5 Biggest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs

If you’ve ever been to Cleveland, you’ve been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you’ve ever been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you can probably see why the Sex Pistols called it a “piss stain.” It’s just a big retirement home for a classic rock circlejerk so a bunch of old geezers who have nothing better to do but determine whether they’re Beatles or Stones people or whether Peart or Bonham is the better drummer. Nothing reflects the rebellious, stick-it-to-the-man attitude of rock music like an expensive museum that is exclusive to a select few artists per year, right? The people that run this anti-establishment establishment might overthinking the art of music a little bit, don’t you think? Yes, we see the irony in the list that we’re about to unveil, but who doesn’t love a good opportunity for a scathing listicle that ridicules The Man? Here are 5 artists that are apparently aren’t as good as Hall & Oates and ABBA…not that we care or anything.

5. T. Rex – 21 Years Eligible, 0 Years Nominated
It seems that any discussion on rock music, T. Rex is always overlooked. Marc Bolan and company transcended folk, invented glam, and influenced generations of musicians, from David Bowie, The Ramones, The Smiths, REM, to The Black Keys.

4. Chic – 12 Years Eligible, 8 Years Nominated
You probably know Nile Rogers as the producer and guitarist on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, but do you know him as a member of one of the greatest funk bands of all time? Whether you love or hate disco, you can’t deny that 8 years of snubbed nominations is crazy stupid.

3. Kraftwerk – 19 Years Eligible, 2 Years Nominated
These krautrockers are the original robots of music. Without their heavily synthesized music in the mid-70s and on, the Detroit techno scene wouldn’t have flourished and EDM would probably cease to exist, or worse, we would all be living in some sick dystopia, forced to listen to Skrillex all day and night.

2. Joy Division – 11 Years Eligible, 0 Years Nominated
World Population – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame = People who love Joy Division. How can you turn a blind eye to one of the godfathers of alternative rock? Equally as shameful is that their transformation into New Order (8 Years Eligible, 0 Years Nominated) following the untimely death of legendary frontman Ian Curtis has been overlooked also.

1. MC5 – 23 Years Eligible, 1 Year Nominated
“Kick out the jams, ______ _______!” If you can’t finish that sentence, you can’t call yourself a purveyor of Michigan music, or any music for that matter. MC5 were a driving (hehe Motor City puns) force in the protopunk genre. No MC5, no punk.

Honorable mentions: Pixies, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, Television

Written by Kevin Glide