Tag: "rock and roll hall of fame"

It’s that time again! Time to review the candidates, do your research, and start voting!

We’re not talking politics here, this is straight up rock and roll, and for the first time in their history the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is giving fans a say in which of the newly announced 2013 nominees will be inducted.

Among this year’s first time nominees are Rush, N.W.A and Public Enemy, while returning nominees include Donna Summer, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and The Meters. Artists must have released their first recording no later than 1987 in order to be eligible. It’s a tight race people, but someone has to decide on these artist’s hall of fame fate!

Now through Dec. 5, you can vote at Rockhall.com and CNN.com and give your favorite artists a shot at becoming inducted. Winners will be revealed the same month, with the 28^th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony taking place April 18 in Los Angeles, and broadcast on HBO at a later date.

View the full list here and get voting!

More like this:

• Nickelback Will Never Get Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, According To Nickelback

• Axl Rose Declines Hall of Fame Induction

Chad Kroeger doesn’t think we’ll be looking at his photograph in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anytime soon. In a feature run yesterday by the Edmonton Journal, the frontman of the multi-platinum band Nickelback remarked on the critical perception of his group.

“We may be dead by then but I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will probably show up the same time as our first GRAMMY,” said Kroeger.

It seems at times that mocking Nickelback has become something of an international passtime. People of every age, creed, color, and political affiliation can get behind their distaste for the Canadian hard rock band. Back in 2010 the band was notably out-liked on Facebook by a pickle. But to the band’s credit they’ve handled their lack of acclaim quite well.

The group has even struck out against haters before in print and over social media. In the same feature Kroeger went on to comment on the fan petition around their halftime performance during the Detroit Lions Thanksgivings Day game, stating that the move only served to increase ratings for the game. The band has also taken on detractors through their Twitter feed, going tweet-for-tweet with disparaging commentators (even if the responses aren’t particularly clever).

Not that the band is losing sleep over a lack of critical love or GRAMMY trophies. The band has sold 50 million albums worldwide and is the second best selling act of all time in the U.S. after The Beatles. Obviously, someone’s listening. So don’t expect Nickelback to change their tune anytime soon.

“I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia,” Rose says, in a letter he addressed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ” …and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf.”

Since the announcement of their nomination, fans have been speculating whether or not Guns’N'Roses would be reuniting to perform at the induction ceremony this Saturday, but in light of Rose’s letter, it looks like they are out of luck. In fact, although both Slash and Duff McKagan have expressed their intentions to be at the ceremony, no one really knows what to expect. Performance aside, it seems like the Hall is still pushing through with the induction.

“We are sorry he will not be able to accept his induction in person,” was all they said in response to Rose’s statement.

According to RollingStone, Green Day will be inducting Guns N’ Roses into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14th. Former GN’R members Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum, and Dizzy Reed have confirmed they’ll be attending the ceremony in Cleveland. However, it’s possible that lead singer and last remaining original member Axl Rose may pull a no-show along with co-founding guitarist, Izzy Stradlin. If they neglect the ceremony, it’s unlikely that the band would perform without them.

If G’n'R doesn’t make it, there will still be plenty of other talent on display. In addition to Green Day, Chris Rock will induct the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bette Midler for Laura Nyro, Chuck D for the Beastie Boys, ZZ Top for Freddie King, Carole King for Don Kirshner, John Mellencamp for Donovan and Steve Van Zandt for Small Faces/Faces. Also, Robbie Robertson will attend to induct Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns, and Smokey Robinson will induct the Blue Caps, the Comets, the Crickets, the Famous Flames, the Midnighters and the Miracles.

