Madonna
the Beastie Boys
the Dave Clark Five
Leonard Cohen
Afrika Bambaataa
John Mellencamp
the Ventures
Donna Summer
Chic
have been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame according to Rolling Stone.

Here come the 80s, kids!
Let's see how 'bout if we pick five out of the nine
Well based on the inevitable broadcast which Rock Hall New York likes to pretend has no bearing on who gets in or by whom they are inducted, this shouldn't be too hard.

The Dave Clark Five was part of a voting scandal last year with folks alleging that they not Grandmaster Flash garnered enough votes to be the final inductee of the class of 2007 but they arrived to late to be counted.

Consequently, I think The DC5 have a very, very good shot to make the class of '08.

Madonna.
Oh hell yeah, that's gonna happen. Hate her or love her, she's been a frickin 'HUGE Star for the better part of 20 years, has had a truckload of hits and has influenced more than a few imitators. And let's not forget.
Wow! what great TV she'll make, what will she say?
OOOH, who will induct her? Will it be the embattled Madonna wannabe Britney Spears? Christina Aguilera?
Perhaps the blonde and nearly as ambitious Gwen Stefani will team up with Avril Lavigne to perform a medley of Madonna tunes?
The possibilities are nigh endless.

Moving on.

John Mellencamp - I'm taking a flyer on this one. He's been around a long time being MR Arena Roots rock man and, gee golly he sells Chevy Trucks. Solid, consistent songwriter who had a great pop run through most of the 80 and into the mid 90s.
Also, I just don't see the disco twins (Chic & Donna Summer) making it in this year. Afrika Bambaataa probably should have gone in before Grandmaster Flash (or at least the Furious Five) for his contribution to both hip hop and DJ culture, but I do believe that hip hop will be represented this year by…

The Beastie Boys- Yeah, the rapping white boys who crossed over (with their debut "Licensed To Ill") and then crossed over again going big time mainstream.
They are alive they have a new album of those groovy soundtrack 70's porn movie instrumentals and again, the stars will come out to induct/honor them.

Leonard Cohen
He's been eligible since the early 90s, is an icon amongst musicians (check out his start studded tribute film I'm Your Man) and his dedicated following.
But frankly the deep voiced poet/songwriter isn't a very sexy choice for the broadcast, is he? Nevertheless, the Rock Hall would like to solidify some sense of credibility before Motley Crue and Poison star readying their acceptance speeches, so this could be Cohen's year.
I'll bet he's thrilled.

Oops!
My apologies to The Ventures, but they should have been in the Rock Hall a long, long time ago.
I don't know what kept them out in the early years of the voting other than perhaps the wealth of worthy candidates eligible throughout the 80's. Also, though their two guitar, bass, drums set-up is still the blueprint for a rock band, perhaps being associated with Surf music (but not Brian Wilson) and many of their hits were covers has been a detriment.
But certainly by the time we get to the classes of the mid 90's when folks such as Creedence Clearwater Revival (no disrespect intended) were being inducted the influential instrumental guitar band should have been an easy choice.
The only answer since the turn of the century is perhaps the band isn't among voters personal favorites, the aforementioned "cover band" or their general lack of sexiness for the Rock Halls' partners at VH1.

Alright, anyone who didn't get enough of "The Killer" when he closed the Chrissie Hynde and Friends concert at the Civic has another chance to pay homage to a rock n roll original.
The Rock Hall will be hosting its 12th Annual American Music Masters series and this year's honoree (the first living one, by the way) is Jerry Lee Lewis.

There will be a week's worth of American Master events, but the big shindig goes down on Saturday, Nov. 10 at The Playhouse Square when a bunch of artists will gather to pay tribute to Jerry Lee.
Who?
Ready?
OK!
ON the bill will are George Thorogood, Shelby Lynne; Kris Kristofferson; Terry Adams from NRBQ; Wanda Jackson; Narvel Felts; Billy Lee Riley; Cowboy Jack Clement; and Jason D. Williams and the man himself JERRY LEE LEWIS!

But wait!
There's more!

The program will also feature appearances by Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart and sister Linda Gail Lewis.

Come On! Jimmy Frickin' Swaggart's coming to Cleveland?
Awesome.
Remember this?

Aaahh, what a load of crap.

Also he's willing to murder a gay man and then lie to his Lord and Savior.

Aaah, good times, good times.

