Friday, April 28, 2017

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Ownage?

Potential Goal: Own at least a few songs by each artist who has been inducted.

Results so far: As of 2017, I have at least one recording by most of the inductees – a solid majority. By my count there are 209 acts currently inducted (some were added in 2012 sort of retroactively, such as ‘The Miracles’, when Smokey Robinson had been inducted years before, or ‘The Crickets’ long after Buddy Holly. I do not count these as separate). There are 23 artists/acts whom I have no recording by whatsoever, or roughly 10%. They are:



Clyde McPhatter
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters
The Four Seasons
LaVern Baker
Jimmy Reed
Ruth Brown
Little Willie John
The Jackson 5
Lloyd Price
The Staples Singers
Bonnie Raitt
Isaac Hayes
Brenda Lee
Gene Pitney and the Blue Caps
John Mellencamp
Jeff Beck
Bobby Womack
ABBA
Genesis
Tom Waits
Rush
Hall & Oates
Small Faces / Faces

Some of these acts I really enjoy. Some I just haven’t bothered buying their work. On the other hand, some I know relatively little about (Jimmy Reed, LaVern Baker) and need to explore further.

Then there’s another category, of artist I only have one song by (but hey, at least I have one song…). Some of these are favorites – Cochran shows up in my 25 most played, Buffalo Springfield is my #1:


The Dells “Oh What a Nite”
Jackson Browne “Doctor My Eyes”
Percy Sledge “When a Man Loves a Woman”
Alice Cooper “School’s Out”
Donna Summer “I Feel Love”
Bill Withers “Lean On Me”
Steve Miller “The Joker”
Eddie Cochran “Summertime Blues”
Bill Haley and His Comets “Rock Around the Clock”
The Isley Brothers “Shout”
Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth”
The Rascals “Good Lovin’”
Gene Vincent “Be-Bop-A-Lula”
Del Shannon “Runaway”
The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”
Electric Light Orchestra “Don’t Bring Me Down”
The Ventures “Walk Don’t Run”
Van Halen “Jump”
KISS “Rock and Roll All Nite”
Duane Eddy “Rebel Rouser”
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”

Finally, there is the category that contains artists currently closest to attaining my goal, that is, those whom I own at least two of their songs. Now, two is not the same as “a few”, but three is. As such at least one more song by these artists wouldn’t be amiss in my collection, while still recognizing that these are lowest priority:


The Moonglows “Sincerely”, “Ten Commandments of Love”
Ritchie Valens “La Bamba”, “Come On, Let’s Go”
ZZ Top “La Grange”, “Tush”
The Impressions “People Get Ready”, "For Your Precious Love"
The Hollies “Bus Stop”, “Long, Cool Woman in a Black Dress”
Lou Reed “Perfect Day”, “Take a Walk on the Wild Side”
Joan Jett “Bad Reputation”, “I Love Rock and Roll”
Chicago “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”, “25 or 6 to 4”
Wilson Pickett “In the Midnight Hour”, “Land of 1000 Dances”
Dion “The Wanderer”, “Runaround Sue”
The Lovin’ Spoonful “Daydream”, “Summer in the City”
The Coasters “Yakety Yak”, “Charlie Brown”
Sam & Dave “Soul Man”, “Hold On, I’m Coming”
Neil Diamond “Sweet Caroline”, “Cracklin’ Rosie”
Donovan “Sunshine Superman”, “Mellow Yellow”
The Dave Clark Five “Glad All Over”, “Over and Over”
Little Anthony and the Imperials “Shimmy, Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop”, “Tears on My Pillow”

So 60 artists, in total, whom I’d like to be better acquainted with their music: whether I don’t own any of their recordings, or just one, or just a couple. That’s just under 30% of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.



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