Hit 'Pause' on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

If you’re a music critic trying to fill out your Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot, like Patrick Goldstein, you’re facing some pretty slim pickings this year. The nominees: ABBA, the Chantels, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Stooges, and Donna Summer. “Pretty pathetic,” opines Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times.

The trouble is that the Hall’s cabal of insiders dictates the nominees, without consulting “us lowly peons.” Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner rules with an iron fist—rumor has it that he unilaterally bumped the Dave Clark 5 for Grandmaster Flash. Goldstein thinks it’s time to shut the hall down for a while and wait for more worthy bands to be eligible. In the meantime, well, KISS wasn’t so bad, right? (More Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stories.)