I have always been uncomfortable with the concept of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Something so subversive, so historically anti-establishment shouldn’t have a hall of fame, or at least, it shouldn’t be in the beautiful I.M. Pei designed building in Cleveland (although I have visited the HOF myself). It should be down an alley, or in a bar on the South Side of Chicago or in Memphis.
Anyway, there’s always some question as to who gets in, but this week, the Hall announced the latest inductees: Genesis – cool back when Peter Gabriel led them, even cool up until the hit making band of the late 1980s; Jimmy Cliff – OK, although I’m not a big fan of reggae; the Hollies – too clean for my taste; and The Stooges, who should have been there all along.
But the people behind the HOF announced that 1970s pop group ABBA will be inducted. Who’s next? Manudo? The Bay City Rollers?
I know that their music remains very popular, especially with the stage play and film “Mamma Mia!” (no place more popular than my own home, where the Indignant Older Daughter and her mother often punish your friend and humble narrator with the strains of “Dancing Queen,” and other insipid songs. (Even worse in the film are the songs “sung” by Pierce Brosnan – fine James Bond, horrible singer.) Fortunately, they spared the old man when the ABBA tribute band came to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park earlier this year – I got to stay at home with the Indignant Younger Daughter (aka The Indignant Baby, but not for much longer).
I really have nothing again people who are into ABBA, but it sure as hell ain’t rock and roll. Maybe Iggy Pop will roll around in broken glass and take the mic stand to ABBA. That would be worth recording for posterity!