Rock Hall 2024

In looking at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for 2024, I think all of them probably should eventually be inducted.  Well, except for Peter Frampton.  Here's how I would order them:

1.  Mariah Carey - I have no idea why the hall makes pop/r&b megastars like Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston wait a decade or so to be inducted, but I guess it ultimately doesn't matter much.

2.  Kool and the Gang - 9 #1 hits on the r&b chart from '74 to '85 including "Ladies Night," "Celebration," and "Cherish."

3.  Mary J. Blige - even though I have to admit I can't name any of her songs.

4.  Cher - hurt I think because her singing career had such distinct phases often years apart - Sonny and Cher in the '60s, extremely successful solo singer in the early '70s with songs like "Half Breed" and "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves" that went to #1 and haven't been heard on radio since then, late '80s comeback where she cavorted on a battleship for "Turn Back to Time," and then that "Believe" song.  I think that's a solid resume even if her acting career and then being a diva overshadowed it.

5.  Oasis - Perhaps they'll kind of be the equivalent of Depeche Mode in being the one inductee to represent all of '90s Britpop.

6.  Sade - the quintessential VH1 act.  I'm amused that in the '80s we were told the name was pronounced with an r as SHAR day, which we eventually realized was a hypercorrection, and not told that the group was also called Sade.  Like Alice Cooper.  Or Winger.

7.  Sinead O'Connor - it kind of sucks that she did the only truly courageous thing in the history of SNL and then Lorne Michaels allowed Joe Pesci and Madonna to do incredibly unfunny bits about it.  Although Sinbad O'Connor was pretty funny.

8.  A Tribe Called Quest

9.  Eric B and Rakim - the order of these last two could obviously be flipped.

10.  Dave Matthews Band - I mean, they have to get in eventually, right?  Having gone to UVa in Charlottesville in the early '90s, I walked/drove by two of their concerts.  If they get inducted, I'm counting that as attending in addition to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis (triple bill at Wolf Trap in the late '90s), Willie Nelson (2x, the first when he played in the outfield of Richmond's Triple A baseball stadium while we sat behind home plate), Bo Diddley (Alameda County Fair), and Prince.

11.  Foreigner - arena/corporate rock has to be the most disdained genre among hall voters, even more than metal.  Foreigner's first four albums each sold at least 5 million copies in the US and the next one had "I Want to Know What Love Is."

12.  Ozzy Osbourne - I also worked security at Ozzfest at Nissan Pavilion back in the day.  The crowd ripped up the grass on the lawn.  Not that I care but is he more deserving of induction as a solo performer than Phil Collins, Sting, or even Don Henley?

13.  Jane's Addiction

14.  Lenny Kravitz - obviously not very innovative but seems kind of like Sheryl Crow in that he'll probably eventually get in because people like him and he'll show up to help out at these kind of things.

15.  Peter Frampton - apart from the big live album, why is he nominated?