I guess when you have tons of artists making good music and only a few get honored for making it, there are bound to be arguments over the merits of who deserves it and who doesn't belong there, not to mention if the music involved is actually rock'n'roll.
Last week, it was announced the inductees for 2016. Normally I don't really care who gets in (or who wins Grammy awards, since most likely they are often those I don't care about that do, and my favorites get snubbed). But the list, with one exception, reads like a 1970's Classic Rock roster: Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Steve Miller Band, and for a spice of life, hip-hop legends N.W.A.
I am, in particular happy that Chicago got in, as they were one of my favorite bands of the decade. While one can argue that this band,, which started out jazz-rock but wound up in the mainstream, was too much pop, especially in the 1980's with many ballads becoming hits, one only needs to go back to the early 1970's to appreciate how much of a groundbreaking band they were. And although they had peers in those days, most notably Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago (originally called The Chicago Transit Authority but forced to shorten it with the threat of a lawsuit by the actual transit authority in the Windy City), the seven-piece band augmented their rock with horns and jammed out on extended tracks. Their first three albums were double sets, and their free-form solos and jams were every much innovated. They made socio-political statements as well back in the day. The band deserves to get in with just those three albums alone.
And don't forget their guitar player Terry Kath. While we all talk about Clapton and Hendrix, Kath deserves to be mentioned in that conversation too; even Hendrix was blown away by his playing. One just has to listen to the long version of "25 or 6 to 4" to appreciate that.
Being in the band in high school (and as a trumpet player), I really got to appreciate the band. During my four years there, we played many a Chicago song, including "Make Me Smile", "Wake Up Sunshine" and "Colour My World", among others. I saw them in concert in the fall of 1975 at Nassau Coliseum as well.
Today four of the original seven are still with the band, and they never broke up. Sadly Kath was playing with a gun and accidentally shot himself in early 1978, and the band took a dive both commercially and artistically. But in 1982 they made a celebrated comeback, and in spite of a falling out with Peter Cetera, who left in 1985, they continued with hits throughout the 1980's. While it's easy to criticize the band for "succumbing" to ballads and top-40 fodder, remember that other significant artists, like Rod Stewart, Heart, The Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, Starship and several others, did the same thing. And how many bands that started in the 1960's still made the top 40 in 1991? Chicago deserves the honor.
As for the other bands, Cheap Trick is another deserving band, and one that perhaps is unappreciated. They started in 1977 and were basically a hybrid of new-wave and Beatle-esque harmonies and perfected the power-pop genre. They weren't first in that style of music---think Badfinger and Raspberries, for example---but they had the longevity that those two bands didn't. "Surrender" is a cult classic for sure, and their 1979 live "At Budokan" did for them what "Kiss Alive" and "Frampton Comes Alive" did for those artists. "Dream Police" was another gem for them. They also were no "faceless" band, either, they were unique visually as well as musically. I caught them a few years ago opening for Aerosmith, and although I was mildly disappointed, remember that this was a few decades past their prime. Like Chicago, their hit-making days also extended into the 1990's, with their biggest hit, "The Flame", coming in 1988.
Then there's the Steve Miller Band. While people remember them primarly for their dreamy, spaced-out hits in the mid 1970's like "Jet Airliner" and "Fly Like An Eagle", not to mention "The Joker" and "Rock'n'Me", they were much more than a hit-making machine. Like Chicago, Miller and company's beginnings were experimental; their early output was very blues-influenced, and were in the underground for several years. And like the two mentioned above, the band's last hit, "Run Like A River', was in the 1990's.
Mention Deep Purple, and you'll either think of "Hush", their Billy Joe Royal cove hit from 1968, or their hard-rock, heavy-metal influenced "Smoke on the Water", from 1973 with that loaded, now classic, guitar riff. While personally, I don't think they are as deserving as the bands above (Black Sabbath was really the prime example of early 1970's heavy metal), the band did transform from a pop-rock cover band to a heavier sound by 1970. And metal legend Ritchie Blackmore, later of Rainbow, emerged from the band.
