Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces 2013 Nominees

The nominees are in for Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are in, and the class of 2013 are set to answer a few questions, though not without raising some of their own.

Looking through the list, there are a few names present that seem like shoe-ins. Deep Purple, for one, are a huge name in the rock world – so much so that I had to use all of my Googling might to check that there wasn’t a mistake with the list. My questioning isn’t alone either, Slash and Lars Ulrich sharing the “where the hell is Deep Purple” sentiment.

Rush are also receiving their first nod, and hopefully not just to keep their famously diehard fans from destroying the hall’s glass pyramid to the sound of ‘Temples of Syrinx’. The complete list is as follows:

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Chic
Deep Purple
Heart
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Albert King
Kraftwerk
The Marvelettes
The Meters
Randy Newman
N.W.A
Procol Harum
Public Enemy
Rush
Donna Summer

Another distinct feature of this year’s list is the sheer range of genres that it covers, seminal hip hop groups N.W.A and Public Enemy being the obvious example. If you’re as confused as I am, president of the hall, Joel Peresman has made a statement on the ‘broadness’ year’s nominees.

The definition of ‘rock and roll’ means different things to different people, but as broad as the classifications may be, they all share a common love of the music [...] This year we again proudly put forth a fantastic array of groups and artists that span the entire genre that is ‘rock and roll.’

But what is to be made of this news? Obviously it will divide those who hear it, but in an age where new, desirable artists can get all the publicity they want with a little lovin’ from VEVO or YouTube, it is more important than ever to remember the forebears of our musical genres. More often than not, these people remain some of the most creative and talented minds out there, and are often deserving of such reverence.

The words 'German propaganda' have taken on a whole new meaning in recent years.

Nonetheless, people are still going to question if the quite-possibly-cyborgs of German electronica fourpiece, Kraftwerk can really be described as rock and roll.

Maybe we should start building fancy pyramids for all music categories. Its a nice sentiment, but there’s always going to be at least one furious spacesynth or nintendocore fan out there, declaring that Furious Gnome and the Teriyaki Warriors don’t belong in their damn pyramid.