This month Guns N’ Roses are back to play six “small” venues to try to reconnect with their core fans. Let’s just hope they stick to the classics and neglect Chinese Democracy like a redheaded step child. However, despite how much of a fail that album was, the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this April—a decision based strictly off their earlier output! OK, enough GN’R bashing. For now, let’s take a look at the dates and venues they’ll be playing…

Feb. 10 - NYC – Roseland Ballroom

Feb. 12 - NYC – Terminal 5

Feb. 15 - NYC – The Ritz /Webster Hall

Feb. 19 – Chicago, IL - House of Blues

Feb. 23 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore

Feb. 24 – Atlantic City, NJ – House of Blues

On February 15th, Webster Hall (formerly know as The Ritz) will be putting their old moniker back on the marque just for Axl himself. This is in honor of the 24th anniversary of Axl’s landmark MTV performance “Live At The Ritz” with the classic Guns lineup. It’s Webster Hall’s way of honoring Axl and the revolving door he lately calls Guns N’ Roses—actually he probably paid out-of-pocket to change the sign. However, regardless of my snipping, I’m sure the show will be a hit with the hardcore fans lucky enough to score tickets. So, if you’re interested in attending one of these events, you can  try to purchase tickets and VIP packages here at the GN’R Web site. While you’re there, be sure to admire the investment they put down on their half a**, I mean half complete, Web site. Don’t worry, it’ll be up and running within the next sixteen years—the band just likes to take their time.

• The amount of strange hairdos in Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve show just shot up 500%.
• Sorry, economic downturn. Lady Gaga is just more important than you.
• About time for Beastie Boys and RHCP, but can anyone tell us who Donovan Leitch is? Anyone?
• Coldplay just can’t function without their lasers.
• If he keeps this up, Colbert might just have to move to MTV.
• We wish Jonathan Davis would realize that the paranoid conspiracy theory community doesn’t like dubstep.
• Because Occupy London is so much more hip than Occupy Wall Street.
• All Blur needs are matching black suits, wayfarers, and fedoras.

• Alice Cooper preps for the “dream” of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a “nightmare”
• Lady Gaga helps out Japan, but we can’t stop focusing on the giant fake mole she’s sporting
• Sorry Austin, I’m really happy for you and I’ma let you finish, but Kanye West has the best music/technology/film skills of all time
• The Situation says people have been putting him down his whole career. What “career” would that be??
• Santigold joins the Roc Nation
• Former Slipknot guitarist Donnie Steele gets a second chance
• More and more musicians are getting into the movie making business, and we like it
• Happy Birthday to our pal Taylor Hanson!
• The Libertines are off again
• Kate Bush brushes up on history
• Mumford & Sons getting back in the studio

You can try, but you probably can’t put an accurate label on Foxy Shazam. Their eccentric and eclectic mix of punk, soul and straight up rock ‘n’ roll has earned the band critical praise and performances at Lollapollooza, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Reading & Leeds. Following a summer tour with Hole and the release of their smash self-titled album, the band recently finished a two-month cross-country stint with Free Energy and is preparing for another huge year in 2011.

One might expect that outrageously energetic 24-year-old frontman Eric Nally lives an equally wild life. On the contrary—offstage, he is a soft-spoken, friendly father of two. We had the pleasure of speaking with Eric about touring memories, writing with Meat Loaf, modern day rock stars and what it’s like to lead a double life.

OS: You’ve just finished your fall tour with Free Energy. How were the shows and what were some of your favorite moments from the tour?

EN: We went to the UK for a week in between this tour and that was awesome. I loved that because we sold out London for the first time. It was big for me because we’re from Cincinnati, Ohio and it’s just really far from home. To sell a place out so far away is an awesome feeling; to bring your music to a different country and do that. I liked playing Montreal because Hollerado, the band that’s opening on this tour, is from there. All their crowd was out and it was just really fun.

OS: Foxy Shazam is well known for its incredible, off-the-wall performances. What inspires the band to become so theatrical on stage?

EN: I usually tell people, “that’s just the way we were born!” It’s just natural to us. We  don’t have to do any preparation or any pre-show rituals to summon these things on stage, they just come out naturally. It’s just the way we came out of our moms, I guess. When I’m on stage, I’m an entertainer…when I’m off stage, I’m a spectator. So I just kind of sit back and watch and soak everything in. When I go on stage, I let it all out.

OS: You’ve stated that Foxy Shazam are “not concerned with what category it falls into.” Do you often find that people are trying to fit you into a genre or compare you to other bands because they’re not sure where to place you?

