What do Abba, The Stooges, The Hollies, Genesis and Jimmy Cliff have
in common? Virtually nothing — except that they’re all this year’s
inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
And for some, it seems to be about time.
“We’ve been rejected seven times, and we would have set a record, I
think, if it happened again,” Stooges singer and punk progenitor Iggy
Pop told Rolling Stone. “It started to feel like Charlie Brown and
the football. I had about two hours of a strong emotional reaction
after hearing the news. It felt like vindication. Then I kind of
scratched my head and thought, ‘Am I still cool? Or is that over now?’”
ABBA co-founder Benny Andersson seems more concerned with whether
they were cool enough. “I didn’t think this would happen, because we
were a pop band, not a rock band,” he told Rolling Stone. “Being a
foreigner from the North Pole, this feels really good.”
But don’t expect to see either group’s original members onstage at
the gala induction March 15 in New York City. Two Stooges are dead —
bassist Dave Alexander died in the ’70s, and guitarist Ron Asheton
passed away in January — and Andersson and co. have adamantly refused
reunion offers for decades.
“The people who are really fond of ABBA for what we did, I think we
are doing them a favour by not going out,” Andersson said.
A Genesis reunion is equally tricky — former singer Peter Gabriel has
also resisted reunion attempts, and current frontman Phil Collins
recently revealed he is unable to drum due to a dislocated vertebra
in his neck.
“I don’t think he’d be itching to play early 1970s Genesis music at
the moment,” keyboardist Tony Banks told Rolling Stone. “Peter is a
bit elusive, but I’ll probably talk to him soon and see if he has any
concept of what he wants to do. I don’t feel a great need to play.
I’m happy just to drink.”
Other people who could perhaps use a drink include the nominees who
didn’t make the cut: LL Cool J, Red Hot Chili Peppers, KISS, Laura
Nyro, Donna Summer, Darlene Love and The Chantels.
To be eligible, an act must have released its first single or album
25 years before the nomination.
Presenters and performers — which will presumably include reggae icon
Cliff and some version of The Hollies, including Graham Nash — will
be announced early next year.
The Hall of Fame will also give the Ahmet Ertegun Award to record
executive David Geffen and songwriters Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil,
Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis
Blackwell.
