There is a Hip Hop Hall of Fame, though ..... and Rap sure fits there a whole lot better than a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I have said, from almost the start, that the Hall Of Fame was unfortunately/inaccurately named.
"Rock & Roll" is, and always was, too limited/specific a genre, for what this museum was always destined to be... and the first cracks regarding the limitations of such a specific moniker became evident in Year One of its existence.
James Brown, practitioner extraordinaire of Soul & R&B, the seminal Godfather of the Pop Music subgenre known as Funk...
was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986. First ballot Hall of Famer. But he was never "Rock & Roll,"
per se. Ask any diehard Funk fan, he'll tell you: the only thing James' music had in common with R&R is that they both wrote their music in 4/4 time.
So you see, this museum was never strictly about Rock & Roll, even from Day One of its existence.
More accurately, this museum gives tribute to American Recorded Popular Music, and its name should reflect as such.
Changing its name to something like The Popular Music Hall of Fame would put to rest, once and for all, the unfortunate naming of this important museum on the shore of Lake Erie. Perhaps then,
Dolly Parton would feel that she's worthy of a spot in this 'hallowed' hall.
It's a shame that some of us are so hidebound that labels prevent us from giving worthy people their just due.
[/rant]
.02,
an anonymous noise-making professional.
