NEW YORK - Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five are among the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — the first rap artists to get that distinction — joining U2, Randy Newman and the O'Jays on the ballot.

Getting his start as a DJ at Bronx parties in the late 1970s, Grandmaster Flash later joined with the Furious Five for the social commentary of "The Message" and "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It").

Other nominees include blues guitarist Buddy Guy, rockabilly pioneer Wanda Jackson, rock band the Pretenders, soul singer Percy Sledge, "Centerfold" singers the J. Geils Band and the late country singer Conway Twitty.

Previous nominees on the ballot: the Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, the Stooges, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Gram Parsons

Singers of "Back Stabbers" and a string of other soulful hits, the O'Jays had their chart heyday in the 1970s. A singer of satirical songs like "Short People," Newman is now one of the Hollywood's most successful composers of movie music.

Musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote, and results of the 20th annual election will likely be announced in December. Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock Hall after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released.

Thanks for the post Vashti!

The girls over at the Journey site that I go to are not going to be happy campers. They have constantly petitioned to have them nominated and again no nomination. Oh well, its good to see that rap (even though I'm not a big fan) is getting recognized.

:wave: :rockon: peacesign:

Originally posted by Jrnygrl
Thanks for the post Vashti!

The girls over at the Journey site that I go to are not going to be happy campers. They have constantly petitioned to have them nominated and again no nomination.


Journey's never been nominated? I would've thought the Santana connection plus Steve Perry's soulful voice would bring them some respect in that regard.

Nope!

Journey definitely needs a nomination. Same with Van Halen and the Cars.

Originally posted by Jrnygrl
Thanks for the post Vashti!

The girls over at the Journey site that I go to are not going to be happy campers. They have constantly petitioned to have them nominated and again no nomination. Oh well, its good to see that rap (even though I'm not a big fan) is getting recognized.

:wave: :rockon: peacesign:

Jrnygrl, Jrnygrl, Jrnygrl. . . . When will you ever learn? Rock critics - who make up the bulk of voters in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's selection process - have long despised Journey with a stone cold passion and will do everything in their power to keep Journey out! A lot of them are still sore that the Eagles (another band critics love to hate) got in! :eek:

And by the way, I'm not happy that rap is getting recognized. Why don't hip-hop fans start their own hall of fame and leave rock and roll alone? :p

And by the way, when are these guys - eligible since 1993 - going to be voted in?

http://members.aol.com/songforme/img/family.jpg

(Oh, well, at least the late Rick Grech is in the Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic.)

Originally posted by Steve M.
Jrnygrl, Jrnygrl, Jrnygrl. . . . When will you ever learn? Rock critics - who make up the bulk of voters in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's selection process - have long despised Journey with a stone cold passion and will do everything in their power to keep Journey out! A lot of them are still sore that the Eagles (another band critics love to hate) got in! :eek:

And by the way, I'm not happy that rap is getting recognized. Why don't hip-hop fans start their own hall of fame and leave rock and roll alone? :p

Steve M., Steve M., Steve M. . . . . I know, I know, I know. But thanks for reminding me of how much the committee doesn't like Journey. I get reminded every year at this time. ;) :lol: :lol: :wave:

Hey, when is Van Halen going to be nominated for the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame?

Originally posted by dukey
Hey, when is Van Halen going to be nominated for the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame?

I agree!!

The HOF seems to be anti-hard rock though. Black Sabbath and AC/DC have yet to be inducted. They also have an unabashed hatred for POP music. ABBA and Hall And Oates both deserve to be nominated but keep getting bypassed because they made pop music.

I agree with Steve in a way, but I also think they should make a "Hip Hop Hall Of Fame" just like they have a country hall of fame and a dance music Hall Of Fame. There are some country artists that are in the Rock HOF (Johnny Cash comes to mind) and The Bee Gees are both in the Rock and Dance HOF, but there's plenty of others who aren't in rock but in the others.

Same should happen with hip hop. There are a number of Hip Hop acts who I think deserve to be in the HOF when the time comes (Run DMC comes to mind), but there's many others who may belong in the HH HOF, but don't belong in the Rock HOF, at least not until a lot of others that haven't made it yet have.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
Black Sabbath and AC/DC have yet to be inducted. AC/DC was inducted in 2003.