EN: Yeah, that happens all the time. Anybody I ever meet that’s an artist…everybody wants to be themselves. But really, in the way that everything works now, it’s just what people have to do. I accept that. Everything needs to be compared to something else just so you can wrap your head around it easier, I guess. Either way, I don’t mind it, but people do try to compare or group us into a category. Every time it’s different, so it’s cool.

OS: You’ve said that you would never want to make the same record again and the evolution of the band’s music has certainly reflected that. How do you see Foxy Shazam’s music evolving in the future?

EN: I don’t know…every record we make kind of stands for where I am at that moment. I’d have to kind of be in the moment to understand, but that’s exciting for me. I really like not knowing. It’s kind of cool to not think about it and not prepare.

OS: In the song “Wannabe Angel” from your self-titled record, you sing, “For you I wear this mask, at home I take it off.” Is it difficult to transition between your life as a rock star and your life as a dad and husband?

EN: Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to say with that. I feel like I’m a completely different person when I’m on stage. It’s kind of like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing and that’s awesome to me. It’s like how actors do…entertainers, really. It’s just who I am. Being a dad compared to being a professional touring musician…it’s just the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I feel so different when I’m not on stage.

OS: Earlier this year, you helped write some songs for Meat Loaf’s album Hang Cool Teddy Bear. What was your role in the writing process? Would you be interested in writing for other artists again?

EN: Absolutely! I love being associated with people that have rich history in music and Meat Loaf is obviously one of those people. I just co-wrote two songs with Justin Hawkins who used to be in The Darkness—he’s one of my best friends now. It was just awesome. We went there together and we wrote together and sat with Meat Loaf. It was great, I made a lot of good friends through that whole experience.  A lot of the other writers that were there were a lot older and have done stuff like that before. That was something that I couldn’t believe I was experiencing so early in my career.

OS: Are there any artists in particular that you’d like to write for?

EN: I would love to, whether it’s writing or whatever, work with Cee-Lo Green sometime. I think he has the best voice in music right now. I think it’s just awesome, it hits me in the right spot. It’s the perfect voice for me. I’d love to work with him someday.

OS: Foxy Shazam was one of the first bands featured on ChatRoulette for album promotion, but you aren’t a huge proponent of bands using social media. Can you share your thoughts on that?

EN: I feel like the rock star is kind of a dying breed, we’re becoming extinct. You don’t seem them very much anymore. I think one of the most important things about what that persona was, was that you didn’t know them. It was almost like a mythical creature. People would gather backstage for hours just to catch a glimpse…and you don’t get that anymore. People know everything that everybody does because of Twitter and Facebook and they’re updating constantly. Everybody’s so human now, I guess, which is fine. That’s how it’s always been, everybody’s just a person. But I think there was this certain mysteriousness about the artist and that’s not really around anymore. So I kind of try to keep that going. I think it’s important to have people make their own stories about you rather than know the hard facts because chances are the hard facts are extremely boring (laughs).

OS: Foxy Shazam has recently announced some big touring plans for 2011. Can you tell us about the tours and festivals you’ll be playing next year?

EN: In January, we have a tour with Circa Survive. That will be awesome because I’ve heard their new record is great. I haven’t heard it but I’m really anxious to! I’ve heard a lot about that band and I know a lot of people who know them and they say they’re great guys and that’s really important to me, to share a tour with people that are nice. I’m really excited about that one, I think it will be awesome. Then we go to Australia [for the Soundwave Festival] in February and I’m really looking forward to it. I just love taking my music to different countries. I’ve never been to Australia, so it will be awesome. We have a bunch of days off in between the shows there so I’m going to do a lot of sight-seeing.

Check out this live video of Foxy Shazam performing “The Rocketeer” and don’t miss them on their upcoming tour dates, listed below!

