The next round of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees: Again, where are the women?

kperfetto — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:03:45 -0500

More than a few months ago, I wrote about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and its lack of women inductees. It's pretty well established that female artists have been, for the most part, shut out of the hall of fame, despite women's increasing influence in the music business. In the past week, the hall released its latest list of possible inductees. Have things gotten any better for women in the Hall of Fame? Let's see:

Jeff BeckChic Wanda Jackson Little Anthony and the Imperials Metallica Run-D.M.C. the Stooges War Bobby Womack
That's one female artist (excluding disco act Chic, though featuring female singer in Norma Jean Wright, have been more a vehicle for guitarist Nile Rogers and bassist Bernard Edwards, who formed the band in the late seventies.)
Let's see if we can get Wanda Jackson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think she deserves it. A little background on Ms. Jackson via All Music:

Wanda Jackson was only halfway through high school when, in 1954, country singer Hank Thompson heard her on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By the end of the decade, Jackson had become one of America's first major female country and rockabilly singers.

Not too long bout, Feministe's DaiyDeadhead wrote about country music's feminist legacy. Despite being the domain of a lot of conservative, right-leaning fans an artists, a handful of classic country artists ranging from Loretta Lynn ("The Pill") to Tammy Wynette ("Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad") were sang of the issues women were facing. Of Wanda Jackson, Daisy says:

Although country music is considered a conservative genre, there have always been women who challenged the status quo. The first on my list would be the amazing Wanda Jackson, properly known as the Queen of Rockabilly.

Of course, not everyone awaits the latest batch of Hall of Famers with bated breath. As someone who's never been a huge fan of pop music, with a few exceptions, I usually greet these lists with a resounding "meh." Other musings on the latest possible inductees, via kdiddy of MamaPop:

the Hall of Fame has always rubbed me as a stodgy, stuffy, and stuck-up, establishment-approved, down-the-nose acknowledgment of the people who played the industry game the best and rarely a true depiction of the countless brilliant artists who actually propel music forward. And there's always at least five or six awkward moments in which an aging rocker, whittled down by years of drug and/or alcohol abuse, slurs through a speech and everyone shifts uncomfortably in their seats because wow, whose idea was it to parade these people around in formal evening wear and is there complimentary Vicodin somewhere?

Like a lot of us who came of age in the punk rock, post-punk era, Whitney Matheson of Pop Candy wonders if acclaimed but criminally overlooked Stooges have a shot.
What are your feelings toward the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Do you have a favorite artist you hope, despite the odds, has a chance of making it into a future Hall of Fame?

BlogHer - The next round of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees: Again, where are the women? - Comments

The next round of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees: Again, where are the women?