From a small northwestern observatory…

I commented earlier this year about the nominees, and the final vote turned out just about like I figured. I’m really glad to see that Tina Turner and Carol King led the voting, and bringing in LL Cool J and Billy Preston for Musical Excellence Awards was a nice turn of events.

With Ms. Turner’s induction, my “overlooked” list needs to be updated a bit. Here we are for the RHOF’s consideration:

10. Soundgarden

9.  Jethro Tull (eligible since 1993!)

8.  Chubby Checker

7.  Lionel Richie and/or the Commodores

6.  Sarah McLachlan

5.  The Bangles

4.  The Guess Who and/or Bachman Turner Overdrive

3.  Warren Zevon

2.  Jimmy Buffett

And my current all-time “favorite” omission…

1. Steppenwolf

A few items of interest. Number 10 on my list, Soundgarden, is the only one of the “big 4” bands out of Seattle to be overlooked (the other three being Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains). Jethro Tull, as I’ve noted, has been eligible for almost 3 decades, but is often overlooked due to the surfeit of excellent British bands. Chubby Checker may be the hardest to understand — in the very first class of inductees, the Rock Hall picked up many of the old acts which had paved the way for the Beatles, the Stones, etc., including Ray Charles, James Brown, Sam Cooke, and Fats Domino. Somehow, Chubby Checker got overlooked on that list, and so now here we are! Many of us have long held that the Rock Hall had a blind spot about female artists, and lately they seem to be listening. Perhaps the very next female solo artist deserving of consideration is Sarah McLachlan.

On that same vein, I’ve been lobbying for the Bangles for several years, and was pleasantly surprised to see the Go-Go’s inducted this year. I hope that doesn’t “crowd out” the Bangles, who really set the stage for later female centric groups. The Guess Who and/or Bachman Turner (or both, for that matter, which would make Randy Bachman a two-timer!) are perhaps the most influential Canadian acts NOT to be in the Rock Hall, and certainly between them dominated the airwaves in the 1970’s. The same is true with the Commodores, and indeed Lionel Richie’s fantastic album Tuskegee proved the relevance of their music in the 21st century. Warren Zevon is on nearly everyone’s “most overlooked” list, not only for his own prodigious output (Werewolves of London, Lawyers Guns & Money, etc.) but also his huge influence on other acts of the 1970’s. Numbers 2 and 1 on my list are personal favorites. Steppenwolf has been on a lot of “most overlooked” lists almost since the inception of the Hall. Arguably, Jimmy Buffett is more of a Country artist, but then how to do you explain Johnny Cash being inducted in 1992 (and deservedly so, I might add).

By the way, if Johnny Cash is in the Hall, why not Willie Nelson or Kris Kristofferson? Huh?