role in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, and the wrestling film “I Like to Hurt People”, which coincidentally was Baker’s catch phrase. Ox also appeared in the Big Brawl with Jackie Chan and a favorite YouTube clip features Baker appearing as a contestant on the Price is Right.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family of Ox Baker.

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) discusses RRHOF

Oct 20, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It was not that long ago that we mentioned how ling time Deep Purple bass player, Roger Glover, mentioned that he was not certain that the band would accept a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. That was before this year’s nominations came out and Deep Purple, who was a nominee the past two years, failed to make the group of Finalists this year. Lead Singer, Ian Gillan was recently asked by Radio Futoro in Chile, what his thoughts were on the Rock Hall snub, and below is the meat of his interview regarding this topic.

“Whatever I say about that is gonna sound wrong. But who the hell wants to be in an institution? The Hall of Fame thing, it’s an American thing, We don’t have that in England or Germany or Australia or Russia or anywhere in the world apart from America. And it’s an institution. What’s that got to do with Rock and Roll? Also, it’s run by these old guys who thought that the Monkees were America’s answer to the Beatles. They called us one hit wonders. So I don’t know what they were talking about, whether it was ‘Hush’, or ‘Black Night’ or ‘Strange Kind of Woman’, ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Child in Time’, ‘Highway Star’ or one of those one-hit wonders that we were.”

Hmmmm.

Although the Hall is based in the United States, it does have a large amount of British acts inducted; though only those who did have commercial success in the U.S.. Incidentally, Deep Purple does fall into that category as they have sold millions of albums in North America. Glover’s comment as to his band being referred to as one hit wonders has been written often, but he is correct that the band is known for a lot more than “Smoke on the Water”, though let’s be honest; that will always be what they are known mostly for! Incidentally, the Monkees aren’t in the Hall either, and I don’t recall the builders of the Hall having history writing flattering pieces on the former television stars.

We can’t blame Glover for sounding agitated by talk of the Hall. They have been eligible since 1994, and did not receive their first nomination until two years ago. Current Hall of Fame inductees, Metallica, have been on record multiple times championing the cause for Deep Purple to enter the Hall of Fame.

Currently, Deep Purple holds the number one spot on our annual list of those to consider for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since our inception, they have never finished with a ranking lower than four.

Brian Roberts Retires

Oct 19, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It did not have a whole lot of fanfare, what with the World Series coming soon and all, but former two-time All Star, Brian Roberts has announced that he will be retiring from Professional Baseball.

Roberts entered the Major League ranks in 2001 with the Baltimore Orioles, a team he would play for in his next 13 seasons. Showcasing significant speed, Roberts swiped 185 bags, including an American League leading 50 in 2007. He would also lead the AL in Doubles twice, a feat achieved in 2004 and 2009. Playing Second Base for the bulk of his career, Roberts would be considered one of the better defensive infielders of his day, though not necessarily the elite in that regard.

Roberts finishes his career with 1,527 career Hits, a Slash Line of .276/.347/.409 and a bWAR of 30.2. It is a good career, though one that is not likely to get the attention of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Saying that, the Baltimore Orioles have an extensive Hall, whereby we could easily see Roberts entering.

2015 Songwriter Nominees Announced

Oct 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The Songwriters Hall of Fame has just announced their Nominees for their next year’s class, and much like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who announced their 2015 nominees last week, it is a very diverse group of candidates. Although we don’t have a Notinhalloffame list for the Songwriters Hall of Fame, it is an institution that we have respect for and will always take time to report on the actions of.

This year’s Performing Nominees are as follows:

Harry Wayne Casey, known as “K.C.” of K.C. and the Sunshine Band fame, a major staple of the Disco sound of the 1970’s.

Elvis Costello, who along with the Attractions was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Costello constantly appears in Rolling Stone “best of” lists.

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, an occasional performer, but has written and produced 26 #1 Hits on the R&B charts.

Gloria Estefan, who is arguably the most successful Latin crossover star in American music history and has sold over 100 Million albums worldwide.

Vince Gill, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and has charted 40 times on the Billboard Country Music charts.

Toby Keith, who has hit #1 on the Country Music charts 19 times.

Cyndi Lauper, who in the mid-1980’s became the first female artist to crack the top five with her first five singles.

Tom Petty, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and has sold 80 million records worldwide. Petty cracked the Billboard Singles charts 14 times.

Cat Stevens, who in the 1970’s was one of the premier Singer/Songwriters and a man who entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Ann & Nancy Wilson from Heart, who entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Steve Winwood, a versatile performer who entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 as a member of Traffic. He had a very successful solo career in addition to his work with Traffic, The Spencer Davis Group and Blind Faith.

This year’s Non-Performing Nominees are as follows:

Bobby Braddock, Rudy Clark, Randy Edelman, Bob McDill, Linda Perry, William “Mickey” Stevenson, Rod Temperton, Allee Willis and the songwriting duos of Mike Chapman & Nicky Chinn, Sandy Linzer & Denny Randell, P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri and Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia.

Whoever is chosen will be inducted in a ceremony in June in New York City. We would like to congratulate this impress group for receiving this nomination.