Selection Bias in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

To begin this essay, I would like to make one thing perfectly clear. I am not a music historian like the people who choose the inductees to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aside from a one-semester class on popular music history, I have no academic background in the subject. However, it has been an interest for me for quite some time, and I often do research on influential bands and musicians in my spare time. This has led me to develop a very large appreciation for music history, and that is why I have chosen this topic. With such a deep interest in the music I will be discussing, however, it is inevitable that I will fall victim to the same bias that I believe is inherent in the Cleveland museum's selection and display. In an attempt to avoid this as much as possible, then, I will first present only factual evidence with as little bias as I can manage, and then open up the second part of my essay to my own personal opinion on the subject. I believe this to be the most effective method for this discussion, in my effort to prove the bias of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

On March 21, 1952, the Cleveland Arena housed what is considered to be the first ever rock and roll concert, organized by radio DJ Alan Freed, the man who coined the term "rock and roll". Unfortunately, the concert was closed down for fear of rioting one song into Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams' set. With such a background in rock and roll, it is no wonder then that a petition signed by 600,000 people demanded that the official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building be placed in Cleveland. Because of the outstanding response, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation committee formed in 1983, agreed with the petition and began construction. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 7, 1993 with Pete Townshend and Chuck Berry in attendance, and the building was opened to the public on September 2, 1995. The museum's mission statement is "to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music" [1], and it does this with artifacts, independently donated by musicians and private collectors, as well as audio displays in which a visitor can listen to a large variety of music. It is a nonprofit institution, which is "supported by public investment, corporate sponsors, private donors, its membership program and the revenues it generates at the Museum, including ticket sales and the Museum Store by FYE" [1].

This is separate from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame itself, however, and it should be noted that bands inducted into the Hall of Fame are not necessarily prominently displayed in the museum, and likewise a band does not have to be in the Hall of Fame to be in the museum. The two exist as separate entities, merely convergent in the same building, and are maintained by separate committees. The Hall of Fame was established in 1983, in an effort to recognize the "contributions of those who have had a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll" [2], and it does this in four main categories: performers, non-performers, early influences, and side-men. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record, be it a single or an album, and the criteria is merely their significance to the history of rock and roll. The nominating committee, which is composed of "rock and roll historians" [2], selects nominees in the performer category each year. They then send ballots to an "international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts" [2]. A performer must receive at least 50 percent of the vote to be inducted, which generally leads to five to seven performers inducted each year. Unfortunately, no more information about the process is known to me, as the only way to contact the committee is through an address in New York, and they do not have an email address.

The first Hall of Fame induction was on January 23, 1986, with the induction of Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley. In 1987, 15 more bands and musicians were inducted in the performer category, all American. The first foreign act to be inducted came in 1988 with The Beatles, who were followed the next year by The Rolling Stones, and in 1990 by The Kinks and The Who, firmly placing the British Invasion series of bands in the Hall of Fame. This limited selection of foreign bands aroused my interest, and after looking at every inductee, the stats came to 120 American acts inducted, and 34 foreign, including Canadians, and placing any ambiguous acts like The Pretenders in the foreign category. Also of particular interest to me was the number of times certain people have been inducted. Eric Clapton accounts for three of the foreign acts by being inducted as a solo artist, with the Yardbirds, and with Cream. Likewise, The Beatles are four of the foreign acts, first as a whole band, and then with John Lennon in 1994, Paul McCartney in 1999, and George Harrison in 2004, leaving only Ringo Starr without a solo induction. With these combined, there have been 27 non-Clapton and non-Beatles foreign acts inducted, with the latest being The Sex Pistols and Black Sabbath in 2006.

The induction process has fallen under quite a lot of scrutiny. The Sex Pistols refused to even show up for the ceremony in New York. Johnny Rotten, the former lead singer of the group stated, "When I began as a Sex Pistol, there was no Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and suddenly this organization is put on top of us like we have an obligation to them. Well, it's the other way around. Don't use my name to prop up your ... nonsense" [3]. He also complained about mistakes in their museum surrounding their legend and legacy, and that the Foundation had rejected their nomination for three years running. In 2001 an anonymous former board member talked with journalist Roger Friedman, thoroughly criticizing the whole foundation, including the Executive Director Suzan Evans. "It's a club, and she's their groupie. It's all about power and hanging around with rock stars. Record companies have been getting a bill every year from the foundation of $8,000 or $10,000 apiece" [4]. She is accused of spending the Foundation's money for personal use, including a trip to Cannes. As for the induction process, the board member wrote in another anonymous letter, "I saw how artists were sometimes chosen for nomination because of their affiliations with the directors of the Hall and others were shot down without so much as a moment of consideration simply because some people in that room didn't like them personally or because an artist had bad blood with someone calling the shots" [4]. The board member criticizes the Foundation for dropping some lesser known, but still influential groups, in favor of a 'name' artist, one chosen to attract more museum visitors and attendees to the induction ceremony. "I saw how certain pioneering artists of the 50s and early 60s were shunned because there needed to be more name power on the list, resulting in 70s superstars getting in before the people who made it possible for them. Some of those pioneers still aren't in today - but Queen is" [4].

