In an interview with Steve Baltin at Forbes, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails discussed his nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Reznor had in the past been cynical about the Rock Hall, and had even trashed it, but it changed for him when he was the inductor for the Cure last year.

He had this to say:

"I get asked to do the Cure, induct them, and I love the Cure. And I wanted them to be inducted properly. I thought I could do a good job, went there. As I was in the audience, sitting there, it felt kind of cool in the audience.  So, I'm sitting at a table with the Radiohead guys, super nice, and I think we all kind of looked at it like, 'This could be bullshit. As we're there it kind of wasn't bullshit. We're watching Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music get inducted, who I love, and then play. And I see a whole arena full of people into it. I walk backstage cause the Cure's gonna come up. I go out and do my thing and I'm not sure if the Cure is gonna resonate with the audience, the audience I see sitting on the floor there is mostly old industry people. Then I walk out to do the induction, it's loud applause for them and it seems real. They come up and I can see that Robert Smith is happy and the other guys in the band are all kind of freaked out. It felt validating. I wanted to see them respected someplace I feel they deserve. It ended up being a pretty cool experience and I thought, 'Alright, it doesn't feel as bullshit as I kind of snarkily dismissed it as.' I don't have any problem admitting I've changed my opinion about something.

Of course, it would be nice to get in. But at the same time, I can look on that ballot this year, Todd Rundgren, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk. And it's hard for me to make an argument why I should get in before they do.  Those guys, all of them, have been incredibly integral to me even having a band."

He added that if he could have had the inductor he really wanted, it would have been David Bowie.

This is Nine Inch Nails third nomination for the Hall, the last two coming in 2015 & 2016.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com are certain that we will have dozens more snippets about the Rock Hall to discuss before the announcement of the Class of 2020 happens in December.

It wouldn’t be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without a high profile artist stating that they don’t want any part of it. Trent Reznor just added his name to that list.

In an interview with Stereogum, Reznor had the following to say about a possible Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction:

"I saw somebody write something online or comment on Twitter like, 'What could be less rock 'n' roll than the fuckin’ Hall of Fame,' And that is authentically how I feel about it. I’ll say this: It’s nice to be appreciated. It’s nicer when it feels like that’s coming from a place that you care about. Like, a Grammy doesn’t mean a fuckin’ thing. It means a few assholes in a room that are trying to make a TV show have good ratings deciding, 'Let’s give it to this guy.' It doesn’t feel like it has any meaning behind it.

I honestly couldn’t give less of a shit. I’m not gonna sleep any better. Included or not. With that being said, it’s always nice to feel you’ve been appreciated to some degree, but it’s not on my list of things I have to achieve before I die.

 

The Oscar was completely unexpected, when you see what goes on behind the scenes there and the different guilds and how many people are involved and how seriously they take it, I’m still pretty blown away by that. I’m not saying there isn’t politics and bullshit involved too, but it feels like it’s coming from a much more significant place and from the community that’s honoring you than a couple dudes trying to get ratings for a TV show like the Grammys. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who knows what that is. I don’t give a shit. It’s irritating every year that suddenly my inbox lights up with, 'Oh man, sorry about … ' I don’t give a fuck! You know what I mean? I don’t … The worst would be if we did [get inducted] and then what? We’d have to fuckin’ show up and jam? I can’t even imagine what that would be."

Nine Inch Nails were nominated in 2015 and 2016 but never since.

This is not exactly a shocking statement from Reznor and we expect we will hear more from RRHOF worthy artists before the Class of 2019 is announced.

Trent Reznor (Basically, the only official member of Nine Inch Nails) never laid claim to creating the Industrial genre. We will say however, that this is the man that popularized it and gave it just enough if a pop sensibility to make it popular in the early to mid 90’s. As this was the decade where everything “Alternative” was given a chance, the brooding star took advantage of the opportunity and generated some of the best live performances of the past two decades.

For us at Notinhalloffame.com, Christmas always comes early.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the new inductees and there are many people who are rejoicing and just as many who are disgusted.

Deep Purple, who held the top stop on our list and have been in the top five since our website’s inception has made it on its third try.  Numerous band members have been vocal about their distaste for the Hall, however many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been very open about their desire to see the British rockers in.  This will necessitate a change in our logo, which currently features the band as the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub.

N.W.A. has also been chosen.  This selection coincides with the successful biopic of the band that received critical acclaim and also educated a new generation to the impact of the hip hop group.

Chicago, who have been eligible for the Hall since 1994, finally received their first nomination this year.  The classic rock group has been named on multiple snub lists for years.

