Not "good" enough

Welcome ladies and gents, to the 400th post at Lloyd Zeffler. Imagine black balloons and streamers shooting into the air. It's almost a fiesta in here. Now back to some business...

Every year the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame puts on its tie and loafers for a boring shindig that not even the nominees are interested in going to. It is fairly obvious that these awards don't mean much, and at this point the whole process leaves music fans scratching their heads. I like to read the annual article about who has yet to be inducted. I laugh and realize that the intangible spirit of rock and roll is completely lost on people that work in it for a living.

A few of the notable names I have seen this year run the gamut of rock and roll sub-genres, but all can be included as highly influential, highly important, highly successful or all of the above.

Rush - I am personally not a fan, but Rush is prog rock. Same can be said for Yes. You might need a math degree to figure out the songs, but that doesn't mean rock fans haven't loved them for years.

Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water" is the first song everybody learns the second they pick up a guitar.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - This seems like an absolute shoo-in. Completely puzzling.

Genesis - I think Phil Collins killed this for everybody.

Alice Cooper - This is gross and shocking. Not Alice - the fact that they have ignored him for so many years. It is actually kind of satisfying. Alice earned the respect of some of Hollywood's heaviest hitters - everyone from Bob Hope to Sinatra - but he is left out of the rock crowd repeatedly.

The Stooges and/or Iggy Pop - Certainly more important than the Sex Pistols. Oh well, the day will come when we are all gone and all that will be left is Iggy and the rubble.

There are more that are just as equally puzzling. Not to mention the artists who have been inducted who probably should not have been. I wonder if the academy/association/conglomeration plans to include only one or two top notch artists, then pad the rest of the show with people nobody except their mothers can remember, just so the top artist won't feel threatened?

It doesn't matter - the fans "get it." or at least I hope they do, it is hard to tell these days.