I think all of these people were inducted in the main "Performers" category as opposed to, say, through the "Award for Award Excellence" (ne the Sideman category, aka the back door to get people into the Hall if they can't actually get elected).
1. Donovan - I can only name one of his songs - "Mellow Yellow," which now sounds like a novelty song, although "Sunshine Superman" apparently went to #1 in the US. Best known for hanging out with more accomplished people like John Lennon. Also, every profile of Ione Skye in the late '80s was legally required to mention that he was her father. 2012 inductee because apparently there still weren't enough Baby Boomer nostalgia acts in the Hall.
2. Dion - I'm no expert on late '50s/early '60s pop idols, but Dion (and the Belmonts) only had two Top 10 hits and one other Top 20 song. The only one I've familiar with is "A Teenager in Love." Even Fabian, who isn't in the Hall, had three Top 10 songs. Perhaps Hall organizers kind of regretted the choice because later when they inducted a lot of backing groups one year like Bill Haley's Comets and Buddy Holly's Crickets, they didn't bother to induct Dion's Belmonts. Inducted in 1989 when presumably people still remembererd him.
3. Ritchie Valens - I get why he was inducted, but I can really only name two of his songs - "Donna" along with "La Bamba." Couldn't the Hall have put up a memorial plaque for the Day the Music Died to honor him and the Big Bopper? If anything, Los Lobos is actually probably more deserving of induction. Inducted in 2001 by Ricky Martin.
4. Bobby Darin - huge popular music star, but "Splish Splash" is the only one of his songs that I identify as rock and roll and that really was a novelty song. Doesn't help that he's now identified with Kevin Spacey. Inducted in 1990, the Hall website calls him "Teen Idol. Adult Crooner. Vegas Lounge Singer. Rock and Roll Star.", so maybe they don't know what to make of him either.
5. The Zombies - had essentially two big hits in the US - "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season" - and none in the UK, but those two songs were on every Time-Life music anthology of the '60s ever made, so they're in the Rock Hall along with the Animals, Moody Blues, and Dave Clark Five. Inducted in 2019 and weren't even nominated in their first 25 years or so of being eligible.
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