One day…

One day we will attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony as it was a bar discussion about inductees (more so who wasn’t in) that was the genesis for Notinhalloffame.com in the first place.  But that day wasn’t yesterday and from multiple sources here is what we know transpired at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

The show kicked off with Stevie Nicks performing “Stand Back”, which got the crowd on their feet only for their jaws to drop at that level when Don Henley came out on stage where the duo sang “Leather and Lace”.  One duet followed another as her inductor, Harry Styles joined her to take the late Tom Petty’s role in “Stop Dragging My Heart Around”.  Nicks closed off her set with, what else?  “Edge of Seventeen”.  After her set, Styles would then officially induct Nicks who is now officially the only female to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. 

While the electricity was in the air for the first inductee it was impossible for that emotion to carry over for the night’s second inductee, Radiohead.  David Byrne inducted them and only Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway were on hand to accept.  There was no performance by the two.

Next up were Simon LeBon and John Taylor of Duran Duran who were on hand to induct Roxy Music. Taylor extolled the coolness of Roxy Music and described them as a genre on to itself.  Bryan Ferry would do all the talking for the group as they accepted the induction.  They would then go into a six song set of “In Every Dream Home a Heartache”, “Out of the Blue”, “Love is the Drug”, “More Than This”, “Avalon” and “Editions of You”.

Stevie Van Zandt came out to honor this year’s Rock and Roll singles, which were chosen based on their influence on Rock and Roll.  This was created last year and it is just as confusing this year as seemingly nobody knew ahead of time what the songs would be nor was there anyone on hand who performed the songs to accept this honor.  

The songs were “Maybe” by The Chantels, “Tequila” by The Champs, “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Barrett Strong, “Twist & Shout” by the Isley Brothers, “Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-Las and “Gloria” by Shadows of the Night”.

Maybe they will explain this in better detail next year.

Trent Reznor came up next to induct The Cure.  Only lead singer Robert Smith spoke on the band’s behalf.  They then went on to perform five songs, “Shake Dog Shake”, “A Forest”, “Lovesong”, “Just Like Heaven” and “Boys Don’t Cry”.  

Up next was Janelle Monae who inducted Janet Jackson.  Jackson’s speech focused on her family and referenced often her brothers who were inducted some time ago.  Janet did not perform and it was speculated that since HBO has the rights to show the ceremony later and the just aired “Leaving Neverland”, an expose on her brother Michael was the reason she did not sing.  

Susanna Hoffs then inducted The Zombies who played the exact four songs you expected (wanted) them to with “Time of the Season”, “This Will Be Our Year”, “Tell Her No” and “She’s Not There”.

Following an In Memoriam section, Brian May of Queen came out to induct the evening’s final inductee, Def Leppard.  Only Joe Elliott spoke during the acceptance speech.  They launched into their set of “Hysteria”, “Rock of Ages”, “Photograph” and they finished with the perfect rock and roll fun choice of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.

The inductors and inductees finished the night on stage with a jam session punctuated by singing “All The Young Dudes”.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to again congratulate the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class!

For all intents and purposes, this is our Christmas morning.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2019 and there was little surprise with who got chosen as Radiohead, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Def Leppard, The Cure and The Zombies were chosen.

Radiohead enters on their second year of eligibility. Nominated last year as well, we suspect that when they announced last year they could not attend the ceremony due to commitments on tour in South America that the committee decided to delay the inevitable by a year.

Def Leppard is no surprise as they easily won the fan vote keeping the streak alive as every fan vote winner has been ushered in.  This was their first nomination.

Stevie Nicks makes history as the first woman to be a double inductee.  She was previously inducted with Fleetwood Mac.  

Janet Jackson enters on her third nomination.  It has been speculated that without Les Moonves wielding his influence against her (over Nipplegate) that this should be her year.  It is, and she joins her brothers into the Rock Hall.

The selection of the Cure opens up a glut of future inductions for early 80’s Alternative bands such as New Order and Depeche Mode.

Roxy Music enters on our their first nomination, though they have been eligible for nearly twenty years.

The Zombies, who have been nominated before finally enter after being eligible for more than 25 years. 

The biggest surprise in terms of who did not get in has to be Todd Rundgren, but the fact that he was nominated bodes well for a future induction. Kraftwerk, MC5, Rufus & Chaka Khan, Devo, Rage Against the Machine, LL Cool J and John Prine.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we will begin work on a new and revised list!

In an interview with Cleveland.com Def Leppard’s lead guitarist Phil Collen discussed the band’s omission from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

“We don’t actually care because everyone does it for us…We treat everything – Grammy’s, al that stuff as irrelevant…If that’s your main focus, there’s some life lessons to be learned.”

Def Leppard has been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2004 and not only have they not been inducted into the Hall they have never been nominated. Despite this, Collen pointed out to Cleveland.com that he had no issue with the Hall itself and the people who work there…just the voting committee. Collen had this to say and the relationship he has with the actual Hall itself:

 "Rush and KISS should have in there a long time ago…KISS is one of the biggest bands in the world and they were treated with disrespect. But not by the people who work there…I love the people at the museum…They take great care of me and our museum. It's just the voting panel.”

He also discussed with Cleveland.com on how he retrieved a guitar that was on display at the Hall for a gig during the last time he played the city:

The axe in question was his famed glow-in-the-dark guitar with Bela Lugosi’s image on it.

"It was in a case, I got it out and my guitar tech strung it out…I played it for the show and it was back in the case the next morning.''

Collen joined the band in 1982 during the Pyromania recording sessions.

Def Leppard is currently ranked #41 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Similar to other artists on this list we suspect that our next selection will generate polarizing opinions. Def Leppard, like many artists associated with the Hair Metal scene often has to overcome the image that the genre created.