Welcome to my first ever weekly post about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In this feature I will be analyzing and give opinions of the inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by year in the Performer category (and sometimes other categories) as well as the artists who appeared on the ballot, but didn’t make it on the final years.

So in my first ever post, I will be talking about the latest inductees who got inducted. The artists who got inducted this year are: Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and T.Rex.

When Depeche Mode got announced that they were nominated for the third time I knew that they’ll be inducted this year. But at the same time felt skeptical that they’ll be inducted in this year. You see, New Wave (and most synth based genres) is one of the genres the Hall is having trouble getting inducted. Although in the last five years, artists who have been nominated for three times can be automatically be inducted (previous inductees of this trend include Deep Purple, Yes, The Cars, and Janet Jackson). Honestly, the induction of Depeche Mode signals that the Hall is ready to accept New Wave (a trend that first started with the induction of The Cars two years before).

While looking at the final list, I can say that The Doobie Brothers is my least favorite inductees from this list. They might be good, but they aren’t my favorites (except probably “What a Fool Believes”). The fact that I mostly know them through a joke from The Simpsons proves that I am very less ecstatic about their induction. The announcement that they’ll be inducted this year is not that surprising for me though because artists that have been in constant rotation in classic rock stations have been getting an easier time getting in fast.

When Whitney Houston was first announced that she got nominated, this was the artist that I was rooting for the most from the ballot. Whitney is probably the most successful and most recognizable artists on the ballot than most of the artists. The only biggest hurdle against Whitney though was her songs. It’s no secret that most people don’t like adult contemporary as a whole, and that represent 90% of Whitney’s music. But they can’t deny the influence and legacy of Whitney Houston since her passing in 2012.

Nine Inch Nails is also a no surprise that the band (technically it’s just Trent Reznor getting in) will be inducted this year. Reznor giving a speech to The Cure and him warming up about the Hall helps give him support to be inducted. But like Depeche Mode with New Wave, NIN and Industrial are having a hard time getting in. But unlike New Wave, Industrial is more niche because artists from that genre don’t seem to have a strong case to be inducted. Still, NIN’s induction means that electronic-based music is getting more recognition at the Hall.

Out of all the artists who finally became eligible for the 2020 induction, The Notorious B.I.G. is the most obvious person to be inducted on first eligibility. Since 1997, the influence and lore of Biggie Smalls has grown through the current generation of rappers and artists. One of the biggest problems against him though is that output is much smaller than most inductees. But if 2Pac can get in right away after he first became eligible, then Biggie getting in wouldn’t be such a problem.

Like Biggie, T.Rex is also one of this year’s inductees where I was skeptical if they’ll make it to the final list. But as the announcement looms closer, I became confident that T.Rex, and Biggie, will get in right away. I mean let’s face it the Hall is more America-centric and artists who aren’t that successful in America tend to have a hard time getting inducted. But T.Rex seems to have a big influence on modern day music that it seems hard to ignore. It also helps that fellow glam rockers Roxy Music got inducted and Joe Elliot of Def Leppard namedropping them the year before.

The inductees on the non-performer category are not that interesting unlike the inductees in the performer category. The two non-performers are basically managers, Jon Landau and Irving Azoff, but most Rock Hall watchers like myself think their inductions is a subject of cronyism since both of them are higher ups in the Hall.

Artists Who Got Nominated But Didn’t Get Inducted

16 artists we’re nominated, but only 6 will be formally be inducted. So let’s take at the artists who didn’t make the cut and also make the case if they might or might not have a chance of getting inducted.

Pat Benatar seems like the most likely artist that might be inducted this year. But yet she falls short of making in. I have two theories as to why she isn’t inducted. (1) Many voters thought she’ll get inducted easily and they vote for other artists. (2) There are more worthy female artists who deserve induction before Pat Benatar. I tend to believe the second theory. The Hall knows that it has a problem with low representation of women getting inducted, but most voters who share there votes publicly have express disappointment that Benatar is one of three artists representing women in the ballot.

When The Dave Matthews Band were announced as nominees, many people have collectively groan in disappointment, myself included. At the same time I thought to myself, “Who would vote for the DMB?”. Critics don’t seem too enthusiastic about their work and not enough to fully vote for them. And the only inductees who are more likely to fully support them are John Mellencamp and Neil Young since both them and Dave Matthews are board directors for Live Aid. Also, The Dave Matthews Band are the first nominees to have won the fan vote and not get inducted since the Hall first created an official fan poll.

Since the last five years, the majority of artists on the ballot have always been Hard Rock, Metal, and/or classic rock staples. It makes wonder if the combined presence of Judas Priest, Motörhead, Soundgarden, and Thin Lizzy canceled each other out for the final six spots. I’ll dive more depth on Judas Priest later when I get to the 2018 class (or when they’re finally inducted), but them missing out was the least surprising for me. What does surprise me though is the Soundgarden missing out. The band was good with the critics and they have a lot of friends in the hall so them missing out was a mystery. Both Motörhead and Thin Lizzy are, in my opinion, cases where both are kind of less well known outside of their fanbases. If you ask a common Rock Hall voter to name one Motörhead song besides “Ace of Spades”, then you’re out of luck. As for Thin Lizzy, you have to be from Ireland (or just a regular fan of the band) to truly understand why Thin Lizzy is important. But to most voters outside of Ireland, they mostly know just three songs from them. Although I’ll give the edge more to Motörhead because of the mythos of Lemmy.

The 2020 nominees list is also the sixth appearance of both Kraftwerk and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (four times with Rufus, two times for Chaka Khan solo), and yet they still fail to make it on the final list. Although unlike most years, this time there was a felt of certainty that they’ll make it in this time. But twas not meant to be and they have to wait again.

I don’t have any thing else to say about Todd Rundgren and the MC5 on this round. I’ll talk more about Rundgren on the 2019 class but I’ll say this: him badmouthing the Hall of Fame sure didn’t help his case. The continued appearance of the MC5 proved that someone in the nominating committee still supports their case or that just a few votes short of induction.

Final Thoughts

What I get from the 2020 inductees is that the Hall of Fame is finally ready to move past the 60s and 70s. And for the first time since the 2015 class, the majority of the 2020 inductees are not guitar-based. Most of this years inductees are artists who rely on synth and or electronic instruments. The fact that voters pick them means that they’re (slightly) closing the door on Classic Rock staples (people can make the case for The Doobie Brothers and T.Rex, but they aren’t the typical rock stars like say Thin Lizzy). The fact that the new chairman is someone who used to work on the first years of MTV and currently works as an executive of iHeartMedia proves that the Hall of Fame is ready to catch up with the modern times.

Artists Who I Would’ve Voted if I Had an Official Ballot:

• Whitney Houston
• Kraftwerk
• Nine Inch Nails
• The Notorious B.I.G.
• Rufus featuring Chaka Khan