With today's announcement that, among many other artists, Notorious B.I.G. and Whitney Houston have been nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall fo Fame, somebody should probably ask those in charge "Do you actually know what qualifies as rock & roll?"
I ask only because when I see a Janet Jackson or a Whitney Houston nominated, all I really see is an all-white committee in some conference room worrying that someone might call them "racist" and/or "sexist" for inducting a bunch of white, male rock acts AGAIN.
Also, allow me to say that if we were talking about the Pop Music Hall of Fame or the R&B Hall of Fame, I would wholeheartedly agree that both Janet and Whitney deserve to be nominated.
But we're not.
We're talking about rock & roll here and if we can't stick to that simple criteria of nominating worthy rock acts, then change the fucking name to The Nervous Hand Wringers Hall of Fame and be done with it.
If the folks in charge of the Rock Hall really, truly wanted to do justice to rock and dispense with any chatter of sexism, the Go-Go's would be on this latest list of nominees, but, instead, we got a gangsta rapper and a soft pop songstress.
As it stands, the folks behind these hallowed halls have done such a shitty job of curating the Rock Hall that most of us who would make a beeline to such a place re, instead, turned off by the incessant desire to appease everyone except those of us who want to celebrate rock & roll.
That's exactly what happens when you allow the seeds of doubt to take root and fuck with your party.
By trying to make everyone happy, the Rock Hall seems perfectly intent on pissing off their core demographic.
In this day and age of inclusiveness, why not just let everyone into the Rock Hall?
Well, everyone but the Go-Go's, that is.