The last new inductee? That would be N.W.A. While the debate will go on whether hip-hop acts should be in the Rock'n'roll Hall of Fame, and I will not touch upon that here, I will only say that within that genre, this group was very innovative, and they changed the course of hip-hop. During the 1980's, that genre was dominated by more simplistic raps, and covers of old songs. The genre in the late 1980's experienced what rock did in the mid-to-late 1960's: It abandoned the frivolousness of carefree fun, and became more socially aware, with many of the songs dealing with the tough, inner city life. The group was only around for two albums, but it helped launch the careers of Dr. Dre, who became a hip-hop impresario, launching the careers of Snoop Dogg, and Eminem, just to name two. Ice Cube became very successful as well, and both have transcended hip-hop and appeared in movies and television. Their debut album, Straight Outta Compton, was also the title of a movie release this year, chronicling the group and its dealing and struggle with success.
GOING WITH THE FLO: Florence + the Machine's "Queen of Peace" finally dethrones Adele's "Hello" from the top spot after that song's five week run at the top. I am getting pretty tired of that song, and I will decide in a few weeks whether I will pick another song from that album. "Queen..." is Florence's third SNS #1, but the first since "What The Water Gave Me", in 2011. Two songs from the country genre are in the top 10 for the first time in four years as Zac Brown Band inches into the top ten, joining Thomas Rhett in the winner's circle. Coldplay and Iration enter the top 20, it's Chris Martin's first entry into that region since "Paradise" hit #15 in 2011. The top holiday song is "River" by Sarah Jean & the Hounds of Winter, but "Christmas and Hanukkah" by Us Commoners, makes a big jump from #73 to #30. No holiday song has cracked my top 20 since both "Merry Christmas Anyway" by Bad Attitude, and "Underneath the Tree" by Kelly Clarkson both did it in 2013.
CHRISTMAS SEAL: I added one new Christmas song this week, and it will probably be the last one for this year: "This Christmas" by Seal, at #87. The original version of the song was written in 1970 and sung by soul legend Donny Hathaway. Since then, it has been covered a countless number of times, most notably by Mary J. Blige, who took it to #79 SNS in 2013. Seal was a popular singer in the early 1990's, who had hits like "Crazy" and "Kiss From A Rose" but has remained active since.
AROUND THE LAKE: The top debut this week is by a quartet from Boston, Lake Street Dive, with "Call Off Your Dog". The band consisting of two women and two men, have actually been around since 2004, and have tried many styles, beginning with country, but have also done rock and swing-era jazz and have even been trained in classical music. This song, from their upcoming seventh album, Side Pony, due in early 2016, is more of a funk and retro-disco romp, but a fun and tasty one.
Aside from Seal and Lake Street Drive, two new songs debut this week, BORNS, with "10,000 Emerald Pools", the follow-up to their SNS top 10 "Electric Love", and Miike Snow, with "Gengis Khan". Snow hit the SNS top 5 in 2012 with "Paddling Out".
AT YEAR'S END: There will be one more blog for 2015, containing the final SNS 100 of 2015, then it is time to look back on the year, with my Top 100 of 2015. I made a "comeback" of sorts listening to music this year (after two hiatuses from it last year) so it should be interesting how that list will turn out. I will also look back on the blog year and see where it will be going in the future.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
December 13,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 | NUMBER ONE:
"Queen of Peace"
Album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
|
9 |
| 2 | 1 | Adele - Hello | 8 |
| 3 | 3 | Selena Gomez - Same Old Love | 9 |
| 4 | 5 | Leila Hegazy - Maybe If We Try | 6 |
| 5 | 4 | St. Paul & the Broken Bones - Broken Bones & Pocket Change | 13 |
| 6 | 6 | Thomas Rhett - Crash and Burn | 10 |
| 7 | 8 | The Dreamers - Wolves (You Got Me) | 7 |
| 8 | 10 | The Decemberists - Philomena | 9 |
| 9 | 13 | Gwen Stefani - Used to Love You | 6 |
| 10 | 11 | Zac Brown Band - Loving You Easy | 9 |
| 11 | 18 | Smash Palace - Haddontown | 8 |
| 12 | 24 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Adventure of A
Lifetime"
Album: A Head Full of Dreams
|
4 |
| 13 | 7 | Django Django - Shake & Tremble | 13 |
| 14 | 9 | Palma Violets - Danger in the Club | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | Foo Fighters - Outside | 13 |
| 16 | 15 | Soak - Sea Creatures | 15 |
| 17 | 12 | Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - S.O.B. | 13 |
| 18 | 28 | Iration - 867 | 5 |
| 19 | 17 | Ed Sheeran - Photograph | 21 |
| 20 | 20 | Fitz and the Tantrums - Last Raindrop | 22 |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
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