Personal Picks: 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

  Below are my Personal picks for the 2024 Rock Hall, listed in alphabetical order.  Most of the 15 nominees could get a "Yes" vote from me in other years. 10/15 nominees are on the ballot for the first time.  4/5 of the returnees are nominated for the 2nd time.  And one is back for their 3rd time in a row. 

  The Hall inducted 7 names from the Performer ballot last year. Plus 6 names in the side categories. This year for the first time the Hall is letting voters choose 7 artists, not 5. 

With each of my picks, I recommend some of their best recordings.

Again, these are my Personal picks, not predictions. 

Top 7

Cher - Her Iconic status as a Celebrity of movies and TV  has masked a music career that is admirably varied.  Whether with Sonny or solo.   First nomination

  

1.  Best of Sonny & Cher (Rhino 1993)

2.  Very Best of Cher (WB 2003)

Foreigner - For nearly a decade in the late 70's/mid-80's they were always good for some classic singles from each album.  "I Want to Know What Love Is" remains a monumental achievement.  Mick Jones & Lou Gramm inducted into the Songwriters Hall in 2013.   First nomination

  1. 4

  2. Complete Greatest Hits

Kool & The Gang - Funk pioneers turned 80's crossover hit machine.  Also arguably the most sampled band in hip hop.  Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.  First nomination

  1.  Wild and Peaceful

  2.  Gold

Mariah Carey - We all know she can sing, but she can also write a good song. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall in 2022.  First nomination

  1.  Emancipation of Mimi

  2.  Essential

Peter Frampton - All I can say is you had to be there in 1976-77 when Frampton was a Classic Rock God. And if you combine his years with Humble Pie and his sideman work, then he's had a Hall of Fame career.  First nomination

  1.  Frampton Comes Alive

  2.  Greatest Hits

Sinead O' Connor - A classic case where the death of an artist spotlights just how overlooked and influential they were.  And Sinead falls into that category.  First nomination 

 1.  I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

 3.  So Far: Best of (1997)

A Tribe Called Quest - If the gangsta rap of the 90's turned you off, then this group, along with De La Soul, was one of the acts to champion.  Cool samples, smart lyrics.   3rd nomination

  1. Low End Theory

  2. Anthology

The Rest

Dave Matthews Band - DMB are probably the archetypical mid-90's Rock band. Their mix of jam band rock, jazz, even World music gave them a devoted audience.  2nd nomination

Eric B. & Rakim - Pioneering rap duo who were an fye nominee in 2012.  Rakim is one of the greatest MC's ever.  2nd nomination

Jane's Addiction -  One could make the case that Perry Farrell should get a Musical Excellence award for his various bands and co-founding Lollapalooza. 2nd nomination

Lenny Kravitz - At his peak in the 90's/early 00's, he was one of that era's biggest Rock stars.  Still going strong some 35 years after his debut in 1989.  First nomination

Mary J. Blige - Now over 30 years into her career, Blige is certainly at the point where it's time to look at her influence on a generation female R&B singers.  2nd nomination

Oasis - 90's Britpop Kings whose first 2 albums remain classics some 30 years later.  First nomination

Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train" remains his greatest solo song.   First solo nomination (Black Sabbath inducted 2006)

Sade -  Nominated as a band. Sade's mix of R&B & Jazz made her (and the band) a mainstay of both Quiet Storm and smooth jazz radio.  Only Sade Adu was voted into the Songwriters Hall in 2023 (to be inducted at a later date).  First nomination

Playlist for 3/23

Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra - Live Orpheum Theater NOLA

Russell Thompkins Jr. - Riding Solo

Millie Jackson - On The Country Side

Jack Harlow - Jackman

Bill Orcutt - Music for Four Guitars 

We Can Work It Out: Covers of the Beatles 62-66 - Various (Strawberry)

Not Inducted Into Country Music Hall of Fame (Updated 2024 Inductees)

The 2024 Country Hall inductees were announced today:  Toby Keith (Modern Era),  John Anderson (Veterans Era),  James Burton (Session/Touring Musician).

Voting process is described below: (credit: Saving Country Music)

The Country Music Hall of Fame inductees are selected through a committee process appointed by the Country Music Association (CMA). The selection process has been split up into three categories:

1) Modern Era – Eligible for induction 20 years after they first achieve “national prominence.” 2) Veterans Era – Eligible for induction 40 years after they first achieve “national prominence.” 3) Non-Performer, Songwriter, and Recording and/or Touring Musician active prior to 1980 – Rotates every 3 years. If there is a tie in voting in any category, two names can be selected, as we saw in 2021.

