Are you ready to rock??? Presenting…ABBA!
If those two sentences are confusing you, you’re not alone. Today, the LA Times announced that ABBA – among others, including the less shrug-inducing Genesis, The (almost Air Supply sounding) Hollies, reggae-ska-pop artist Jimmy Cliff and the Stooges (the band where Iggy Pop got his start) – was set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, approved over other bands that might, more objectively, rock – like the less-family friendly KISS.
Perhaps ABBA (despite their Garden of Eden themed dress in the above photo) is a more family-friendly choice – with recent popularity resurgence thanks to a long-running happy-ending’ed Broadway musical and movie adaptation. But – especially having seen “Rock of Ages” on Broadway this week and having my face melted off by two hours’ worth of hard rock and 80s hair metal – most of the “Hall of Famers” on this list seem downright soft pop/easy listening in comparison.
In her LA Times commentary, writer Ann Powers makes the point that the induction of ABBA and the Stooges marks a shift in how rock-and-roll is defined. “The old boundaries around rock — both as a blues-based, American music and as art of a higher order than slick commercial pop — would seem to have dissolved,” she observes. But she doesn’t think this is a bad thing:
The binary split represented by ABBA and the Stooges is further complicated by the induction of other unlikely third parties: Genesis, repping for the long-scorned subgenre of progressive rock, and Jimmy Cliff, whose ska-pop spin on reggae brought Jamaica to Hollywood. Even the induction of the Hollies messes with the formula a bit, since that band was the poppiest of the British Invasion. This all bodes well for the Rock Hall, an institution that grows more interesting with every violation of its own rules.
Who owns rock-and-roll, anyway? Don’t guidelines for rock-and-roll change as society’s acceptance of music changes? Today, the Beatles might be classified as soft rock or pop. Who is to say that a pop band can’t rock or that a rock band can’t pop? Where should anyone draw the line?
posted December 16, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I know it’s only rock & roll, but I like it.
Don’t try to take me to a disco
You’ll never even get me out on the floor
In ten minutes I’ll be late for the door
I like that old time rock’n’ roll.
posted December 17, 2009 at 9:20 pm
This is ridiculous….. I type out a lengthy comment, type in the text as shown, then get a window saying it failed, and “don’t worry you didn’t lose your post” or something like that, so when I click “try again”, of course, all my comments are gone! So great, you stop spam, but you lose out on comments like mine, cause I’m not going to go through this all over again………
posted December 18, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Oyster, good to hear you submit your two cents. Or rather, Bob Seger’s two cents.
StevenCee, so sorry you lost your comment – as you see below, there’s unfortunately a typing time limit that causes some posts to be lost – that’s just part of the software, which is why the warning is below: “Please type the text you see in the box below to verify your post and help us prevent spam. You have a limited time to type – you may wish to compose your comment in a separate document and paste it here upon completion.”
If it’s any consolation, it’s happened to me too, but it’s a necessary evil to prevent lots of inappropriate comments on the blog and preserve it as a place for conversation and discussion without spam. Sorry – hope you’ll try again sometime soon!
posted January 20, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Abba deserves the honor more than any of the others and more than many already there. I was no big fan in the 70s but when I listen to more and more of their YouTubes I see they are perhaps the most professional of any rock and roll group and have such unlimited talents in writing words and music and singing different styles, especially Frida with her jazz and cabaret background. Listen to the song Gimme Gimme Gimme. It sounds similar to Darlene Love’s emotion on her own and with other groups like the Crystals. Darlene Love is the greatest of all female rock vocalists. Is she in the Hall? A travesty if not. Pete Townshend of the Who said that S.O.S. is the greatest pop song of all time. So many of Abba’s songs deserve SERIOUS listening. I knew Iggy (Jim Osterberg) personally as well as some of the Stooges. He was a rich boy who was voted vice-president of the student council in junior high. And I’ve got the picture to prove it.
posted August 11, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Pretty cool blog you’ve got here. Thanks for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more soon.
Bella Swenson
posted September 28, 2010 at 9:38 pm
good points and the details are more precise than elsewhere, thanks.
- Murk