Originally posted by AKA
AC/DC was inducted in 2003.

thanks for correcting me, I just remember a few years back someone pointed out how biased the HOF people were against hard rock and used AC/DC as an example why. I forgot that they'd been inducted

You know something? I didn't think U2 would be eligible until 2006.

Originally posted by AKA
You know something? I didn't think U2 would be eligible until 2006.

probably they bent it a bit (since U2 had an EP in 1979) because they always need at least one superstar act per year for the HOF. This year was Prince, I forgot who was there last year (maybe ti was AC/DC as the superstar), the year before it was Tom Petty, Aerosmith and Michael Jackson in 2001, and backwards so forth.

Originally posted by AKA
You know something? I didn't think U2 would be eligible until 2006.

I think you're right! Besides, U2 doesn't deserve to get in before Van Halen IMO.

Originally posted by Dr. Jazz
I think you're right! Besides, U2 doesn't deserve to get in before Van Halen IMO.

I agree. U2 technically the more artistic credible band of the two, but I do like Van Halen's music better.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
probably they bent it a bit (since U2 had an EP in 1979) because they always need at least one superstar act per year for the HOF. This year was Prince, I forgot who was there last year (maybe ti was AC/DC as the superstar), the year before it was Tom Petty, Aerosmith and Michael Jackson in 2001, and backwards so forth. I'd say the big superstar of 2003 was The Police.

Let me try and figure out who the superstar(s) of each year was/were.

1986 - Elvis Presley
1987 - Marvin Gaye
1988 - The Beatles/The Beach Boys/Bob Dylan
1989 - The Rolling Stones/Stevie Wonder
1990 - The Who/Simon & Garfunkel
1991 - The Byrds/Ike & Tina Turner
1992 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Johnny Cash
1993 - The Grateful Dead/Elton John/John Lennon
1994 - Creedence Clearwater Revival/The Doors
1995 - Led Zeppelin/Janis Joplin/Neil Young
1996 - David Bowie/Pink Floyd
1997 - Buffalo Springfield/Crosby, Stills & Nash//The Bee Gees/The Jackson Five
1998 - The Eagles/Fleetwood Mac
1999 - Billy Joel/Paul McCartney/Bruce Springsteen
2000 - Eric Clapton/James Taylor
2001 - Aerosmith/Michael Jackson/Queen
2002 - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers/Ramones
2003 - The Police/AC/DC/The Clash/Elvis Costello
2004 - Prince/George Harrison/Bob Seger

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
I agree. U2 technically the more artistic credible band of the two, but I do like Van Halen's music better. Van Halen is kind of a joke right now, while U2 has stayed pretty consistent as far as the quality of their music goes. Even the critically-panned Pop (1997) was pretty good.

Even so, I was hoping this would be Van Halen's year. It would be pretty cool to see them playing on stage with David Lee Roth.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
I agree. U2 technically the more artistic credible band of the two, but I do like Van Halen's music better.

I like anybody better than U2! lol They're my least favorite band of all time, always have been. I just don't like they're music, though everybody else seems to like them & I respect that. My 2 other least favorite bands are Rush & REO Speedwagon. When I was a part-time DJ for a classic rock station a few years back, I would NEVER play either one of those bands I mentioned :lol: People at the station would get mad, because they all liked U2. Van Halen is one of my all-time favorites & they should have definately been on the ballot for this year. I just wonder when they do get inducted, will they have Diamond Dave perform with them on stage?. . . .I doubt it lol

Originally posted by Dr. Jazz
I think you're right! Besides, U2 doesn't deserve to get in before Van Halen IMO.

I have to agree with you Dr. Jazz. If the voting is done on the basis of how a band was a creative force in rock music, then VH deserves to be there.

I also believe that one of the reasons both Journey and Van Halen won't get in is because like someone said, they both have become a comical version of what they originally were. They both have had too many personnel changes. But I am sure that VH will get in before Journey.

Originally posted by AKA
Van Halen is kind of a joke right now, while U2 has stayed pretty consistent as far as the quality of their music goes.

just imagine how VH would've turned out if Diamond Dave's ego didn't get so out of control, and him and Eddie had been able to put aside differences

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
just imagine how VH would've turned out if Diamond Dave's ego didn't get so out of control, and him and Eddie had been able to put aside differences Absoluely wonderful. Unfortunately, both Eddie and Dave's egos are the size of Texas.