The same holds true for the Steve Miller Band, who have also been eligible for over two decades and received their first nomination this year.

The final inductees are the power pop group, Cheap Trick who also had their first nomination this year. 

While fans of those artists are certainly pleased, there are an equal amount of fans who will wake up disappointed.

Janet Jackson who has significant online support (led by Mike Litherland who we have had the pleasure of interviewing twice) did not get in.  This was her first nomination, and her snub this year will likely increase the support for her candidacy.

Progressive rock group, Yes, were told “No”.  They too have a large throng of fans clamoring for their induction.

The Smiths were denied as were Nine Inch Nails, who have been on the ballot for the first two years of their eligibility.

For the tenth time, Chic failed to get in.  The only thing we seem to know for sure is that this trend will happen again next year.

The Spinners, Chaka Khan, The J.B’s and Los Lobos were also not chosen.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on April 8th at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.

With this, we will be taking a deeper look at the inductees in upcoming articles and will begin work on a revised list, which we are looking to have up in late January.


We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate this group of inductees and look forward to debating this topic for years to come.

This month, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announcing its 2016 inductees. Judas Priest, who gives a fat rat's ass any more, anyway?

I'm not kidding. No one is ever happy with the selections. There is no definition of what "rock and roll" is, which means that there is no consensus on which artists are appropriate candidates. Apart from the need to have released the first recording at least 25 years previously to qualify and a vague suggestion of "musical excellence," there are no criteria that can be universally applied. And with only fragmentary glimpses of the Hall's nominating committee and its selection and voting procedures, sustained mutterings about how the entire process is an industry charade stage-managed by driving force Jann Wenner and his cronies are approaching whispered revelations about the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and other occult conspiracies.

At 2:00 AM Eastern the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2016 Nominees and it features some new possibilities, old returnees and a few headscratchers.

Let’s take a look at this group in order of their rank on Norinhalloffame.com.

Deep Purple: (#1)The British rockers have been nominated twice before, though their first nomination came seventeen years after being declared eligible.  They have been number one on our list for the past two years and have never been out of the top four since our website began.

The Smiths: (#5) This is their second straight nomination.  The group has always been ranked in our top ten.

N.W.A.: (#11) This is their fourth consecutive nomination and coming off of their successful biopic, this could be their year.

Chicago: (#12) Surprisingly, this is the first nomination for Chicago who have waited over twenty years for this.  Seriously, how could this one wait so long just to get to this stage?

Yes: (#16) The progressive rock band gets a second shot at the Hall and clearly they have landed on Cleveland’s radar.

The Steve Miller Band (#21) This also marks the first time that the Steve Miller Band has been nominated and like Chicago it took over twenty years to get here.  Chances are that all of you reading this had a cd of their greatest hits.

Nine Inch Nails (#33) This is Trent Reznor’s second nomination and the man who will likely (maybe this year) become the lone Industrial representative of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Janet Jackson: (#34) This is the first nomination for Janet Jackson and we know our friends at the #Inductjanet campaign will be thrilled!  This is a strong female contender for an institution that claims to support gender equity.

The Cars: (#36) Steadily climbing our chart since its inception, this marks the first nomination for the Ric Ocasek led Pop/New Wave group.

Cheap Trick: (#44) This is another first time nominee as the Chicago based power-pop rock group has been increasing in legacy in recent years. 

The Spinners (#54) The Spinners are nominated for a third time and considering that the band they inspired (Hall & Oates) got in, perhaps this year the Spinners will add another Philly Soul representative to the Hall.

Chic: (#100) This is the eleventh (that is not a misprint) nomination for the R&B/Disco outfit from the 70’s and this is getting a little sad.  Why not just induct Nile Rodgers through the same back door that they used to crowbar Ringo Starr in last year?

Chaka Khan (#131) Huh?  With all due respect to Chaka Khan, we are far more interested in seeing her inducted with Rufus, which is actually what the ranking reflects.  This is Chaka Khan’s first nomination.

Los Lobos (#135) I hope to God that those of you reading this only think that this group was known for covering La Bamba!  This is also there first nomination.

The J.B.’s (Unranked) Another strange nomination considering that the Rock Hall not long ago inducted multiple backing bands, including that of James Brown’s first band, The Famous Flames.  This was the band that supported Brown from the 70’s to the 90’s.

We know we are going to hear a lot about this one and expect that there will be a lot of people upset that their favourite musician(s) were not chosen. And while there is certainly a lot to criticize it is nice to see so many first time nominees. 

Now it’s your turn.

Do you agree with these choices?  Let us know here at Notinhalloffame.com!