Back on a previous post bud said we should be talking about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame issue, and I didn’t know what he was talking about, but then I went and found this, and of course was shocked and appalled:
Abba, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, the Hollies and the Stooges will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, the Hall of Fame Foundation has announced. But the biggest news might be who did not make the cut. Kiss, nominated for the first time this year after being snubbed for a decade, was left out of the honors, although if the experience of the Stooges is any guide, there might be better luck next time: the band was nominated and rejected seven times before being accepted. Also being honored this year, as nonperformers, are David Geffen and seven songwriters: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell. The 25th annual induction ceremony will be held on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan.
ABBA? ABBA? The one good thing I’ll say about them is that they provided a decent soundtrack to that quirky cinema gem, “Muriel’s Wedding.”
But rock and roll? No freaking way. What’s next? John Philip Sousa?
By the way, I didn’t mind that Kiss got passed over. I think Kiss came along at a bad time in my life cycle — between being a kid, and having kids old enough to care — and their appeal always alluded me. (I was getting into Elvis Costello at about that time, I think.) So no loss there — especially since they’ll get in eventually.
But ABBA?
Well, I love Abba and think they deserve any award they get, although I have to wonder if the popularity of “Mama Mia” had anything to do with it. I didn’t love “Mama Mia,” but “Muriel’s Wedding” is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Incidentally, Leonard Cohen had the best comment about being inducted into the HoF: “I never had a strategy or a plan. I just always wanted to show off.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is really much broader than strictly Rock and Roll. Johnny Cash is in it. Nothing again JC but he’s definetally not a rocker. Given it’s broad appeal ABBA certainly belongs. They have an incredible staying power. The top grossing movie of all time in Great Britain is Momma-Mia. What’s more, the best selling ABBA album, ABBA Gold wasn’t released until 1992.
While Brad makes a good point I think ABBA’s selection is justified. However, passing over Kiss is outrageous. Also, Yes isn’t in it. Now that is truly unfathomable.
Finally! Other people that have seen “Muriel’s Wedding”! I was really wondering if I was the only person in SC with any taste for quirky cinema.
Brad, did you know that ABBA was John McCain’s favorite group?
I love ABBA. I learned a lot about songwriting composition and structure from them. But I think of them as pop rather than rock.
I think a tightly constructed pop song is the primary cultural expression of the late 20th Century.
Anyway, here’s an mp3 of my band gigging on one of my songs that was deliberately constructed using ABBA’s multi-layer hook technique. I dunno — is it pop or rock?
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=106193&content=music
BTW, Benny Andersson has been busy with BAO the last few years, usually with the amazing, wonderful Helen Sjoholm on vocals. Their “Du ar Min Man” has been a monster hit in Sweden like forever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2CI5HqKYgY
OK, I give up — if Burl likes them, they must be cool.
At least he agrees with me that they are not, strictly speaking, rock.
ABBA ain’t disco either. Their peak happened to be during the same arc as the disco era, and “Dancing Queen” is a disco standard, but that was their one toe in the water.
Although “Mama Mia” is a riotously ridiculous musical, it pretty much places ABBA in their proper context as pop songwriters. They are more like Rogers and Hammerstein than Jaggar and Richards.
By the way, y’all should definitely check out the recording by Burl’s band, which — sorry to be argumentative here — is way cooler than anything by ABBA.
I especially liked the guitar bits, which were very rock ‘n’ roll, not ABBA at all.
Anyway, if y’all listen to it, you can see why I would trust Burl’s judgment on what’s cool. I mean, I’m still working on my band’s name, and Burl’s got recordings…
I love Muriel’s Wedding and Toni Collette!
Let’s have a Muriel’s Wedding party!
Brad’s being funny. The name of the song is “Cool Cool.”
The ABBA influence is in the arrangement and structure, not in the melody or genre. It uses a cascading hook arrangement that I kept very tight (song’s only about 2.5 minutes long.) I would describe the style more as Dave Edmunds Meets The Go-Gos by Way of The Specials.
That’s the lovely Melody Heidel singing, BTW. I’m on guitar and occasional background yelps. (“Here we go!”)
Brad might appreciate this. This recording was taken directly off the sound board at a bar gig held right under Aloha Tower, with Honolulu Harbor 10 feet away (no wall echo!). Our drummer Chris set off a car alarm that night with his heavy foot.
And check out that other link. Helen Sjoholm is a goddess.
My favorite ABBA song is the little known “The Day Before You Came”. The lyrics are very intriguing. Many Rock and Roll purists don’t appreciate ABBA. That’s sad because they are so much more than a disco band. Burl has it right, they have little in common with hard core disco bands. ABBA is much more popular in Europe and Australia than in the U.S. They have a very broad, international appeal. I wonder why that is?