on the Grand Funk Railroad received from a former board member. Now we know
what they do with the petitions.
Thank you for your insightful article on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I
am a veteran music journalist who spent two years on the Hall's nominating
committee and saw from the inside some of the politics at work.
"I saw how artists were sometimes chosen for nomination because of their
affiliations with the directors of the Hall and others were shot down
without so much as a moment of consideration simply because some people in
that room didn't like them personally or because an artist had bad blood
with someone calling the shots.
"At one point Suzan Evans lamented the choices being made because there
weren't enough big names that would sell tickets to the dinner. That was
quickly remedied by dropping one of the doo-wop groups being considered in
favor of a 'name' artist.
"During my second year on the committee, I received a petition signed by
5000 fans of the Moody Blues requesting that the group be considered for
nomination. Personally I am not much of a fan, and neither, apparently, was
anyone else on the committee (at least no one who would admit it). Still, I
felt they were a legitimate contender for the nomination and that it was my
duty to present the petition since so many people had taken a lot of time to
put it together. I plunked it down on the conference table to a great roar
of laughter from the assembled bigshots.
"Jon Landau, Springsteen's manager, asked me if I personally was a fan of
theirs. 'Not really,' I said. 'End of discussion,' he said.
"On the other hand, I saw how Atlantic Records artists were routinely placed
into nomination with no discussion at all, due to the large concentration of
Atlantic executives on the committee. I saw how so-called critical favorites
were placed into nomination while artists that were massively popular in
their time were brushed off. I saw how certain pioneering artists of the 50s
and early 60s were shunned because there needed to be more name power on the
list, resulting in 70s superstars getting in before the people who made it
possible for them. Some of those pioneers still aren't in today - but Queen
is.
"I was finally kicked off the committee after writing a guest editorial for
Billboard in which I criticized the Hall for its insider ways.
"Almost ten years later nothing has changed."
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I just read this article on Fox New's web site, http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/fox411/index.sml and thought you might find this excerpt interesting. If you use the URL, scroll down past the Madonna crap to get to this. We received this letter from a former board member. Here it is: "Thank you for your insightful article on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I am a veteran music journalist who spent two years on the Hall's nominating committee and saw from the inside some of the politics at work. "I saw how artists were sometimes chosen for nomination because of their affiliations with the directors of the Hall and others were shot down without so much as a moment of consideration simply because some people in that room didn't like them personally or because an artist had bad blood with someone calling the shots. "At one point Suzan Evans lamented the choices being made because there weren't enough big names that would sell tickets to the dinner. That was quickly remedied by dropping one of the doo-wop groups being considered in favor of a 'name' artist. "During my second year on the committee, I received a petition signed by 5000 fans of the Moody Blues requesting that the group be considered for nomination. Personally I am not much of a fan, and neither, apparently, was anyone else on the committee (at least no one who would admit it). Still, I felt they were a legitimate contender for the nomination and that it was my duty to present the petition since so many people had taken a lot of time to put it together. I plunked it down on the conference table to a great roar of laughter from the assembled bigshots. "Jon Landau, Springsteen's manager, asked me if I personally was a fan of theirs. 'Not really,' I said. 'End of discussion,' he said. "On the other hand, I saw how Atlantic Records artists were routinely placed into nomination with no discussion at all, due to the large concentration of Atlantic executives on the committee. I saw how so-called critical favorites were placed into nomination while artists that were massively popular in their time were brushed off. I saw how certain pioneering artists of the 50s and early 60s were shunned because there needed to be more name power on the list, resulting in 70s superstars getting in before the people who made it possible for them. Some of those pioneers still aren't in today - but Queen is. "I was finally kicked off the committee after writing a guest editorial for Billboard in which I criticized the Hall for its insider ways. "Almost ten years later nothing has changed."
