The prospects, however slim, of The Smiths all gathering in the same room — forget about a live performance, just getting the four together behind a podium would have been a miracle — were dashed early Tuesday when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced next year’s inductees, a list that did not include the first-time nominees.
Those who did make the cut: Lou Reed (as a solo artist; he’s already in with the Velvet Underground), Green Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bill Withers and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Plus, Ringo Starr will be honored with the Award for Musical Excellence.
Joining the Smiths on the list of nominees that didn’t get in: Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A., Sting, Kraftwerk, The Marvelettes, The Spinners and Chic, the latter of which has now been passed over nine times.
The Smiths’ snub is just the latest failed nomination for a hugely influential, if not commercially mainstream, ’80s alternative band. The Cure was among the 2012 nominees, but Robert Smith and Co. were not inducted and have not made the ballot since. Similarly, the just-reunited Replacements were nominated last year for the 2014 class, but didn’t make the cut either.
The Class of 2015 will be inducted April 18 in Cleveland — but the big question of whether we’d see Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce together in the same room is now moot.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The Smiths nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — plus Lou Reed, Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk
- ‘This is not just pop music’: Michael Stipe inducts Nirvana into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs The Replacements — but Nirvana, Peter Gabriel get in
- The Replacements, Peter Gabriel, Nirvana earn Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys make Rock Hall of Fame — The Cure snubbed
- The Cure nominated for induction into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 2012 ballot
I knew it from day one that they wouldn’t induct The Smiths for two simple reasons – getting them all together would indeed be impossible and the fact that they never really made any commercial impact in the US. But to be honest, i’m not worried about them, the fact that they snubbed Kraftwerk is a major blow. This would have been the first electronic artist to be inducted and it hasn’t happened, which means we have to wait even longer for Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, maybe even Duran Duran to get a look in.
I am quite glad that Nine Inch Nails were snubbed though, i like them but quite frankly, how can you induct them before Joy Division, the Cure and Depeche Mode? I still think Nirvana have no business in there ahead of those bands.
The bigger disappointment is the Kraftwerk snub. Their work is in the DNA of nearly all electronic music today!
In the end, neither Kraftwerk, nor Smiths (Morrissey)regret or care about it…hopefully Chic also. It’s joke, come on, Joan Jett and Green Day???
I cannot say I am surprised by this, but really do the Smiths or Kraftwerk need the rolling stone to know their place in the history of music.
And that’s fine, because the Ronk and Roll Hall of Fame is Bollocks. No one needs validation from Rolling Stone to like the Smiths.
The rock and roll hall of fame is bollocks too
“You go home and you cry and you want to die’ … The sad reality is one or both of Marr and Morrissey has to die before the Smiths are accepted into the R&R Hall of Fame. For some reason your contribution slaps judges in the face when you are unable to show your own face anymore.
This isn’t even worthy of being a news bulletin, other than to get advertising click revenue. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke. Being inducted into it is almost more embarrassing than being a part of it. As influential as say Kraftwerk, Joy Division, or the Smiths are, I’d prefer to keep them out.
Not a big deal. As others have noted, the idea of a Hall Of Fame is a joke. The only exciting aspect of the ceremony is seeing various bands play together.
But Joan Jett? Green Day? Talk about setting the bar low. The first has zero cultural relevance, the second is music for tweens.
If I were any self-respecting band, I’d withdraw my nomination knowing the likes of Green Day were already inducted – long before so many other more deserving bands. What have they contributed to “Rock?” Who have they inspired, besides other formulaic Pop-Punk imitators? They are one of the worst bands ever, IMHO, as they purport to be so anarchistic yet they are completely commercial and unoriginal. Mock-Rock hypocrites the lot.
Well said, jatnoop. I hate Green Day even more now.
Agreed, Green Day are meaningless even by the low standards of most popular music. Legacy = zero.
Who’s next to be inducted — Blink 182?
i really, really don’t think the smiths would care either way. i’m pretty sure if they were it would be similar to the sex pistols induction. (but a bit more wordy)
Like Dave Grohl (on Sonic Highways), the RRHOF is not interested in innovation–just preservation. Don’t worry, someday the judges will all die and your bands will get in and your kids will hate them.
Maybe Green Day will write a song about how commercial and lame the RRHOF is and sing it at their induction while accepting their hardware.
how about The Cars? Roxy Music? Sparks (longshot),
XTC?, Squeeze?, Psychedelic Furs? Joe Jackson?
The Pretenders?
Green Day?
Yes, that day (or – everyday) the lousy band gets paid.
I’ll be devil’s advocate here and say that I actually like Green Day, especially after having the balls to put out an album like American Idiot. They’ve been playing together since they were 12 and haven’t quit since. Some songs are tween’ish, I’ll give you that. Maybe because they have a sense of arrested development having been successful at a young age.
I love The Smiths and Morrissey, but due to their short time together, I doubt they’ll ever get in.
I agree that getting nominated is a joke and is probably more of an embarrassment than not getting nominated. It’s a joke.
To say the smiths wouldn’t care anyway to be inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame is slightly inaccurate; the only member who wouldn’t care about it (and probably refuse to be inducted) is Morrissey, and perhaps, but to a lesser degree, Marr.
Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce would do anything for money (like Rourke and that vomit-inducing clown Franco) and of course they would’ve been thrilled had they got in.
None, and I mean NONE, of the bands mentioned on this site deserve to be in the RARHOF more than the Mael Brothers’ Sparks!!! Innovation. Longevity. Uniqueness. Outsider. Adaptability. No compromise. Half the bands mentioned couldn’t carry their bags. They are the Kings of Underground approaching 50 years of hipper than thou.
Quite discouraging to see the likes of (last year) Green Day and (this year) NWA get into the RRHF and *not* The Smiths. Even more puzzling that they were on a choosing list that including Janet Jackson. How is this even possible? How Soon Is Now alone ought to have ushered them in, let alone their glorious albums and countless other singles. Pity.