Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Has Always Drawn from Various Genres

Ever since the December 2007 announcement that '80s superstars Madonna and John Mellencamp would be among this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, a debate has raged concerning whether or not the former is deserving of the honor, especially in her first year of eligibility. I've waited until now to chime in on this issue, primarily because I haven't been completely certain about where I stand in the argument. But ultimately I've concluded that the Hall of Fame has never been half as selective in its offerings of membership as some would like to pretend, which renders this choice of a pop/dance artist no more subjective or blasphemous than the selection of doo wop groups like the Moonglows and Flamingos must have seemed to many rock music fans. The question inevitably comes down to how narrowly the term "rock & roll" is applied and according to whose assessment. After all, a bevy of Motown artists has entered the Hall, while only a handful ever produced music that could be anything but very loosely characterized as rock music (witness the Supremes).

Maybe it would be more strictly accurate to rename the foundation and museum the Post-1950 Pop Music Hall of Fame, but who would want a title that clunky? In lieu of that solution, interested parties will never all agree across the board not only what constitutes rock and roll but what music meets enough evolving criteria to deserve this kind of prominent recognition. I think Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy should have been nominated and inducted back in 1996, their first year of eligibility, but I've come to terms with the fact that not enough people in positions of power on this question will ever agree with me. So what exactly am I saying, then, observers might ask? That it doesn't matter who's selected because of the subjective nature of musical taste? Of course I would never speak so arbitrarily about something as important as music, but let's just say it's probably not a great idea to take things like this too seriously. Having said that, I'll be watching VH1 Classic's broadcast of this year's ceremony at 8:30 tomorrow night, with my serious-taking meter set carefully to "cynical."