The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had to change its induction ceremony for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gone were the performances by reunited bands or tributes by singers who admired an artist who has passed away or is otherwise unable to attend the ceremony. Without the big event itself, we got a video biography and acceptance speeches by some of the inductees, but not all of them. It wasn’t an ideal situation but necessary for the health of everyone involved.
The video packages for the broadcast ceremony were somewhat uniform, ranging from a fast thirteen minutes (for the Notorious B.I.G.) to more reasonable seventeen minutes (each for the Doobie Brothers and Depeche Mode) for the artists being inducted. Thankfully, the two non-performers only got ten minutes (for Jon Landau) or eleven minutes (for Irving Azoff). Still, Azoff got almost as much time on screen as the Notorious B.I.G. Something seemed off about that, but then again, much of 2020 has been “off,” hasn’t it?
The Doobie Brothers
Nine members of The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but only three people accepted the trophies during the broadcast: original lead singer Tom Johnston, replacement lead singer Michael McDonald, and guitarist Patrick Simmons. I suppose lead singers always get attention, and Simmons is actually the only original member who has been involved throughout the entirety of the Doobies’ fifty-year history. Who decided which members get to speak? Many of the members are still alive.Nine Inch Nails
Seven people were inducted as part of Nine Inch Nails, but only Trent Reznor got to accept the award. Again, who decided that only Reznor’s acceptance would be needed? The other six members of the group were barely even shown during the video.
You know you’re cool when Iggy Pop agrees to induct you into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
You’re also pretty cool when you get testimonials from legendary producers Rick Rubin, Jimmy Iovine, and Mark Ronson. Having Miley Cyrus and Annie Clark of St. Vincent talk about the influence of your band doesn’t hurt either. In fact, Clark sums up the style of Nine Inch Nails pretty well: “heavy corrosive industrial goth music.” Sounds pretty accurate to me. “Industrial” music doesn’t seem to quite capture it as fully.
The logo for Nine Inch Nails has to be one of the most famous and most recognizable band logos in history.
The tribute video spent too much time on Reznor’s work on the soundtracks for such films as The Social Network. Yes, his bandmate Atticus Ross collaborates with Reznor on these scores, but do they really count as Nine Inch Nails releases? And why didn’t Ross get to accept the award too?
The induction of Nine Inch Nails is a victory for all the goth kids and the angst-ridden suburban teens who found some connection to the dark music that the band released. When you see pictures of Reznor from when he was a teen, you have to wonder what particular demons he was struggling with that led him to start writing music.
The full list of inductees: Alessandro Cortini, Robin Finck, Danny Lohner, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Ilan Rubin, and Chris Vrenna.
Irving Azoff
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame presented two Ahmet Ertegun Awards to non-performers in 2020. Why two? I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me too. The first to be recognized during the ceremony was Irving Azoff, an agent, personal manager, movie producer, and record executive.
Azoff was nicknamed “Big Shorty” but acquired another nickname when his most famous clients, the Eagles, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s when Don Henley described him as “Our Satan.” Let you mind ponder that one. The Eagles, that notorious band of hedonists, thought of someone as “their satan.”
Azoff is credited with keeping the Eagles together as much as possible or putting them back together after they broke up… again… and again…and again.
The range of people giving testimonials about Azoff’s contributions to music was pretty wide: director Cameron Crowe, Don Henley and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, members of Earth, Wind & Fire, and musicians Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine.
Azoff was one of the producers of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That alone makes him deserving of some kind of award or honor.
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. got the shortest induction at a brisk thirteen minutes. That’s a shame. Even though his time on earth itself was brief – he was murdered at the age of 24 – his influence on hip hop is lasting.
In his induction speech, Sean “Diddy” Combs called the Notorious B.I.G. as the “greatest rapper of all time.” You expect some hyperbole when someone inducts an artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but didn’t Snoop Dogg say pretty much the same thing about Tupac Shakur three years ago? Let’s not start another East Coast-West Coast challenge. We all know how that ends.
The Notorious B.I.G. had more aliases than any other inductee this year: Christopher Wallace, Biggie Smalls, the King of New York, Big Poppa, etc., etc., etc.
How touching that the testimonials include his mother, his wife (Faith Evans), Nas, Jay-Z (who will likely be inducted as soon as he become eligible – next year?), and even Lin Manuel Miranda, one of the creators and stars of Hamilton, the Broadway show steeped in hip hop culture and style. And how touching that his daughter and son accept the award on his behalf, each of them having been so young when he was killed.
Depeche
Mode
Depeche Mode were inducted by Charlize Theron, who claimed that “they should have been there twenty years ago.” Again, there are some musical superstars who have waited a long time to be inducted, so perhaps presenters should retire this cliché. Everyone who should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hasn’t made it yet. And I don’t think Depeche Mode was technically eligible twenty years ago. Performers are eligible twenty-five years after their first recording is released, and Depeche Mode’s contribution to the sampler album Some Bizzare Album came out in 1980. You can do the math yourself.
The footage from when the band was first making a name for itself shows some very, very young band members. They look like they were still teens.
Is Depeche Mode a New Wave band or an electronic music pioneer or both or neither or something else entirely? I realize it probably doesn’t matter overall, but it would be interesting to see the arguments for each side.
The lineup for testimonials on Depeche Mode’s induction is a who’s-who of contemporary (and classic) music: Chris Martin of Coldplay, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches, and Win Butler of Arcade Fire.
