Now that Jann Wenner has stepped down from his position as chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, perhaps the remaining members can undo some glaring oversights regarding artists who deserve to be inducted into the Hall, but were, for whatever reason, unjustly ignored.
Here is our list of the first five who deserve immediate induction.
The Monkees
Most folks honestly believe that the Monkees are already in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because, let's face it, they deserve to have been inducted with the first batch of artists to enter the RRHOF, but were inexplicably denied consideration and continue to be ignored to this day on the basis that they were a "manufactured" group.
Keep in mind that this "manufactured" group has continued to sell millions of albums and tour relentlessly year in and year out in one configuration or another, even after the untimely passing of singer Davy Jones and bassist Peter Tork.
The Go-Go's
When one looks at the roster of artists that have been inducted into the hallowed halls of the RRHOF, one notices a startling absence of female acts.
Why is this?
One would think that a trailblazing act like the Go-Go's, who not only wrote their own material but played on their own records, would be a shoe-in for the Hall, yet they've never been so much as mentioned for consideration despite being eligible since 2006.
When one considers their very respectable pedigree and status as the first modern-day "all-female" rock group to top the charts, they deserve to not only be in the Hall, but to have preceded Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, because their career-defining album, Beauty & The Beat, a) came out first, b) spent six weeks at #1 (While Joan's I Love Rock & Roll album peaked at #2), and featured ZERO cover tunes.
Apparently, five Top 40 hits and a chart-topping debut album released on an up-until-then unproven indie label isn't enough to warrant serious consideration.
Hopefully, with Wenner's departure, common sense will prevail.
The Replacements
When it comes to influential bands, there are few acts more influential than Minneapolis's Replacements, whose leader, Paul Westerberg, set the bar for warts-and-all poetry with a flair for the oddly romantic and/or wistful, marrying lyrics that rival those of Tom Waits (who was inducted in 2011) to music that we non-hobos could enjoy.
Of course, in the thirty years since their initial break-up after the release of All Shook Down, the band's legacy has only grown by leaps and bounds and, with the deluxe re-issue of Don't Tell A Soul, that legacy will only continue to grow. Therefore, it is time for the RRHOF to induct the Mats post haste.
Iron Maiden
Just who is the RRHOF serving if not the millions of denim-clad metal fans who would flock to Cleveland in a heartbeat just to take a selfie with Bruce Dickinson's cod piece? And who else but a bunch of rock snobs can dare judge a band with fans as crazily devoted to this heavy metal juggernaut that has been eligible for induction since 2002?
Yes, that's almost eighteen years of being unjustly ignored by a committee of rich folks who long ago lost touch with the common man, choosing non-rock acts like Percy Sledge and Janet Jackson over a rock institution that continues to fill stadiums all over the world when most other metal acts have been reduced to playing metal bars or the soft ticket Ribfest circuit.
Judas Priest
Eligible since 1999, Judas Priest join Iron Maiden in the heavy metal no zip sorting bin, completely invisible to the RRHOF committee for reasons that defy all logic. Does the Rock Hall want to bring in paying customers or not?
As for Priest, their 1982 hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" came after a long string of stellar albums (Hell Bent For Leather, British Steel, and the sorely underrated Point Of Entry) that laid out the template for many a metal band to follow before hair metal diluted the formula, leading to the power ballad epidemic of the late '80s.
You can't blame Priest for that, as they have yet to perform any Diane Warren songs. In fact, the band has remained unshakably devoted to their original vision, even more so than the Ramones were to theirs.
So where's the love from the voting committee of the Rock Hall? Time to correct this glaring omission.