Tag Archives: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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Song of the Day #4,898: ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ – Jay-Z

Given the 25-year lag between an artist’s first published recording and their eligibility for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we’re starting to see the sea change in popular music that took place in the late 90s and early 00s reflected in Rock Hall inductions.

It was around the turn of the millennium that rap and then pop became the dominant forces, while traditional rock faded away. If the Rock Hall hopes to remain relevant and honor artists who debuted after 2000, its membership will start to look less and less like the rockers of years past.

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Song of the Day #4,897: ‘Head Over Heels’ – The Go-Go’s

The Go-Go’s have been eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 2006, but received their first nomination this year.

The Los Angeles-based punk/New Wave band broke ground and opened doors, becoming the first all-female band (who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments) to top the Billboard albums chart.

They remain the most commercially successful all-female rock band of all-time.

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Song of the Day #4,896: ‘Everlong’ – Foo Fighters

Over the next two weeks, I’ll feature songs from the latest batch of inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This year’s crop is one of the biggest yet (maybe the biggest ever?), with 12 performers earning inclusion in the Hall.

Kicking things off, alphabetically, are Foo Fighters, who made the cut in their first year of eligibility. The band was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in Seattle in 1994, following Kurt Cobain’s suicide and the subsequent disbanding of Nirvana.

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Song of the Day #4,765: ‘Lean On Me’ – Bill Withers

Our final inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2015 class is the soulful singer-songwriter Bill Withers, who recorded a handful of enduring classics during a career that spanned just 15 years. Withers retired abruptly in 1985 over his frustrations with record executives trying to micromanage his career.

Withers released eight studio albums during that span. His three best-known songs — ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ ‘Lean on Me,’ and ‘Lovely Day’ — are the sort of soulful staples people list among their all-time favorites. He also wrote and recorded the yacht rock classic ‘Just the Two Of Us’ with Grover Washington, Jr. on sax.

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Song of the Day #4,764: ‘Pride and Joy’ – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

I don’t know much about Stevie Ray Vaughan, but the few minutes I spent reading about him and watching him perform in order to write this post made me an instant fan.

Vaughan is credited with leading the blues revival in the 80s, and is considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time by, well, the greatest guitar players of all time.

As such, he’s a no-brainer for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and made it in the first time he was nominated, in his sixth year of eligibility.

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