HomeARTSBang Your Head with Brendan: Hall of Fame Edition

Bang Your Head with Brendan: Hall of Fame Edition

By BRENDAN TENAN
Staff Writer

It’s time for another edition of “Bang Your Head with Brendan.” In lieu of reviews of the best new music rock and metal has to offer, the following is an open letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Dear Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

Like many fans of rock and roll, I was extremely happy to see the legendary KISS finally get the recognition from your selection committee with a well-deserved induction last Thursday night. Additionally, it was great to see one of the most influential bands from the last twenty years, Nirvana, be recognized. The induction ceremony proved in many ways to be a therapeutic and cathartic event. Fans got to see the late Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love finally bury the hatchet with the surviving members of Nirvana, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. It is moments like this that make both your induction ceremony and your institution as a whole such an important and highly regarded museum for fans of music.
However, for all the great efforts you have made to catalogue the history of rock and roll not just in America, but around the world, there are significant sub-genres and styles of music that have been grossly overlooked and under-represented in your hallowed halls. With the only criteria for an artist’s eligibility being that an act must wait twenty-five years after the release of their first major work, it seems baffling that some of the most famous and beloved acts in hard rock, heavy metal, and punk are there. Therefore, I would like to take the time to suggest, in no particular order, the following artists to be at least nominated, if not actually inducted into next year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction class.

Deep Purple: It’s a commonly held belief among hard rock fans and historians that Deep Purple was one of the earliest and most influential heavy metal bands, along with fellow British acts Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (both of whom have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame). The sonic approach of Deep Purple, led by the virtuosic Ritchie Blackmore and the late, great Jon Lord, introduced fans of rock and roll to a sound that was faster, louder, and heavier than just about any band that had come before them. Indelible riffs on classic songs like “Smoke on the Water,” “Woman from Tokyo,” “Speed King,” and “Burn” are still among the most imitated and taught by teachers to aspiring musicians. Yet, despite consecutive nominations in 2012 and 2013, Deep Purple still somehow finds itself on the outside looking in at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Ronnie James Dio: To say that Ronnie James Dio was a notable figure in heavy metal would be a great understatement. The man, whom many consider to be the greatest lead singer in the history of heavy metal, took center stage with legendary acts such as Rainbow with Ritchie Blackmore, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and his eponymous band Dio. Dio’s voice took on many shapes and emotions in his music. The content of his lyrics often alluded to many elements in the fantasy novels he read as a child, such as dangerous witches, grand castles, and hideous beasts on classic songs like “Heaven and Hell,” “Holy Diver,” “The Last in Line,” “Tarot Woman,” and countless more.  Additionally, Dio is responsible for introducing the hand gesture known as the “devil’s horns” to metal, a gesture ubiquitously used today by fans and musicians alike.
Despite his widespread acclaim, a career spanning across six decades, and over 47 million albums sold, Dio has never once been even nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though his former band Black Sabbath did get inducted in 2006. Please rectify this serious omission by seeing to it that the late, great Ronnie James Dio does get inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

MC5: Of all the great garage rock bands to come out of the US during the late 1960s and early 1970s, none of them have had the lasting impact like the MC5. Formed in Detroit during an era that also saw acts like Alice Cooper, The Amboy Dukes, and Iggy and The Stooges rise to fame and notoriety, the MC5 took the format for writing great rock songs perfected by the bands from the British Invasion, increased the tempo and cranked up the volume to create an all new sonic style that was ten years ahead of its time. Their riotous, high energy live performances and raw approach to songwriting and singing paved the way for the punk rock scene in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. While fellow punk pioneers The Stooges, The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols have all been deservingly inducted, it is a shame that the MC5, the band that arguably set the entire movement in motion, has not received their recognition from your institution.

The Misfits: I’ve felt for many years that one of the most influential yet unheralded bands of all time was The Misfits. The band has had many incarnations, but is perhaps best known for its earliest era with Glenn Danzig as its lead singer. The band took the sonic template for punk rock established by such peers as The Ramones and made it heavier and more ominous by speeding up the tempo and penning songs directly related to horror and science fiction films. Danzig’s inimitable baritone howl helped take punk into darker territory than it had previously been, spawning the horror rock sub-genre and influencing some of the biggest metal acts of the last thirty years, such as Metallica and Slayer. Speaking of which…

Slayer: Personally I would like to see all of the major bands from the thrash metal movement of the early 80’s get inducted to the Hall of Fame. However, for the purposes of this open letter I will narrow my focus to the band that has arguably had the most lasting impact on the genre and the most passionate, rabid fans: Slayer. With a career spanning more than thirty years, millions of albums sold, and a reputation for one of the most intense live performances in all of metal, Slayer should be a no-brainer when it comes to getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The classic lineup of bassist Tom Araya, drummer Dave Lombardo, and guitarists Kerry King and the late Jeff Hanneman introduced metal fans to a faster, more dynamic, and more brutal form of metal than anyone had previously heard. A member of thrash metal’s “Big 4” along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, Slayer have created a legacy that in many ways is unparalleled by any other act.
The band’s uncompromising attack on their listeners’ auditory senses on albums like Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, and South of Heaven is as punishing and exciting today as when they were first released. Araya’s trademark banshee like wails, coupled with Lombardo’s powerful double kick drums and the frantic twin guitar attack of King and Hanneman has set a standard in metal that very few acts have been able to match. In light of the recent passing of Hanneman last year, his posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame would serve as a validation to the incredible songwriting and guitar playing talents the world lost and fans are still mourning over.

Motorhead: While all of the bands who made up the era commonly known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, or NWOBHM, made a lasting impact on a number of American thrash metal bands, perhaps the one who has made the greatest impact is Motorhead. Arguably the greatest three piece act in metal history, Motorhead was one of the first bands to fuse the heavier sounds of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple with the speed and excitement of punk bands like The Sex Pistols and The Ramones. Leading the charge is Motorhead’s front man and founding member Lemmy Kilmister. Lemmy’s gravelly voice, fueled by years of chain smoking and drinking whiskey, is as unmistakable and unique as the way he plays bass guitar and the thunderous sound that comes when he plugs his Rickenbacker bass into his custom made Marshall stack.
Not to take anything away from the other members that have filled out the lineup over the near forty years the band has been in existence. Original drummer Phil Taylor laid down one of the most memorable double kick drum patterns ever on the song “Overkill,” and current drummer Mikkey Dee is called the greatest drummer in the world by Lemmy for good reason. Meanwhile, original guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke was a wild man with blistering solos and leads on “Damage Case” and “Ace of Spades.” Not to be outdone, current guitarist Phil Campbell has utilized his blues background to add more layers to the band’s sound. Simply put, Motorhead are the godfathers of thrash metal, and they deserve to be recognized for their contributions.

Frankly, there are far too many bands that have yet to be recognized than I can properly cover in this limited space. However, starting with any of the bands that I mentioned would not only be a good start, but it would also be a sign of good faith to the fans of these bands, and an important act of validation and recognition for the bands themselves.

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