Dec 16 Detroit, MI – Shelter
Dec 17 DeKalb, IL – House Cafe w/Victorian Halls & ‘Richardson’ Richardson
Dec 18 Minneapolis, MN – Popsickle Festival w/Motion City Soundtrack, Minus The Bear & more!
Dec 19 Kalamazoo, MI – The Strutt w/Their Teeth Will Be of Lions
Jan 14 Richmond, VA – The National w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 15 Charlotte, NC – Amos Southend w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 16 Ashville, NC – Orange Peel w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 18 St. Louis, MO – Pop’s w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 19 Omaha, NE – The Slowdown w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 20 Des Moines, IA – People’s Court w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 21 Grand Rapids, MO – Orbit Room w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 22 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 24 Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 26 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 28 Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 29 Albany, NY – Northern Lights w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Jan 30 Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock w/Circa Survive and Anberlin
Feb 26 Brisbane, AU – Soundwave Festival w/Iron Maiden, 30 Seconds to Mars & more!
Feb 27 Sydney, AU- Soundwave Festival w/Iron Maiden, 30 Seconds to Mars & more!
March 4 Melbourne, AU – Soundwave Festival w/Iron Maiden, 30 Seconds to Mars & more!
March 5 Adelaide, AU- Soundwave Festival w/Iron Maiden, 30 Seconds to Mars & more!
March 7 Perth, AU – Soundwave Festival w/Iron Maiden, 30 Seconds to Mars & more!

Located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is home to an invaluable collection of information and artifacts from the world’s greatest rock artists. The nonprofit organization also exists as an educational institution to help teach music enthusiats of all ages.

In January of 2012, the Hall of Fame will be opening a brand new Library and Archives, which will be the world’s most comprehensive collection of documents, music and videos relating to rock music. We had the opportunity to speak with Jim Henke, Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs, to hear all about this incredible new building, as well as the amazing artifacts and educational opportunities at the Hall of Fame.

OS: What do you take into consideration when nominating artists for induction into the Hall of Fame?

JH: The only real rule is that they become eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording. From there, we try to take into account things like the longevity of their career, the impact they had on other artists, innovation, superiority in their style and technique and musical excellence. It’s not based on record sales, it’s basically based on how important of an artist they were and the quality of their body of work.

OS: How typically does the museum procure for its rare memorabilia collection? From private collections? Estates?

The exterior of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

JH: Most of the stuff we have comes directly from the artists and their families or their managers. It varies, but I’d say that 25% of what we have on exhibit here comes from the artists, their families or people who are associated with them. For example, right now, we have an exhibit on Bruce Springsteen. Most of the items came from Bruce directly, but there were a couple collectors out there who had fairly decent collections, so we also borrowed some pieces from them to fill in some of the holes.

OS: What should we expect to see in the new archive/library?

JH: It’s going to operate on two levels. One level will be more of a normal library that the general public can go into, where we’ll have books, magazines, periodicals. People will also be able to access music over the computers, and we’ll also have a lot of videos. The museum itself has been open for fifteen years and we’ve done a lot of events here, and virtually all of them have been filmed. We do a program every year called American Music Masters, where we honor one of our inductees with a week-long series of events and various performances. We’ve done maybe ten of those and we filmed all of them, but that footage has never been available. We also have a program called The Hall of Fame Serieswhere we bring in the inductees and we’ll interview them and often they’ll perform. The archive part of it will be more for students, scholars, historians and journalists. You’ll make an appointment to come in and we’ll have certain collections from various people and it’s their private papers…it could be contracts, correspondence, set lists, manuscripts. So, if someone’s writing a book or if someone’s doing a thesis, they’ll have a private room with an archivist and they’ll be able to go through these people’s papers.

OS: Why, now, is the library starting this archive?

JH: We talked about having a library and archive ever since before we opened and originally it was going to be here at the museum, but we never had quite the proper space. But it’s always been something that’s been on our radar, and we’ve always wanted something where we could preserve the history of rock and roll and allow historians and scholars access to stuff. We looked at other places in the Cleveland area…and there’s a college here called Cuyahoga Community College. Their president has been on our board since day one and has been very active. They also have a program called Recording Arts and Technology and a music production program. It turns out they were building a new building for that program, so their president thought they could build a larger building and we could put our library in there. The building’s complete and we have staff in there now and they’re cataloging everything. It won’t be open to the public until sometime next year, but we’re getting everything up and running.