Why haven't they nominated The Doobie Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame??? It has been 34 years since they released their first album, "Toulouse Street". That is a very big mystery to me because I like their music.

Originally posted by BravesFan2004
Why haven't they nominated The Doobie Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame??? It has been 34 years since they released their first album, "Toulouse Street". That is a very big mystery to me because I like their music.

Once again another band that should be there but aren't. They definitely should have been there before a lot of other bands.

Go to this site to see the list of all inductees so far:

http://www.rockhall.com/hof/allinductees.asp

Originally posted by Jrnygrl
Go to this site to see the list of all inductees so far:

http://www.rockhall.com/hof/allinductees.asp

Thanks for that link Jrnygrl. I never thought to check out that site to see a Prince write-up. I just read the bio they have for him. Nearly made me a fan all over again just reading it.

Originally posted by vashti1999
Thanks for that link Jrnygrl. I never thought to check out that site to see a Prince write-up. I just read the bio they have for him. Nearly made me a fan all over again just reading it.

Your welcome vashti! I'm always happy to help out my fellow music lovers on this board!!!!:) :wave:

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Rock Hall needs
to send 'Message' by David Hinckley

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004

In a perfect world, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would soon announce that the Class of 2005 will include the Hall's first rap group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
But this is not a perfect world, even though the group is among this year's 15 finalists.

For musical quality and importance, the Hall's two primary criteria, Flash and the Furious Five fit as smoothly as a good needle into an LP groove.

But when rap enters any rock conversation, a problem arises: Many rock fans — and not only rock fans — will tell you they hate rap, end of discussion. It's a beat without a melody, they'll say. Hardly even music.

Truth is, though, rap has been the biggest genre in American pop music for a decade or more, having long ago moved out of the inner city to suburbs, prep schools and gated communities. Think backwards baseball caps.

Turntable wizard Flash and his emcees — Melle Mel, Scorpio, Kidd Creole, Raheim and Cowboy — weren't the first rappers. But in 1982 they cut the first rap track the mainstream couldn't ignore, "The Message."

Written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel and brilliantly rapped by Mel, "The Message" was a compelling and dark warning not to ignore what was happening in American cities.

"Don't push me," the chorus went, "'Cause I'm close to the edge."

"The Message" continued the Marvin Gaye "What's Going On" tradition while expanding rap's image way beyond party music that was only about itself.

Members of the group made more strong sides, including "New York, New York" and "White Lines," before imploding under the pressures of a mean industry. To this day, Flash says the group hardly saw a nickel.

But by the time they handed off the ball, rap was rolling. It's still rolling now, in forms from hard-core gangsta and party to gospel and love ballads.

Flash himself has a show on Sirius satellite radio and is forming a label that reflects how pervasive rap has become.

"It's all over the world," he says. "I've heard amazing things in Africa and Sweden. I can help these kids polish the diamond."

For all rap's success, though, its pioneers still get relatively little respect, which is what makes the Rock Hall's impending decision particularly significant.

The Hall has inducted important artists in fields from reggae (Bob Marley) to country (Johnny Cash) to eclectic (Bobby Darin) to blues (B.B. King).

Yet even among Hall voters, the narrow image of rock 'n' roll as white guys with guitars remains strong. Getting Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on stage at the Waldorf next March would deliver the right message.

well, I do think when the time comes, there should be a Hip Hop Hall of Fame. Some rappers will still make the rock (much like some country artists have made the rock), but many will just make the Hip Hop HOF. Therefore rock fans can't complain that they're being drained too much. Since Hip Hop is no more "rock" than Country or Dance Music is, and they have their HOF's too.

Forget about all of the BS that swirls around Van Halen. They paid their dues, and they were without a doubt one of rock & rolls Verybestmostdynamic bands for a long while. They should be in the hall--big time!

My opinion about rap getting in? Hey, sorry man, that ain't rock & roll and shouldn't be catergorized as such.