Below are a list of artists, session musicians, songwriters, producers, etc., that are eligible as of 2024.

Al Dexter

Asleep At The Wheel

Billy Joe Shaver

Blake Shelton

Bob Moore

Brad Paisley
Buddy Emmons
Buddy Killen
Carter Sisters

Charlie Rich

Chicks (Dixie Chicks)

Clint Black
Crystal Gayle
Curly Putnam
Dallas Frazier

Don Rich
Doug Sahm
Dwight Yoakam

Earl Thomas Conley
Eddie Rabbitt

Faith Hill
Freddy Fender
Garth Fundis
Gary Stewart
Gene Watson
Gram Parsons
Guy Clark
Hank Garland

Jeannie Seely

Jerry Chesnutt
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Jeff Walker

Jim Owens
Jimmy Capps
Jimmy Martin
John Hughey
Johnny Horton
Johnny Paycheck

Johnny Rodriguez
June Carter Cash

Keith Urban
Kenny Chesney

Larry Gatlin

Lesley Riddle
Linda Martell
Linda Ronstadt
Lloyd Green

Lorrie Morgan

Lynn Anderson
Maddox Brothers and Rose
Mark O'Connor
Martina McBride
Mickey Gilley

Miranda Lambert
Milton Brown

Moon Mullican

Paul Franklin

Ralph Mooney

Reggie Young

Rodney Crowell
Rosanne Cash

Shania Twain

Skeeter Davis
Stanley Brothers

Tim McGraw
Tony Brown
Townes Van Zandt
Travis Tritt
Trisha Yearwood
Vern Gosdin

For more on the Country Music Hall check out Future Country Legends

Playlist for 3/16

Sarah Jarosz - Polaroid Lovers

Paranoid Style - Interrogator

Willi Carlisle - Critterland

James Talley - Bandits, Ballads and Blues

Laufey - Bewitched

Nicole Zuraitis - How Love Begins

Joan Baez: I Am A Noise (Documentary)

Remembering My Mom 10 Years Later

  What I miss was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about writing a remembrance on the 10th anniversary of my Mom's passing.  But the list would be too long.  Still there's her home cooking (especially the German dishes),  those homemade German Christmas cookies, her laughter and just always being there when her family needed someone.  But thinking about it further I realized that these were all the things I missed about her.  What did my Mom want throughout the last years of her life?  And did I do enough for her?  Could I have been a better son? 

  Magdalena Lane was born on October 18th, 1929, in Munich, Germany.  She spent her teen years with the backdrop of World War II allied planes bombing Munich.  Her family took shelter when sirens warned of incoming planes. In 1958 she met my Dad, Thomas R. Lane.  He was in Munich on assignment as a member of the Army.  They were married on July 30, 1958.  It was a marriage that would last 49 years. Their retirement years were spent making numerous trips to Germany. My Mom was a proud Munchen lady. 

  But the good retirement life took a turn in 2007 when my Dad was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  Which would eventually take his life in February 2008.  While my Mom had friends living close to her that she visited almost daily, those happened in daytime.  I believe the nights were the hardest thing for her to get through.  For decades she spent quiet evenings in the living room with my Dad.  Reading, watching TV.  Suddenly, that was gone.  Though we made it a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) thing to have lunch together, she often appeared to be lonely. 

  A year before she died my Mom told me that she would sometimes drive to the beach by herself and just sit in the car parking lot, facing the beach, watching the world. I didn't think much of this at the time.  But I should have.  I realize now she was telling me how empty her life had become. We often take companionship for granted.  What happens when you have such a special bond with someone that nothing else is a substitute for that connection? My parents were inseparable.

  In the last years of her life the cruelty of cancer took its toll. She died on March 14th, 2014 at the age of 84. At her grave I always make sure to say I love her and I'm sorry if I ever let her down.  She is with my Dad at a Veterans cemetery. On the day she was laid to rest those solitary nights were gone forever.  

RIP Eric Carmen

  The Raspberries were my favorite power pop group.  But first, what is power pop?  Bill Holdship wrote this in a review of a 2005 reunion show:  "merging the Who's power chords with the Beach Boys' sweet melodies and vocal harmonies and delivering it all with a decidedly Beatlesque rhythm and feel".

I'd say that pretty much sums it up. So, no knock on other greats of the 70's like Badfinger, Cheap Trick or Big Star, but the Raspberries stuck out for me. But up until the very early 80's I'd only heard two of their songs: 1972's "Go All The Way", their biggest hit and '74's "Overnight Sensation", their second biggest hit. Those got played more on Casey Kasem's AT40 the most and that was my format of choice throughout the 70's.