Sure, Swaggart and his whoring and hating are fun but he's got nothing on the legendary Dr. Gene Scott, whom I grew up watching. Here Dr. Scott has a message for the people of Australia who admonished him for cursing on air. He did not take criticism well.

Aaah, memories. Can you tell I just learned how to embed videos in my ramblings?

Where was I?

Oh Yeah, the concert will take place on Saturday, November 10 at 8 p.m. at Playhouse Square's State Theater. Tickets are already on sale at the low, low price of $30, $40 and $50 and can be purchased through tickets.com and at the Playhouse Square box office or by calling (216) 241-6000.

NOW GET ON THE TELEPHONE!

Ok, so it's official. Kanye West's Graduation has beaten 50 Cent's Curtis in the all important first week sales race.
Whoopee! They both get a little bit richer.

The obvious (and idealistic) extrapolation from this whole kafuffle is that perhaps the mainstream "blazing hip hop and R&B" audience is growing a little tired of guns, bitches and money and wants something different (if not deeper) from their rap stars.

That would be great and many hip hop fans, especially those of a certain age (oh, say 30 and up) would certainly rejoice to see the gangsta cliches we've been hearing since N.W.A.'s debut EP back in 1986 be laid to rest.
Well, actually "laid to rest" isn't what I'm after, but at least it would be nice if misogyny, violence and the acquisition of stuff weren't the dominant voice of hip hop (or "regular rap" as one reader erroneously called it while pushing a gospel rap group).

It would also be great if - without legislation, relying on record companies to develop a collective conscience or the constant yammering of Al Sharpton - if hip hop fans simply said we are tired of it.
Perhaps even the suburban mall rats who have never driven near an offramp leading to the hood much less experienced life there, could possibly have had their fill of vicarious thrills gleaned from self-proclaimed alpha males in large pants.

I remember in the first half of the 90's Jamaican Dancehall music was awash in metaphorical blood as nearly every DJ (their nomenclature for rappers) was lyrically waving their gun around, killing or humping everything in their tunes.
After a few years (and some great and VERY politically incorrect mixtapes for me), fans demanded a change from the "guntalk" and "slackness" (explicitly sexual lyrics..I mean really explicit) and the artists collectively obliged.

Of course, Jamaica is considerably smaller than the U.S. and that change didn't exactly make Dancehall enlightened, what with all the rampant, violent homophobia that is still pretty common in the music.
But that's another discussion.

Anyway, can a similar fan-inspired change come in hip hop?
Is there something substantial we can take away from the Kanye/50 Cent sales
"battle?"

(let me remind everyone this was a "sales' battle, not a lyrical battle or a my-album's-gonna-be-more-artistically-satisfying-than-yours battle. It's strictly about the number of units shifted. Now back to the rant)

Probably not.
More likely it means that when you make essentially the same album/single three times in a row, even musical morons content to swallow whatever secretions pop radio shoots at them begin to pick up on the formula. I mean, Magic Stick (yes, I know this was officially a Lil Kim single), Candy Shop, Amusement Park..zzzzzz.
Kanye's is certainly no lyrical genius or anything, but he does have a bit more on his mind than the stuff we've heard from 50 who seems uninterested in introspection, or looking behind the cliches he spits so smoothly to get at something deeper.
The early sales disparity could just mean that 50's singles leading up to the release were wack (they were) and that his moment as B.M.O.C. is winding down.
But I suspect some slight variation on the oiled up, s**ttalkin' ex-drug dealer will replace him.

P.S….Ja Rule's comeback album is due in November so get ready, "blazing hip hop and R&B fans," I'm sure ol' Curtis will have something to say about the guy he replaced.

Alright LedZep fans, get ready to soil yourself with excitement. According to the BBC Robert PLant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jone aka 75% of LED ZEPPELIN will be announcing plans for a reunion concert featuring Jason Bonham in his dead daddy's place behind the drums.

The concert will coincide with the release of a new Double disc Zep Best of (you didn't think they were doing this for poops and giggles did ya?) called Mothership, (really? another compilation?) on November 13.

Tickets for the event will, of course, be way over priced and the scalpers will, of course, gouge the hardcore fans willing to give up their first born for a chance to see a bunch of 60-somethings and a 40-something party like it's 1979.

There is a chance that if the show goes well (and by "well," I mean Plant/Page/Jones enjoy themselves) that a 2008 tour could be next.

That would add Led Zeppelin to the growing list of bands reuniting for cash and prizes which includes
The Police
Genesis
Crowded House
The Spice Girls
(British boy band) Take That
Van Halen
The Smashing Pumpkins (forgot about that one didn't ya?)
The Jesus and Mary Chain

Obviously a full Zep US tour would generate more money than the GNP of several midsized countries.