The tribute video includes old footage from an event at the Beverly Center, which hasn’t had a record store in more than two decades. Where would fans mob a group like Depeche Mode nowadays? Wal-Mart? Target? Amazon headquarters? Spotify headquarters?
The video also includes footage from a recent (?) Hollywood Bowl concert. I suspect that one of my friends from work was in the audience. She never misses a Southern California appearance by her favorite band of all time even if it means she won’t get much sleep before coming to work the next day.
Three members of Depeche Mode (Dave Gahan, Andrew Fletcher, and Martin Gore) accepted the award on behalf of the five members who were inducted. That’s seems a bit fairer than what happened with the other groups. They seem to enjoy still being together in a band. They joke around with each other, with Fletcher saying that if it hadn’t been for Depeche Mode, Gahan might be stealing cars. Gahan’s response? He agrees he would be doing “something dodgy.” Gore comments on the lack of performances this year by saying through Zoom: “Aren’t we doing the concert now?” Oh, if only.
The full list of inductees: Vince Clark, Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Alan Wilder.
The “In Memoriam” segment lasted just seven minutes, but it started with guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen and ended with the legendary rock and roll pioneer Little Richard. Between the inclusion of those enormous talents, we realize that 2020 (and 2019) left us with painful losses of some great musicians. I do wonder how the makers of the video tribute decide who gets to be alone on the screen, who has to share the screen with another person (who may have no connection to the other artist at all), and who has to be one of three people on the screen at the same time?
Jon
Landau
Another Ahmet Ertegun Award? And to another manager/agent/producer? Who is it this time? Jon Landau, who started as a music journalist before he began working with Bruce Springsteen. Landau famously wrote, “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen” after seeing the rock star perform in 1974. He and we have heard it far too many times since then.
After beginning his writing career at a magazine called Crawdaddy, Landau got hired by Jann Wenner to come to Rolling Stone. Wait, doesn’t Wenner have a lot of say over who gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Hmm…
Landau’s most famous client was, of course, Springsteen, but he also worked with Jackson Browne. He’s responsible for helping shepherd at least two great rock albums to fruition: Born to Run and The Pretender.
Don’t the voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame really like Springsteen too? Didn’t they induct the E Street Band on its own after lobbying by Springsteen? Hmm…
T.
Rex
If you watched the video package on T. Rex, you might be surprised to learn that lead singer Marc Boland was not the only member. In fact, four members of the band were included, but Boland is clearly the focus of the induction ceremony.
Ringo Starr inducted T. Rex, using “finally” to describe the occasion. As he later puts it, there’s “no doubt they belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” Perhaps not, but they’ve been eligible for a long time and hadn’t made it yet, so there must have been something that kept them from being included before now.
Glam rock was about the marriage of style and substance. You might have been able to dress like Boland, who was a bit of a peacock. You might even put on makeup, including glitter on your face, and some fingernail polish. However, if you don’t have the musical talent to back it up, you’re not helping the genre progress. Marc Boland and T. Rex certainly had the chops to back up the look.
Old footage from Elton John and David Bowie is always welcome, as are testimonials from Joan Jett and Johnny Rotten (yes, from the Sex Pistols, who notoriously criticized their own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). But the highlight had to be Billy Idol talking about his early appearances as a member of Generation X on Marc’s television show. The footage of a very young Idol is fascinating. He already had the sneer.
Roland Bolan accepts for his father, who died decades ago in a car accident. He includes a phrase that his father used at the end of each episode of his TV show: “Keep a little Marc in your heart.” Very sweet.
The full list of inductees: Marc Boland, Steve Currie, Mickey Finn, and Bill Legend.
Why do we need a three-minute promotional video for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Is it open in the midst of this pandemic? No, thanks. I’ll choose life over rock and roll. And where did they get the people in this video? They all think they might (or should) be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame someday? That’s nice, but come back when you have something as iconic as the guitar John Lennon played on The Ed Sullivan Show, or Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, or the only set of drums that Keith Moon from the Who apparently didn’t destroy. Seeing those items was more interesting that the aspirations of people I’ve never heard of (and will likely never hear from again).
Whitney
Houston
Alicia Keys inducted Whitney Houston into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At first, Keys calls Houston the “greatest voice of all time.” Later, she modifies that to “perhaps the greatest voice of all time.” I wouldn’t quibble with the second characterization, but describing anyone as the “greatest of all time” invites controversy.
Houston seemed destined for a career in music. Her mother, Cissy Houston, was in several gospel and soul groups and even sang back up for Aretha Franklin at one point. Her cousin was the legendary Dionne Warwick. She was surrounded by singers from the beginning of her life. Why wouldn’t she join the “family business”?
The testimonials for Houston’s induction include Clive Davis, the legendary record producer who “discovered” her and groomed her for success, and Jennifer Hudson, who has been so obviously influenced by Houston’s singing. There’s also a touching remembrance from Kelly Price, a fellow gospel/rhythm & blues singer who was onstage the last time Houston sang, the night before she died.
It’s heartbreaking to see footage of Houston with her young daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died just three years after her mother passed away.
Cissy and Pat Houston accepted the award on Whitney’s behalf. Pat was Whitney’s manager as well as her sister-in-law. Cissy is now 87 years old, and the tragedies she’s experienced seem to have made her very fragile.
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