A look inside the Bruce Springsteen exhibit, on display until February 27, 2011

OS: The Hall has a lot of different educational programs, particularly in classroom settings. How are the topics for classes determined?

JH: We have a program called “Toddler Rock” that’s open to preschool kids. They come in and we use music to teach them, the alphabet and counting. Then we have a program called “Rockin’ the Schools,” which is [offered to students in] kindergarten through twelfth grade. Those classes are taught here at the museum in our theater upstairs. Basically, we take rock and roll and try to use it to each about other things. For our first grade to fourth grade kids, we have a class called “Tell Me Something Good: Music and the Language Arts.” They listen to music and hear some of the stories and they examine how lyrics can establish setting, introduce characters, develop plot and narrative. We have another class called “Rock and Roll and the Science of Sound” and that’s for grades five through eight…it looks more at the audio aspect of rock and roll and how sound travels into our ears. We have another class called “The Message: The Birth of Hip Hop Culture,” which talks about hip hop and what was going on in our culture when hip hop was developing back in the ’70s. We try to go beyond music and talk about sociology or mathematics or science. We also have a distance learning program called “On the Road,” where we use interactive video conferencing technology to go into schools all across the country. We also do college-level classes.

OS: How will the Archive factor into the educational initiatives?

JM: With the kinds of things we’ll have there and having these very personal papers from a lot of people, one of the things we talked about was doing academic conferences and maybe tying it back to an exhibit. It will definitely help us to expand our educational offerings.

OS: What are some of the more interesting,  rare and noteworthy acquisitions you’ve procured?

One of the museum's most impressive items: John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper uniform

JH: We have a great collection from Jim Morrison’s parents. It turns out that they kept every piece of paper related to his life, from the hospital bill from when his mother gave birth to him to virtually all of his school report cards. In an interview for Rolling Stone back in the 6’0s, they asked him what the first poem he ever wrote was, and he said it was called “The Pony Express”…they [his parents] actually had his hand written manuscript of that. So that’s one of our great collections because it really is very thorough. It goes through his college years and formation of  The Doors, Jim had a falling out with his father and when he was arrested for allegedly exposing himself on stage down in Florida, the probation officer down there wrote his father a letter, asking what Jim’s shape was. Jim’s father wrote back this really sad letter about how he hadn’t talked to his son in many years. So there’s this gap through part of The Doors’ years and there’s letters between his father and different legal officials, and then there’s the official announcement from the American embassy in France that he had died. That’s a really nice collection. Yoko Ono has been very good to the museum, we have a great representation of John Lennon. We have a Sgt. Pepper uniform, a lot of his handwritten lyrics, report cards, different correspondence, a couple of his guitars. Similarly, we have a very good relationship with Jimi Hendrix‘s estate. As a young man, he was interested in becoming an artist, so we have all these different paintings that he did when he was younger. It’s interesting because there are a couple of rock band pictures, but there are also a lot of sports drawings that he did. You don’t really think of Jimi Hendrix as being a football fan but he did these different drawings of football players. We have a great collection from U2 that goes back to record company rejection letters, when they were first sending around their demo tapes…those are funny. We have some correspondence between the different band members and some lyrics manuscripts, some guitars and stage outfits. There’s pretty much something for everyone, no matter what your tastes are. We have sections that deal with the roots of rock and roll, the blues and rhythm and blues and gospel and country and folk. We have another section that looks at different cities and the history of rock and roll. It starts with Memphis in the ’50s and then includes Detroit during the Motown years and San Francisco during the psychedelic era and Los Angeles during the singer/songwriter country rock era and it ends in Seattle during grunge. There’s a lot of stuff here!

OS: The new library is already garnering some notable media coverage. What do you hope it will do for the Rock  & Roll Hall of Fame’s already renowned collection?

JH: I think it expands what we’re looking for and the fact that we’re actively out collecting for the library and archives. We’re going to musicians and producers and people in the music business, trying to get their papers. I think it will deepen our collection and broaden the extent of what it is. We’ll have many more documents to show how a lot of the music developed.

Check out the video below to watch Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins induct Queen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001!