I think we can all agree that the Grammys are a joke, and have been for quite some time. Less-famous categories tend to maintain their integrity, but “Record of the Year” may as well be called “Whatever Major Labels Sank the Most Payola Into/Whatever Got Most Played on the Radio…of the Year. (Except for Robin Thicke, because we’ve turned on you).” Focus groups decided that was way too long of a name, though.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though, has kept itself more legit. It does have its gentrifying, capitalization flaws that understandably rub rebellious, anti-commercial types the wrong way, but the eligibility requirement of inductees’ first albums being over 25 years old has helped keep the institution from devolving into the VMAs. Yet every year someone inevitably get snubbed.
2016 noms, just announced this week, saw some perfect timing for your favorite rock band, N.W.A., among AOR heavyweights like Janet Jackson (also suspiciously timed with her comeback album), Steve Miller, Deep Purple and Cheap Trick, among others. Absent as always — Devo, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, most groups higher on the culturally relevant scale. Though on the shocking end, the way of album sales and arena rock hoorah, Journey has yet to be invited to the party.
People getting vitriolic about another year without Journey recognition has become expected, but on the quieter side of snubs, you have your Nick Drakes and Harry Nilssons, the latter of which has seen something abnormal this year — quite a groundswell of outcry.
Nilsson is probably most known to some as a notorious partier in cahoots with 1970s John Lennon after Lennon’s split with Yoko. That’s only because Nilsson eschewed the limelight and commercial appeal when recording solo, preferring to write timeless hits for other artists to perform. His economy with words taught us through mega classics that “One is the loneliest number” and how “you [should] put the lime in the Coconut” [LISTEN]. He even had a hit on the other side of the mic, recording Badfinger‘s “Everybody’s Talkin’,” [LISTEN]. “One,” inspired by a phone’s busy signal, was especially a rock-and-roll game changer for the spurned and lonely. And all it took is some counting: [LISTEN]
One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
‘Cause It’s the loneliest number since the number one
Also, every year, some yahoo is going to scream bloody vitriol if their eligible pet band doesn’t get inducted. But only Nilsson’s snubbing actually inspires over 30 international-level, professional musicians to produce cheesy, “We Are the World”-style song in his support.
Seriously, Cleveland. You’ve got categories for non-performers, side musicians, and even the old guys who do nothing besides shell out gobs of cash. His music has been featured in nearly 70 different A-list films and TV shows. Get your shit together, already.
