For Your Listening Pleasure
The Clash – London Calling
News to You
This week, I’m going back to the archives and re-printing a piece I wrote last November when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees were first announced. There are two reasons for this… the first is that I have to go to court and have about 20 minutes to bang out this week’s column. The second is a bit more relevant to the topic at hand.
The induction ceremony shown this Sunday on VH-1 was awfully good. In fact, for the first time since the Hall opened its doors, the inductees in BACK TO BACK YEARS have been… well, different. Taking nothing away from the Beatles and the Stones, Bo Diddley and Hank Williams, The Four Seasons and The Byrds, in 2002 and 2003 we’ve finally seen some PUNKS enshrined in Cleveland.
Punks enshrined in Cleveland?
Anyway, first the Ramones and the Talking Heads, and now the Clash, Elvis Costello, AC/DC and the Police — maybe not all “punk rockers”, these define the music just getting started when I was born in the late seventies, and the first real rock music that my parents listen to and still don’t fully “get”.
This is big. And it’s about time.
The excerpt from the column I’m reprinting below touches on this topic a bit, while just as importantly highlighting Run-DMC: a group that will one day break down yet another barrier when it joins the above punks and is enshrined in Cleveland.
Rock? (originally printed on 411mania — 11.11.02)
So two big things happened over the past week: the new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced, and Run-DMC officially retired. It got me wondering if these pioneers of hip-hop should end up in the Hall when all is said and done, and I think yes, they absolutely should.
AC/DC, The Clash, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Police and The Righteous Brothers are all being inducted into this Cleveland shrine in early 2003. These artists became eligible 25 years after the release of their first record, and were selected first by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s nominating committee of rock historians, and then voted on by over 1000 rock experts. These six groups were among those who received the highest number of votes (and over 50% of the vote) based on “the influence and significance of the artist’s contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll” (according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s official Web site).
Influence and significance… well, I’m not gonna be the one to argue about the influence or significance of Australia’s rock gods, “the last great British rock n’ roll band,” a new wave pioneer that still knows how to rock a crowd, STEWART COPELAND, or the duo that brought the world “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” and “Unchained Melody.” Not a chance. And as much as Sting can annoy the shit out of even ME, when The Police reunites to perform at the induction ceremony in March, you can bet he’ll have the audience wrapped around his finger, even if only for a couple of songs.
You see, the significance of rock and roll isn’t only about musicianship, or who sells the most albums, sells out the largest venues, or who struggles the most while trying to “keep it real” rather than become a sell-out. These are important factors, but you can’t overlook how they influenced other artists, and what kind of impact they made on music, or even beyond music.
I recently got into an email argument with “SylntWrath”, a reader who objected to a couple of things from my recent columns. He argued that Nirvana was nothing more than a band “in the right place at the right time,” that their music wasn’t great and that most of Kurt Cobain’s lyrics were gibberish; he also argued that Run-DMC’s influence — and those rappers they influenced — is overrated; and he didn’t think I should refer to hip-hop artists as “rock and roll icons,” as I did with Tupac, Biggie and Jam Master Jay.
I don’t have the time or space to go into how I feel about Nirvana and their impact, how Nevermind knocking Michael Jackson off the charts was, in and of itself, enough to justify their place in rock’s history, or how Kurt was one of those personalities in rock that just doesn’t come around often enough anymore (and that, yes, charisma DOES mean something). Maybe that’ll be the topic of another column.
But as sure as I am that Kurt, Krist and Dave will end up alongside AC/DC, The Clash and the others some time in 2014, I’m convinced Rev. Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay will join The Temptations, James Brown and the rest in 2009 — 25 years after the release of their self-titled debut album.
Why am I so sure? Well…
I’m the king of rock, there is none higher
Sucker MC’s should call me sire
To burn my kingdom, you must use fire
I won’t stop rockin’ till I retire – Run-DMC, “King of Rock”
If you don’t know that rhyme, then you’re reading the wrong column. Run-DMC were rock stars, period. Jay was the first rap deejay to sample rock riffs on his records. Aerosmith’s career was revitalized after Run-DMC made “Walk This Way” a hit, and crossed hip-hop over into the pop mainstream for the first time in history. Nine albums (including two greatest hits compilations) later, and you can make an argument that Run-DMC made an impact all over the place…
You see them every time you glance past a pair of Adidas shell-tops.
You hear them at parties and clubs whenever someone feels like breaking out some old school jams.
You see their influence in both hip-hop (from the Beastie Boys to Fat Joe to Jurassic 5) AND rock (Kid Rock, Linkin Park, Korn, Quarishi… I could go on and on).
And, well… their significance is unquestionable.
peace. love. moe.
– Matt
Till My Head Falls Off can be found weekly on 411 Music (old columns are archived in the pull-down menu below). Already hit everything on 411? Matthew Michaels also contributes to 1-42 and runs the pop culture commentary site moodspins.