I just saw the big Britney Spears dance routine on the VMAs.
It appears to me that Ms. Spears has grown awfully bored with being a pop star.
Sure she can still wear the outfits (i.e. almost nothing) but her lip syncing was lazy (no one expects her to actually sing) and the dancing which usually got the most energy was half-assed.

Oh, and the song wasn't very catchy either, some cookie-cutter club tune expressing Ms. Spears needs. "Gimme, gimme more!" begged Spears unconvincingly, it is presumably the first radio salvo from her upcoming album.

whatever.

That young (heir to the throne of Usher) Chris Brown is not even pretending to actually sing his song.

His Michael Jackson impression is pretty good.

Am I the only person who finds it ironic that MTV holds an awards show for videos you are highly unlikely to see on MTV?

Hello?

Anyone?

Is that a "no" on the irony?

B-u-u-e-ller?

Holy Crap I'm tired of this…uh…crap!
So tired that I'm not even writing in complete sentences.

A recent AP story reports that Congress will soon hold a hearing on "stereotypes and degradation" of women in the media with a focus on rap music and videos.

The hearing is apparently entitled (they title these things?) "From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degradation"

AARRGGH!! Why is Imus' name in the title when the "focus" is rap music and videos?

FOR THE LAST FRICKIN' TIME!!

DON IMUS' COMMENTS AND RAP MUSIC ARE NOT ANALOGOUS.

Can we please remove Imus and his insults from these "hip hop" discussions?
He is neither pertinent nor relevant to any discussion with a "focus" on rap music.
Don Imus (to the best of my knowledge) has never recorded or released a rap album.
Likewise there are (to the best of my knowledge) no rap songs about the relative attractiveness of the 2007 Scarlet Knights women's basketball team.

Anyway, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, had this to say.

"I want to look at not only the problem caused by misogynistic content in some Hip-Hop music but also some of the pain that emanates from this degradation," the politician said, adding that the inquiry is "not an anti-artist hearing, or anti-music or anti-youth hearing."

Well, at least he bothered to say "some hip hop music."

Further quoth the Rep.

"I respect the First Amendment, but rights without responsibility is anarchy, and that's much of what we have now," he said. "It's time for responsible people to stand up and accept responsibility."

Here's the thing.
Other than rapper/former mogul Master P who hasn't been musically relevant in a decade or so, no one who actually makes the music/videos or even listens to them appears to have been invited.

Instead Rush went after the folks with the real money, putting industry bigwigs
Philippe Dauman of Viacom, Doug Morris of Universal Music Group and Edgar Bronfman Jr. of Warner Music Group on the witness list presumably to grill them on why their companies are paying hefty sums of money to dudes who say mean and nasty things about women (but don't dare talk about their mama).

Rush added that the hearings weren't going to be only about hip hop but other forms of entertainment as well, though he apparently wasn't specific.

Quoth Rush
"I want to talk to executives at these conglomerates who've never taken a public position on what they produce," said Rush, who added that it was "surprisingly very difficult to get them to commit to appearing."

Taking a Public position?
Are you kidding?
I'll bet Morris has little idea who Tony Yayo or Lloyd Banks are, much less that they work for him (thru G-Unit Records) or even how much revenue Morris/UMG gets from their hit-making misogyny.

Morris definitely knows Yayo and Banks' overseer 50 Cent
but he has been one of pop music's biggest cash cows for a few years.

Besides, what's he supposed to say?
"Well, gentlemen I wouldn't let one of these nouveau riche hoodlums anywhere near my daughters, my neighborhood or my country club and I have no idea what they are actually babbling about most of the time.
Nevertheless, The kids love it and somebody's gonna reap revenue off this stuff, it might as well be my global conglomerate!"

I'll give Rush some love for actually trying to back the suits into a corner and forcing them to explain themselves and their business practices.
But chances are, (assuming they show up) each of those execs will have a lovely stump speech prepared and will answer direct questions by verbally moving around piles of high-grade B.S.

Hey, I'm all for discussion of why hip hop's mean side is still the most popular selling and best promoted, but a gaggle of clueless congressfolk grilling slightly less-clueless businessfolk can't possibly help Rush achieve the honest and substantive "look" at the aforementioned misogyny problem and its subsequent pain emanations.

Because none of those folks know a damn thing about either subject.