Throwing back to the week of October 24, 1975, we find a trio of repeats atop the Billboard Hot 100: Chicago’s ‘If You Leave Me Now,’ Rick Dees’ ‘Disco Duck,’ and The Steve Miller Band’s ‘Rock’n Me.’
That brings us to #4 and Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,’ a folk rock song that ultimately peaked at #2 for two weeks in November. This was Lightfoot’s second-highest charting song, after his sole #1 hit, 1974’s ‘Sundown.’
The final inductee from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is The Stooges, the proto-punk band fronted by Iggy Pop. The Stooges were first eligible for Hall inclusion in 1995 and were nominated eight times before making it in.
Iggy Pop has been eligible as a solo artist since 2003 and as the “Godfather of Punk” has a decent case for getting in twice, but it seems the Hall is (so far) content with recognizing him through for his groundbreaking work with The Stooges.
Our next member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is reggae pioneer Jimmy Cliff. Eligible since 1988, Cliff was nominated for the first time in 2010, the year of his induction.
Cliff was the second Jamaican to enter the Rock Hall, following Bob Marley in 1994. Three more countrymen and women have been inducted since, but Marley and Cliff remain the only reggae artists recognized by the Hall.
The Hollies had to wait more than two decades for their first Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, but they made it in on the first ballot. Eligible since 1989, they ultimately joined the Class of 2010.
Formed in 1962 by Graham Nash and Allan Clarke, The Hollies officially retired from touring in August of this year, putting them up there with The Rolling Stones in terms of longevity. They recorded into the 2000s but enjoyed most of their success between 1963-1974.
Continuing my look at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2010, the next featured inductee is Genesis.
The English rock band is one of the few acts that could reasonably earn Rock Hall membership for two different lineups and eras. The band started as a prog rock act with Peter Gabriel on lead vocals and ended as a pop band fronted by dummer Phil Collins. Combine the two over the band’s 28-year recording career and Genesis surely deserves its spot in the Hall of Fame.
