Tag Archives: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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Song of the Day #4,456: ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ – ELO

English prog-rock band Electric Light Orchestra (or ELO) is the next inductee from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2017 class. The band, fronted by Jeff Lynne, rotated several members through its lineup over the years, but the core members (and the ones inducted into the Hall) were Lynne, founder Roy Wood, drummer Bev Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy.

ELO blended traditional pop and rock instrumentation with classical strings and horns, taking their cue from The Beatles and helping to popularize one of the dominant sounds of the 70s.

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Song of the Day #4,455: ‘Diamonds & Rust’ – Joan Baez

After a month of musicals, I’m turning my attention to good old-fashioned rock-n-roll, taking a look at a recent class of inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Previously in this Rock Hall series, I’ve featured the classes of 2020, 2019, and 2018. Starting today, I’ll take a look at the six members inducted in 2017.

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Song of the Day #4,243: ‘Jeepster’ – T. Rex

This year’s final Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is T. Rex, the brainchild of singer-songwriter Marc Bolan.

T. Rex has been eligible for Hall inclusion since 1994 but didn’t become a nominee until this year. Bolan was considered one of the most egregious oversights for the past 25 years, because he is widely credited with starting the glam movement and was otherwise a major influence on British rockers in particular. I’ve read that without Marc Bolan, there would be no David Bowie.

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Song of the Day #4,242: ‘Hypnotize’ – The Notorious B.I.G.

Half of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees died before their time. In the case of Christopher George Latore Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls), he was gunned down in his car following an after-party for the Soul Train Music Awards in 1997. He was 24 years old.

Biggie is the seventh rap act inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he made it the first year he was eligible. The other rap inductees are Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, N.W.A. and Tupac Shakur.

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Song of the Day #4,241: ‘Head Like a Hole’ – Nine Inch Nails

Industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails (the brainchild of one-man band Trent Reznor) was first eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. They were nominated that year and the following year, unsuccessfully, then missed the ballot for a few years before earning a spot in the 2020 class.

Reznor is no doubt a major influence on a genre of music I don’t much like, and his commercial and critical success — particularly in the 90s — makes him a no-brainer for the Rock Hall.

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