[NegPhil]

R.E.M. will be one of five artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony on March 12th in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The band will be inducted along with Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Ronettes, and Van Halen. The five inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation from a pool of nine nominees which also included Chic, the Dave Clark Five, The Stooges, and Joe Tex. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Hall 25 years after the release of their first recording. R.E.M., eligible in its first year of nomination, released "Radio Free Europe" on Hib-Tone Records in July 1981.

"Our strength seems to be looking forward...(to) the next song or the next record or the next video and the next tour and trying to continue doing good and sometimes great work," Michael Stipe told Billboard.com from London, where he, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and manager Bertis Downs were meeting to talk about plans for R.E.M.'s next album. "So it's really an honor that someone took the time to look backward and to kind of recognize what we've done in our past, 'cause we're really crappy at it."

In addition to being honored at the ceremony on March 12, 2007, each artist who is inducted is commemorated within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame displays the signature of each inductee inscribed in glass. In addition, there is an exhibit of artifacts from this year's inductees, and a multi-media film presentation with highlights from each artist's career. The exhibit on this year's inductees will open in March, 2007 and will run for one year.

For more information about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please visit <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rockhall.com">http://www.rockhall.com</a><!-- m -->




P.S
The Tragically Hip should be next! :thumb:

[tommygunn]

The Tragically Hip should be next! :thumb:

Well if they don't induct anybody for the next five years, that's possible. :?

And, since when is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five considered 'Rock and Roll'? cratch:

[sean.bonner]

Personally, I can't stand most Van Halen.
...But I think it would be hard to find a Hipfan who doesn't like REM.
For when REM reads this: Congrats!

[ryan93]

I'm a huge Van Halen fan...and the word now is they are going to try touring again with David Lee Roth, and i've heard rumors of a possible Moncton stop.

[Lizard King]

I love R.E.M. they fully deserve that honor, I cant wait for the next album and tour.

[thesellout]

thats great news - are they going to play with their original drummer again (appearantly hes pretty much made every live appearance with them recently, and i think hes on the next album)

[Corpse]

Yet no sniff for Kiss or Rush............

say what you will of both but 30+ years and over 30 million in sales each, gold/platinum albums, still drawing 8-15 thousand a night...... cratch:

And yes I am being selfish in being they have been my 2 favorite bands since I was a kid. (even though Kiss sucked hard in the 80's)

[skippy the wonder dog]

And, since when is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five considered 'Rock and Roll'? cratch:

Rock and Roll? Nobody's played Rock and Roll since about 1959, really. "Rock" has become a meaningless genre, perhaps best defined as "a popular music form in which performers (with the exception of Bob Dylan) do not wear cowboy hats or sing with affected Nashville accents (despite having grown up in Timmins), played at high volume using amplified instruments."

There is no longer any recognizable structure that defines a song as "rock."

Besides, the Hall isn't picky about what makes "rock." Look at some of the past inductees: Ray Charles, Jimmy Rodgers, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Willie Dixon, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys ... none of this is rock and roll.

But what's with inducting Jimmy Rodgers and Woody Guthrie but not the Carter Family? Howlin' Wolf and Willy Dixon but not Muddy Waters? cratch:

[cochise]

...But I think it would be hard to find a Hipfan who doesn't like REM.

I'll raise my hand on that one........LOL

Was never a fan of REM, never liked them, found them to "college radio"......something about Stype I don't like either. Whole group just seems pompous to me............

Plus, I never saw the Hip/REM connection myself? I never thought one sounded like the other?

just my opinion, no offense to anyone who is a fan...........

[thesellout]

And, since when is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five considered 'Rock and Roll'? cratch:

Rock and Roll? Nobody's played Rock and Roll since about 1959, really. "Rock" has become a meaningless genre, perhaps best defined as "a popular music form in which performers (with the exception of Bob Dylan) do not wear cowboy hats or sing with affected Nashville accents (despite having grown up in Timmins), played at high volume using amplified instruments."

There is no longer any recognizable structure that defines a song as "rock."

Besides, the Hall isn't picky about what makes "rock." Look at some of the past inductees: Ray Charles, Jimmy Rodgers, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Willie Dixon, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys ... none of this is rock and roll.

But what's with inducting Jimmy Rodgers and Woody Guthrie but not the Carter Family? Howlin' Wolf and Willy Dixon but not Muddy Waters? cratch:

the difference is that all of these artists influenced the rock stereotype. Whilei can dig the furious five; rap-metal is really the only place that i can hear that kind of influence on rock, and (with the exceptionof Rage and the funkier Chili peppers) Rap-Metal isnt a style i think we should honour over many other neglected styles.

Grandmaster Flash does deserve some kind of recognition like this though

[tommygunn]

Besides, the Hall isn't picky about what makes "rock." Look at some of the past inductees: Ray Charles, Jimmy Rodgers, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Willie Dixon, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys ... none of this is rock and roll.

But what's with inducting Jimmy Rodgers and Woody Guthrie but not the Carter Family? Howlin' Wolf and Willy Dixon but not Muddy Waters? cratch:

Since 'Rock and Roll' is derived from the blues (jump blues and Chicago blues), country music, and R&B I can see why those artists would be included.
I suppose that's the reasoning (lineage) why a hip-hop artist has been inducted. *shrugs*

By the way, Muddy Waters was inducted in 1987. :thumb:

[ryan93]

I was never really a fan of REM either. There have been a few of their tunes over the years i like ("losing my religion" is one of the best tracks of the 90's IMO)...but as a whole, i dunno, i never could really get into them.

[Chris Tanz]

^ I take you haven't listened to King of Birds endlessly on repeat then, or Underneath the Bunker, or Find the River, or Exhuming McCarthy, or Disturbance at the Heron House, or Swan Swan H, or Gardening at Night, or How the West was Won and Where It Got Us, or Star 69 (I once listened to Star 69 for 8 days straight) or What's the Frequency Kenneth?, or Seven Chinese Brothers, or So. Central Rain, or about ten dozen other fabulous songs from their catalogue.

REM, Tom Waits, and the Hip -- what more can a man ask for?

Congrats to Michael, Mike, Peter, and Bill,
ct

[skippy the wonder dog]

Besides, the Hall isn't picky about what makes "rock." Look at some of the past inductees: Ray Charles, Jimmy Rodgers, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Willie Dixon, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys ... none of this is rock and roll.

But what's with inducting Jimmy Rodgers and Woody Guthrie but not the Carter Family? Howlin' Wolf and Willy Dixon but not Muddy Waters? cratch:

Since 'Rock and Roll' is derived from the blues (jump blues and Chicago blues), country music, and R&B I can see why those artists would be included.
I suppose that's the reasoning (lineage) why a hip-hop artist has been inducted. *shrugs*

By the way, Muddy Waters was inducted in 1987. :thumb:

Ah, I missed that.

But the larger point is, there is no such thing as "rock." If anyone thinks that he can define the genre, he's dreaming.

Hank Williams was playing "rock and roll" (Move it on Over) before über-crook Alan Freed labelled the music "rock and roll." Rock and roll, as originally defined, died long, long ago. No, it didn't evolve. It died. Popular music using the same instruments to play songs with other structures simply usurped the genre's label.

"Rock and roll" has, in any case, never been anything but a marketing label, so we should hardly be surprised to find the Hall expanding the definition of rock to include any form of popular music not including a cowboy hat, as long as the cowboy hat was made since the death of Gram Parsons.

[Chris Tanz]

I guess the "Pop(ular). Music Hall of Fame" doesn't have the same ring to it.

ct