Editorial: The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Photo: Todd Rundgren Creative Commons

Editorial: The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

By Jay Luster

Behind giant red letters spelling out, “LONG LIVE ROCK,” sits the transparent, I.M. Pei designed, glass pyramid of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Located along Cleveland’s waterfront, at the corner of East 9th, & Eirieside Ave., the unmistakable structure houses dedicated record keepers of, not only its enshrinees, but also of rock and roll’s history. The Hall hosts hundreds of visitors per day, and on holiday weekends, it will get positively jammed. Casual rock and roll fans will be entertained by the plethora of wardrobe items, instruments, and stage props on display. Our visit included glimpses of Alice Cooper’s electric chair, John Lennon’s Mellotron, Michael Jackson’s famous sequined glove, and a dress worn by Dolly Parton.

Curiously, the mission, and management of the hall has come under intense scrutiny by many of its fans, and a startlingly vocal minority of its own inductees. It has been called racist, sexist, and snobbish. All of these charges against it may have some merit, but its organizers have called it nonsense. The display’s themselves are generally well done, but aside from an explanation on a sign, and some plaques describing the item hanging on the wall, there isn’t a lot of educational information. The lack of knowledgeable people on the floor answering questions is one of the museums true weaknesses.

While standing next to the thin Beach Boys display, a couple had questions about the band, and asked me if I knew anything about them. While answering their questions, another person, assuming I must be an historian, or curator, asked me a question about The Animals. Soon I had a group of ten to fifteen people around me asking questions about a dozen different 1960’s artists. Twenty minutes later, noticing my wife tapping her foot, and checking her watch, I excused myself and got back to our own tour. She observed the lack of the obvious, and iconic, memorabilia associated with specific artists. For example, there were no scarves on the microphone in the Aerosmith display, and not a single one of James Brown’s capes made it into his.

Perhaps more troubling is the criticism the Hall Of Fame has come under by many of its own enshrinee’s. The complaints range from the price of tickets to the induction ceremony, a lack of transparency in the voting process, and maybe worst of all, the accusation of prejudice against minorities and women. While there are well over five hundred male inductees, there are less than a hundred women, and less than a hundred of the three hundred and thirty eight groups, and solo artists, are POC. Is this a product of prejudice covered up by the voting committee, or just how the dice are rolled?

Most recently, recording artist, writer, and producer, Todd Rundgren has joined the list of inductees shunning his own inauguration. Choosing instead to play an already scheduled concert, he said, “I have offered to do something live for them from my venue. I will stop my show and acknowledge the award and mostly acknowledge my fans, because it’s for them.” A few months prior to this Rundgren carped that being passed over for so many years, “essentially hosed my fans.”

Another criticism leveled at the Hall is the that voters are a panel of writers, and music industry insiders, not the artists, or more importantly, the fans. This critique is mostly true, but to understand why the Hall does this, you need to look no further than The NFL Hall Of Fame, located sixty miles away, in Canton Ohio. The voting committee there is made up of sports writers, and NFL insiders, and not coincidentally, they are accused of many of the same sins. For example, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has inducted a demonstrable lack of progressive rock bands, which is paralleled by the NFL’s under-representation of certain position groups, such as Safeties.

If you are interested in seeing the guitar Prince used during Superbowl 41, or a replica of a scarf once worn by Janis Joplin, then the glass pyramid in Cleveland is the place for you. If you want to learn about the bands, and are thirsty for a deeper knowledge of your favorite artists, the educational possibilities are slim. Still, even with all of its shortcomings, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame does remind us, as The Rolling Stones song goes, “I know, it’s only rock and roll, but I like it.”

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
 
*The views expressed in this article are not a reflection of the views held by Rock and Blues Muse, LLC, and are the views solely of the writer.