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mr_dja
Since all styles of music are now being considered, I'd like to nominate BB King, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & Django Reinhart.

given that this is all in NoComment's imagination, some of it is definitely
visual, and some of it is a sense of how much of their musical personality infuses
us at this very moment. django and mozart are musical gods, but we don't sense
them as living in our collective dreams very strongly at this time. bb king is
very much closer to the mark, but we're not sure who we would demote. nothing
about this game is fair, and sometimes, like with joey ramone alone representing
punk, it may be that robert johnson and muddy have taken up the pure blues spots.
thinking about it. (fats domino and toots hibbert and judy garland and marvin
gaye have also sprung to mind but...)

(in no particular order)

"The 50 Most Iconic Figures in 20th Century Popular Music"

Robert Johnson
Frank Sinatra
Muddy Waters
Chuck Berry
Little Richard
Buddy Holly
Miles Davis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Elvis Presley
Johnny Cash
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Jimmy Page
Mick Jagger
Keith Richards
Janis Joplin
Ella Fitzgerald
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Brian Wilson
Louis Armstrong
Ray Charles
Stevie Wonder
Bob Marley
Willie Nelson
Patsy Cline
Madonna
Eminem
Phil Spector
Bono
The Edge
Kurt Cobain
Angus Young
Prince
David Bowie
Elton John
Bruce Springsteen
Charlie Parker
Michael Jackson
Tammy Wynette
Nat King Cole
Billie Holliday
Barbra Streisand
BB King
Tina Turner
Hank Williams
Woody Guthrie
Joey Ramone



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-19 08:25 by nocomment.

It's all good NC... I'm just happy that the thread afforded me the opportunity to type "nocomments comments". IT truely is the simple things sometimes!

Peace,
Mr DJA

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Sleepy City

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Elmo Lewis
Isn't it supposed to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? NOT a great music hall of fame.

Therefore, such great artists as Patsy Cline and Sinatra have no business being in there.

I agree, but do you think that disco, country & reggae acts should be in there or not?

Hank Williams is more rock n roll than pretty much 99% of the acts already in there.

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Gazza

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Sleepy City

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Elmo Lewis
Isn't it supposed to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? NOT a great music hall of fame.

Therefore, such great artists as Patsy Cline and Sinatra have no business being in there.

I agree, but do you think that disco, country & reggae acts should be in there or not?

Hank Williams is more rock n roll than pretty much 99% of the acts already in there.

Of course he was (I'm a big fan). But what about someone like Jim Reeves? A superstar in his time (he almost certainly outsold Hank), yet his music was only a step away from Perry Como.

Of the artists mentioned in the orginal post, the only one I think should be in the Hall is Warren Zevon. He will never get in but it is a tragedy because he was a great writer and he actually played rock 'n' roll. Madonna, Leonard Cohen etc. are worthy in their own way but they didn't play rock 'n' roll.

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Sleepy City
Of course he was (I'm a big fan). But what about someone like Jim Reeves? A superstar in his time (he almost certainly outsold Hank), yet his music was only a step away from Perry Como.

Different musical 'tradition' and cultural impact, I suppose.

I think a lot of people here get hung up on pigeonholing musical acts in 'genres'. Seems to be more of a US-centric thing - maybe its a by-product of genre-specific radio stations which is more a long-standing tradition there than elsewhere.

Most major acts arent defined solely by one narrow genre and have been able to hop between different styles during their career without much fuss. The Stones are a classic example. I've never thought of the RnRHoF as being exclusively limited to what's widely perceived to be 'rock n roll' (and a lot of the acts - even from the early days - would struggle to fit neatly in that category). If that was the case, it should have been closed a while ago, because there are few groundbreaking rock n roll acts left. I see it as honouring acts from the rock n roll era and beyond (and acknowledging the influence of pioneers who paved the way for it)

The Stones are known as the Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World - but theyve produced wonderful music of varying styles. In fact, if you called them a 'rock n roll band' when they were starting out, they probably would have spat in your face with derision. The fact is that the Stones have, at times, had something in common musically with some of the inductees whose inclusion may have baffled people (yep, even Madonna).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-18 21:40 by Gazza.

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stewedandkeefed
Of the artists mentioned in the orginal post, the only one I think should be in the Hall is Warren Zevon. He will never get in but it is a tragedy because he was a great writer and he actually played rock 'n' roll. Madonna, Leonard Cohen etc. are worthy in their own way but they didn't play rock 'n' roll.

Of course he will.

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mr_dja
It's all good NC... I'm just happy that the thread afforded me the opportunity to type "nocomments comments". IT truely is the simple things sometimes!

Peace,
Mr DJA

Finished the list taking your bb king suggestion. just couldnt stomach lady
gaga, so she's disqualified on some invented technicality...

(got it! not 20th century)

have slopped together a pic of all 50, nothing inventive. will post it shortly.

the stuff that dreams are made of...





Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-20 10:30 by nocomment.

New York Dolls should be there

In due time everyone that ever had a hit will be in there. Not fare!

Hey-- what about the Pogues ????? Shane Macgowan and his crew mixed the Clash & the Clancy Bros with amazing results---and look at all they influenced--Dropkick Murphys, Mumford, etc-- they deserve a shot

Rush is not in and never deserves to get in!!

The BIGGEST travesty is DOUG SAHM noting being in. He should be in every hall of fame there is concerning music.....

j geils band anybody? damn, they should be in for 'full house' alone. stevie ray vaughan too, he revolutionized blues in the 80s when hairband crap was all the rage, bless his soul. I'd say 'the replacements' just b/c they are favorites of mine, but they are under the radar.

upon reflection, almost by accident, think our list is pretty legit...

"The 50 Most Iconic Figures in 20th Century Popular Music"

(collect the whole set of action figures)

there's probably much more concensus about this list than any other.

As for those names who just missed, no problem, make it the 60 most iconic by adding:

Lou Reid
Iggy
Judy Garland
Eric Clapton
Diana Ross
Freddy Mercury
Johnny Rotten
Bing Crosby
Marvin Gaye
Sly Stone
Fats Domino
Toots Hibbert
Scott Joplin
George Harrison
Pete Townshend
Jim Morrison
Jerry Garcia

whoops lol now we're gonna need to make it 70...

not really. we'll stick with our 50 and wait for the brain scan data to
confirm. You may not like Madonna but she's for sure in your head, just
like coca-cola. the happy part of this story is how much great music, and how
much rock n roll, was produced by these 20th century icons. Can't say that so
far about the 21st century icons, gaga et al. But on the other hand we still
got 89 years to go. Fingers crossed...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-19 15:34 by nocomment.

NC, I love the list and concept thing; but Marvin Gaye and Pete Townshend ?? Not on the list; but I see the Edge, and then some lady underneath him.
Edge got to go, and the woman...anyone on that list should be instantly recognizable right?

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Palace Revolution 2000
NC, I love the list and concept thing; but Marvin Gaye and Pete Townshend ?? Not on the list; but I see the Edge, and then some lady underneath him.
Edge got to go, and the woman...anyone on that list should be instantly recognizable right?

ANY list has this problem. when it comes to the folks just on either side of
the cut-off. since we can't quite yet do brain scans of a statistically
significant sample of the population, that's where the errors are gonna be,
when it comes to guessing just whose art and/or personality and/or sensibility
is most burned into our consciousness and sub-consciousness. we agree that
tammy wynette and the edge are questionable, and if it wasnt for "stand by your
man", and her endless dramas with george jones, as great as a lot of her other
stuff is, tammy wouldnt have made the cut. the edge just rode in on the coat
tails of the MASSIVENESS of U2.

so the answer to your question is no, they need not be instantly recognizable,
although that certainly is a factor. robert johnson is certainly not
recognizable for most people, but since he is like a cultural adam and eve,
in that everybody is his descendant, and because his whole story is so
compelling and mythical, he has to be on the list.

"iconic" is a word that out of necessity is used loosely. when it comes to
using it to describe an artist, one possible definition is one whose art
has changed the world, at least a little. on this basis, both the edge and
tammy wynette qualify, but there certainly may be others who qualify better.
we just didnt come up with them.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers should get some consideration. They're pushing 50 and they still reside in the Funkosphere. Funky Fresh Fortified. I'll say it a funktillion times. Funk me man. Funk this Funk that. The funk has not frayed. Funk beyond the call of duty (thank you Johnny Guitar Watson for all you did in the service of funk). How many funkin times do they have to take the funk to the next sphere? When they get out of bed, they don't wash the funk out of their faces, they keep it there all day. Just ask George Clinton - he produced one of their albums.

Gotta say also that I saw Peter Frampton a couple of months ago and good gawd that man can wail better than ever. Played for 3.5 hours. He's back with his old bass player Stanley Sheldon (playing a fretless), and I get the feeling the next album might actually make the radio. His band is absolutely fantastic. He said himself it's the best one he's ever had. If nothing else, he's definitely on the comeback trail...

more icons in 20th Century popular music:
George and Ira Gershwin
Bix Biederbecke
Les Paul
Fela Kuti
Ravi Shankar
Alla Rakha
Ali Akbar Khan
Glenn Gould
Enrico Caruso
the Carter family
Leonard Bernstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Willie Dixon
John Williams
Burt Bacharach
Lester Young
John Cage

Van Gogh

If your including the Gershwins in icons of 20th Century Music, what about Cole Porter? He wrote some of the most instantly recognizable pop hits in history.

yes, Cole Porter definitely should be on there.