It took Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide of 70's Albums book to hook me for life on the Raspberries. His review of their 1976 Greatest Hits album plus their 1974 album, Starting Over, both received a grade of A-. I had to seek them out. And what a revelation. Hooks, melodies, harmonies all squashed together in a sound that was missing from Top 40 radio.

Eric Carmen wrote all of the Raspberries biggest hits. He had a knack as Bill Holdship's quote says of finding the right mix of The Who/Beach Boys/Beatles hookiest parts and adding some early 70's sheen. From 72-74 the Raspberries knocked out four concise slices of perfect power pop. Records that were mostly overlooked at the time but hugely influential. Just ask Bruce Springsteen or Steven Van Zandt. Carmen wasn't the only part of the group. The rest of the band contributed solid songs too. My favorite being bassist Scott McCarl's "Rose Coloured Glasses".

But bigger success eluded the band. And Carmen went solo in 1975 releasing his self-titled debut album in later that year. It was a bigger success commercially than any album the Raspberries released. The first single, "All By Myself" sounding unlike anything the band released. A ballad using a classical piece. It went to #2 in the U.S., becoming a much covered standard.

Carmen's solo career didn't abandon his power pop roots. But the hits he had until the late 80's were mostly courting the MOR format. And oddly two of his best uptempo efforts, "That's Rock'N' Roll" (#3 1977) and "Hey Deanie" (#7 '77) weren't hits for Carmen but teen idol Shaun Cassidy. "Hungry Eyes", the nostalgic "Make Me Lose Control", which turned out to be his last hit in 1988. Carmen rarely recorded after the 80's ended. But he did stage some reunion concerts with the Raspberries in the early 00's.

The Raspberries were based on the nostalgic sounds of the 60's. And the sounds they invoked still sound fresh in 2024.

Recommended Recordings

The four studio albums the Raspberries released in the 70's

Raspberries Greatest

Eric Carmen - s/t (1975)

Essential Eric Carmen

Playlist for 3/9

Green Day - Saviors

Brittney Spencer - My Stupid Life

Lizzie No - Halfsies

Sleater-Kinney - Little Rope

Now 89 - Various (U.S. Edition)

Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels

Thomas Jefferson Kaye - First Grade

Mary Halvorson - Cloudward

Poll: February 1988 Songs

February 1988.  Two months away from getting married. Talk about your life changer. 

For this latest poll 37 songs were picked to vote on. Here are my rankings.  Listen to this countdown at popgoldradio.com

"Push It", Salt-N-Pepa : 1
"What Have I Done To Deserve This?", Pet Shop Boys (& Dusty Springfield) : 2
"Need You Tonight", INXS : 3
"Never Gonna Give You Up", Rick Astley : 4
"Father Figure", George Michael : 5
"Tunnel Of Love", Bruce Springsteen : 6
"I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", Prince : 7
"I Want Her", Keith Sweat : 8
"Pump Up The Volume", M/A/R/R/S : 9
"Faith", George Michael : 10
"Hazy Shade Of Winter", Bangles : 11
"Everywhere", Fleetwood Mac : 12
"I Want To Be Your Man", Roger : 13
"Man In The Mirror", Michael Jackson : 14
"Shake Your Love", Debbie Gibson : 15
"I Found Someone", Cher : 16
"Don't Shed A Tear", Paul Carrack : 17
"The Way You Make Me Feel", Michael Jackson : 18
"Got My Mind Set On You", George Harrison : 19
"Love Overboard", Gladys Knight & the Pips : 20
"Tell It To My Heart", Taylor Dayne : 21
"Seasons Change", Expose : 22
"Hungry Eyes", Eric Carmen : 23
"She's Like The Wind", Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser) : 24
"I Get Weak", Belinda Carlisle : 25
"Endless Summer Nights", Richard Marx : 26
"Is This Love", Whitesnake : 27
"Candle In The Wind (live in Australia)", Elton John : 28
"Can't Stay Away From You", Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine : 29
"Say You Will", Foreigner : 30
"I Live For Your Love", Natalie Cole : 31
"Could've Been", Tiffany : 32
"Just Like Paradise", David Lee Roth : 33
"So Emotional", Whitney Houston : 34
"Because Of You", Cover Girls : 35
"Out Of The Blue", Debbie Gibson : 36
"Pop Goes The World", Men Without Hats : 37