Our next inductee into the latest class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the funk/soul band Kool & the Gang, eligible since 1995 and nominated for the first time this year. Of the eight inducted members, only two are still alive to receive the honor.
I hate to see artists make it into the Hall posthumously, especially when there have been so many opportunities to add them. Kool & the Gang should have been a shoo-in 30 years ago when these guys were all alive.
The week of December 10, 1984, saw four songs topping the Billboard Hot 100 that have already been featured on the blog. They were, in order, Billy Ocean’s ‘Caribbean Queen,’ Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You,’ Prince’s ‘Purple Rain,’ and Wham!’s ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.’
That brings us to #5, where R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan had her highest-charting song as a lead performer with ‘I Feel For You.’
Throwing back to the week of November 9, 1974, we find Bachman-Turner Overdrive atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their only #1 hit (and only one to reach the top ten), ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.’
This is a case of a song stumbling its way to success without really trying. Songwriter and frontman Randy Bachman says he wrote the song as a joke for his brother, who had a stutter, and the band recorded it with the intention that it would only ever be heard by him. (Incidentally, I’m not sure that’s a very funny joke, but I guess brothers find weird things amusing.)
Peter Frampton has been eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 1998 but wasn’t nominated until this year. That long wait might be because his inclusion is based more on talent and influence than popularity.
His biggest hit was ‘I’m in You,’ which reached #2 for three weeks in 1977. I’d never heard that song before looking it up to write this blog entry. Same goes for his other top ten hits, ‘Show Me the Way’ and ‘Do You Feel Like We Do.’ I just haven’t encountered those songs over the years the way I have so many other 70s classics.
Our next 2024 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a band that fits neatly into the traditional definition of rock and roll. During a time when the Hall is increasingly adding rap, R&B, and country artists to its ranks, Foreigner feels like a throwback.
First eligible in 2003 but not nominated until this year, Foreigner has the numbers to back up their inclusion. The band’s first six albums went multi-Platinum and produced 14 Top 20 hits, including the #1 smash ‘I Want to Know What Love Is,’ plus ‘Waiting for a Girl Like You,’ which set a record for most weeks at #2 without reaching the top spot (10).
Meet Me In Montauk 