At the risk of loosing my rock and Roll cred. Jimmy Buffett

Quote
nocomment

Quote
mr_dja
Since all styles of music are now being considered, I'd like to nominate BB King, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & Django Reinhart.

given that this is all in NoComment's imagination, some of it is definitely
visual, and some of it is a sense of how much of their musical personality infuses
us at this very moment. django and mozart are musical gods, but we don't sense
them as living in our collective dreams very strongly at this time. bb king is
very much closer to the mark, but we're not sure who we would demote. nothing
about this game is fair, and sometimes, like with joey ramone alone representing
punk, it may be that robert johnson and muddy have taken up the pure blues spots.
thinking about it. (fats domino and toots hibbert and judy garland and marvin
gaye have also sprung to mind but...)

(in no particular order)

"The 50 Most Iconic Figures in 20th Century Popular Music"

Robert Johnson
Frank Sinatra
Muddy Waters
Chuck Berry
Little Richard
Buddy Holly
Miles Davis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Elvis Presley
Johnny Cash
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Jimmy Page
Mick Jagger
Keith Richards
Janis Joplin
Ella Fitzgerald
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Brian Wilson
Louis Armstrong
Ray Charles
Stevie Wonder
Bob Marley
Willie Nelson
Patsy Cline
Madonna
Eminem
Phil Spector
Bono
The Edge
Kurt Cobain
Angus Young
Prince
David Bowie
Elton John
Bruce Springsteen
Charlie Parker
Michael Jackson
Tammy Wynette
Nat King Cole
Billie Holliday
Barbra Streisand
BB King
Tina Turner
Hank Williams
Woody Guthrie
Joey Ramone

Only "off" by about 10 names.. Bono? Edge? please. Tina?

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mickscarey
Tina?

She taught Mick Jagger how to dance.

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ineedadrink
more icons in 20th Century popular music:
George and Ira Gershwin
Bix Biederbecke
Les Paul
Fela Kuti
Ravi Shankar
Alla Rakha
Ali Akbar Khan
Glenn Gould
Enrico Caruso
the Carter family
Leonard Bernstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Willie Dixon
John Williams
Burt Bacharach
Lester Young
John Cage

that's a great list (especially with the addition of cole porter), thanks,
though still not sure who would get bumped to make way for who. facing some
of these names, we did earlier limit it to iconic status specifically in the
USA UK sphere of things, where popular music so dominated. we can see charlie
parker getting bumped, though not so much by any of the names oriented more
towards classical or theatre or film music, popular as they were within those
realms, and even outside them at times. charlie parker has got that mythical
thing going for him, and that heroin pioneer thing, and that thing of pioneering
a new form of music, and that thing of having so many high-wattage
admirers, but on the other hand he's got that thing of barreling down a musical
dead end street.

bono and the edge and elton rub lots of people the wrong way, including us,
but they are, as we keep repeating, so MASSIVE in their success.

already have this general sense that women are underrepresented, given how
many female voices have been top of the pops, so very reluctant to bump
any of the nine that remain. we think that female pop singers, as a group, have
very much defined a lot of things about our shared consciousness and cultural
identity.

not sure what to do, if anything.

even though charlie parker slightly out-googles cole porter, leaning towards
cole over charlie, if anyone has any further input. wrote so much and so many
standards, plus he's got the gay thing going on, another musically-influential
group probably underrepresented on the list. this choice would also give a
further nod (besides elton somewhat) towards the theatre and film crowd, with jazz
already well represented by louis and miles and billie and ella. suppose andrew
lloyd weber should be in play too, but cole over andrew too we think.

ANOTHER HUGE PROBLEM: Duke Ellington who hugely out-googles both cole and charlie.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-20 05:28 by nocomment.

Dont forget the producers, too! Phil Spector is in, I believe George Martin is in.....but dont forget other greats like:

Andrew Loog Oldham
Jimmy Miller
Micky Most
Shel Talmy
Paul Rothchild
Joe Boyd
Bob Johnston

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bob r
Dont forget the producers, too! Phil Spector is in, I believe George Martin is in.....but dont forget other greats like:

Andrew Loog Oldham
Jimmy Miller
Micky Most
Shel Talmy
Paul Rothchild
Joe Boyd
Bob Johnston

all deserving of consideration, with george martin and jimmy miller the closest,
but right now it looks like phil spector is going to have to stand in for the
whole bunch.

status update: still leaning towards cole porter over charlie parker.
now leaning towards duke ellington over bono, with the edge staying to represent
u2 and bono and coldplay and that whole so-called alternative movement.
appreciate the edge's music WAY more than bono's posturing.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-20 06:25 by nocomment.

Quote
bob r
Dont forget the producers, too! Phil Spector is in, I believe George Martin is in.....but dont forget other greats like:

Andrew Loog Oldham
Jimmy Miller
Micky Most
Shel Talmy
Paul Rothchild
Joe Boyd
Bob Johnston

No Sam Phillips???