I think the confusion here is that people are taking the term "rock and roll" too literally. In the case of the Hall of Fame, I don't think they mean rock and roll as opposed to country or rap, etc. It's as opposed to old time standards singers like Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis or Perry Como. 1955 is considered the start of the "rock era", when Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and those types started becoming popular. It's pretty much been understood in the industry that music from the mid-50s to the present is all sort of considered under the "rock" banner just as a simple term to use, not specifically describing the genre of music that it is. Rolling Stone magazine for example has been using the term for years as an all inclusive description of popular music from the 50s on, which includes rock and Motown and British Invasion and psychedelic and glam and country and soul and disco and punk and new wave and rap and grunge and anything else that's been a major popular, edgy form of music. I figured that was their intention all along, to honor people who made meaningful, influential popular music, not necessarily rock and roll music. So with that in mind, I never had a problem with anyone they felt worthy of induction.

I get your point and you might be right in regards to who is calling the shots. I/we don't have to go along with who claims to be "The Word".

Rap or hiphop, or whatever it is, just doesn't qualify under any standards of rock & roll. It's rap, the same as bluegrass is bluegrass. They're on their own. They made their bed. It may be a fine bed, but they should sleep in it instead of *flitting* around looking for attention and praises from elsewhere.

Originally posted by vashti1999
1955 is considered the start of the "rock era", when Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and those types started becoming popular. It's pretty much been understood in the industry that music from the mid-50s to the present is all sort of considered under the "rock" banner just as a simple term to use, not specifically describing the genre of music that it is.

Coincidentally, 1955 was the year Billboard got started. Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" was their first number one hit in the week ending July 2, 1955, so that's when it all began. Or did it? Fats Domino has been putting records since 1948. Haley put out "Rock and The Clock" with his Comets in 1954, a year earlier. That's the same year Big Joe Turner put out "Shake, Rattle, and Roll."

Anyway, it's useless to assign a date to the time rock and roll was "invented." It's not a practical, tangible commodity like the telephone (invented March 10, 1876); you can't assign a date to its creation. It invovled organically and over time long before 1955.

And oh yeah, can we please stop referring to rock being in its sixth decade because we've had the fifties, the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, and the nineties, so now we're in the zeroes? It sounds like rock and roll suddenly came out of nowhere on January 1, 1950. And by the way, the fifties - the 196th decade of our Lord, actually - began on January 1, 1951, because the Gregorian calendar does not - not - recognize a year zero. The end of 1 B.C. was the beginning of A.D. 1. So - THERE! :p

Oh yeah, about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -

Please, RRHOF, INDUCT FAMILY!

(Barclay James Harvest will not be an acceptable substitute.)

Originally posted by Steve M.
Coincidentally, 1955 was the year Billboard got started. B] :p

Billboard magazine was around long before 1955. It started in 1894. The hot 100 chart started in 1958, but you're right that Rock Around the Clock hit #1 in summer 1955. As the first song of the rock style to go to the top of the popular song chart many historians like to say that this was the official start of the rock and roll era, yet there were plently of old style orchestral sounding songs that dominated the charts for a number of years after that. It wasn't until the Beatles in 1964 that that kind of staid music (Sinatra, Patti Page, Dean Martin, Bobby Vinton etc) really took a beating on the charts. Until then it existed side by side with Elvis and the other acts that appealed more to teens.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Billboard magazine was around long before 1955. It started in 1894. The hot 100 chart started in 1958, but you're right that Rock Around the Clock hit #1 in summer 1955. As the first song of the rock style to go to the top of the popular song chart many historians like to say that this was the official start of the rock and roll era, yet there were plently of old style orchestral sounding songs that dominated the charts for a number of years after that. It wasn't until the Beatles in 1964 that that kind of staid music (Sinatra, Patti Page, Dean Martin, Bobby Vinton etc) really took a beating on the charts. Until then it existed side by side with Elvis and the other acts that appealed more to teens.

Oy vey! 1894? Looks like I got that wrong. :o Sorry. But still, what about rock-sounding records that were around before July 1955? Are they written off as "non-rock-era" records just because they didn't make the charts? Some of them were Elvis's Sun records!

Originally posted by Steve M.
Why don't hip-hop fans start their own hall of fame and leave rock and roll alone? :p
THANK YOU.