The new class has been announced. Deep Purple, Chicago, Cheap Trick, N.W.A. and Steve Miller

Really?!?! This is your new class?!?! It’s so obvious you have a personal vendetta against YES that it borders on lunacy and completely undermines the validity of the Hall. In the web vote, they came in second with over 45 million votes…behind only Chicago…and yet…nada. NWA? Great band. Iconic even. But you chose them over a band that won every performer of the year vote for years and years? NWA was a viable entity for MAYBE five years. YES, otoh…I don’t know…FORTY FIVE?! Here’s what you wrote on your website about The Kinks induction in 1990: “For longevity alone, the Kinks deserve a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” Umm…you do know the Kinks stopped playing fifteen years before YES, right? And The Kinks are my favorite band of all time. (Also, I’m just going to ignore that you compared NWA to The Beatles in your inductee statement)

While we’re at it…no Cars, either?! And let’s not even start with the glaring omissions of Little Feat or Tower of Power (neither of whom have even been nominated)! At LEAST you finally gave in to your guilt and put Deep Purple in there. Maybe you can find a way to add Eric Clapton a few more times. Or maybe Bono can put out a solo record…then you can add him, too! YAY! And next year, if it looks like YES might get in, you could probably get away with adding the Steve Miller Band…’cause I assume this year he’s considered a solo artist? Morons. And you seem awfully enamored with Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Artists of All Time” as a criteria for enshrinement… a list that puts Madonna ahead of Roy Orbison, The Kinks, Elton John, David Bowie and Frank Zappa.

And don’t tell us that’s how the membership voted because from what I’ve heard, YES has been voted in before, but Exec Director, Greg Harris, hates Prog so much, he has publicly stated he’ll die before YES gets in. Fuck you, Greg. Every time you say musicianship counts, your bullshit shows through, ’cause, literally, name me one band with more musicianship capabilities in your little play-toy museum besides YES? I guess you can now say Chicago. Good for you. BTW, inductees Genesis and Floyd qualify as Prog to most people, so you’re full of shit on that one, too. Unless you put your hands over your ears and shout “Abacab! Abacab!” whenever someone reminds you of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.

Listen, Mr. Harris, I’m a funk kid, who became a punk rock kid, who was in to hip hop long before you were, idolizes Bowie, and lives and dies for early seventies-era Kinks, so this isn’t some Prog-nerd talking. Just someone who appreciated the music-craft, smarts and talent of a monster rock band. Seriously…the music loving world is shaking their heads in disdain. It’s a terrible joke and so are you.

One less reason to visit Cleveland.

Here’s the list with links to all the bios.