This is not even taking into consideration the negativity from journalists who are not board members, however, including MTV journalist Jem Aswad who wrote an article on the induction process, and began with a list of musicians that are undeservedly not represented in the Hall of Fame. "Every year, another list grows: The artists you'd think would be members, but aren't. The artists on that list - many of whom have been nominated but not voted in - include Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Kiss, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Grandmaster Flash, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Patti Smith, the New York Dolls, the MC5 and many others" [5]. To be fair, the article is dated, as the majority of this list are now members, leaving only Iggy Pop, The New York Dolls, the MC5 and Kiss mysteriously absent from the roster. If anything, this now shows the museum's attempts at revising previous errors, and that these artists are still being nominated. It is very likely that the rest of the bands on that list will one day make it into the Hall of Fame. There is even a website [6] devoted to predicting when certain artists will make the cut, but looking at the number of influential artists that were able to be inducted each year, but either not nominated or not voted for, is astounding. For example, Serge Gainsbourg, whose sexual and smooth delivery made him arguably the most influential and important French musician ever, became eligible in 1983, and 24 years have passed without his induction.

Finally, the museum itself has not undergone nearly as much criticism, as it is not quite as high profile, so I will have to give my own impressions here. With the limited floorspace shows some confusing and certainly biased decisions. The most baffling is perhaps an large circular room devoted to artists from Ohio, past and present, as well as a large hall devoted to Jimi Hendrix, with a large wall displaying drawings he made as a child and text descriptions of said drawings, as well as the age at which he drew them. This wall is larger than the single glass case devoted to British music, where artifacts are placed in a sort of timeline, beginning with items from the British invasion and ending, strangely enough, with a jacket worn by a member of Duran Duran. The strange pyramid structure of the building lends to many large artifacts being hung from the ceiling, usually things from expensive tours. These include cars from a U2 tour, and a giant foam brick wall from Pink Floyd, who famously built the wall in front of the audience as the concert went on, only to knock it down in the later songs of the concert. The historical importance of these items was very impressive. There is a theater where one can watch films about certain periods of rock and roll history, and an area in the upper regions for special exhibits, which was divided between exhibits on The Clash, rock art, and the Warped Tour. These were easily the best part of the museum, and went very in depth into the artists, and I enjoyed the section on The Clash immensely.

At this point, however, I must discuss my own personal opinions on the matter. The museum has done a very nice job of collecting the artifacts and arranging them, but far too much importance is placed on American acts, or the foreign acts more beloved by Americans, than on actual historically important items. In an attempt to not make this purely about taste and preferred bands, it seemed very strange that Greg Dulli, the singer of the Afghan Whigs and one of my favorite recent musicians, had pair of dusty boots on display purely because he came from Ohio. The Afghan Whigs are not even especially popular with the underground crowd, so having an item from them on display felt very strange, especially when compared with all of the incredibly influential artists who are completely ignored by the museum. In particular, New Order, who pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock and roll and effectively created a new genre of electronic dance music, are entirely absent from the museum's collection. For a band that holds the record of having the best selling 12-inch record ever with "Blue Monday", their absence was puzzling as well as infuriating. In a museum that purports to educate its attendees on music history, it certainly shows a warped view of music history when New Order is ignored, while Duran Duran is prominently on display. Likewise, The Human League, who used these same synthesizers in a different, pop music structure, was also absent, and without their influence the music of the 80s, as most people think of it, would likely never have existed. This absence would be explainable to attendees if the museum were to focus entirely on rock and roll, and not any other genres, but this is not the case, as there is another large display purely for the costumes worn by the 2000 teen idol crowd.

In my opinion, the reduction of music history to a select few bands comes down to the museum's wish to sell tickets, and this is why they must ignore the lesser known, at least to America, international bands. Placing New Order or The Human League on display would not draw many tickets, and likewise this is the reason other incredibly influential acts like Joy Division, The Smiths, Blur, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Each of these acts had legions of fans in Europe, and are still regularly played on the radio, but are largely unknown in the United States, with the exception of Blur being known for "Song 2" as "the woohoo band", half a decade into their career, and long after their influence had already set in. Although items from these bands, as well as appropriate descriptions of why they are important (which many items lacked), would inform the attendants about the historical importance of bands they may never have heard of, people generally will not spend money to see items that they previously know nothing about. Thus, the museum ends up with a large collection of Beatles and Jimi Hendrix memorabilia, but one item for The Kinks, who are even inducted into the Hall of Fame. The one surprising anomaly to this comes with The Talking Heads, who had an enormous amount of items all scattered throughout the museum, while being a one or two-hit wonder in the eyes of most Americans, which leaves either David Byrne as a large supporter of the museum, or the head curator as a large fan of the band.

Also, as I mentioned in passing with The Kinks, many of the artists who have been inducted to the Hall of Fame are almost entirely absent from the collection. Elvis Costello had one item, a large, ripped subway poster from his first album. The Kinks had a 7" single of "You Really Got Me". I cannot recall any Velvet Underground items. At the same time, better known artists like David Bowie, who I am personally a fan of, had an entire array of costumes and other items, and The Beatles were overwhelmingly large, as is to be expected. Again, this falls into the same idea of placing profitability over history, and it is why the museum ultimately fails in its attempt to display any sort of accurate music history. When the museum lumps all non-Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, Clapton, or Bowie foreign acts into one small glass case and calls that a complete history of music, it is selling its ticket-paying viewers short. On top of that, entire genres of music are missing from the exhibit, and for anyone with a decent knowledge of music history, it brings up very important questions. Why does Greg Dulli's boot deserve a space, while nothing from Pavement is on display? Why Nirvana without Pixies, who Kurt Cobain himself admitted were the largest influence on Nirvana's sound? Where are The Smashing Pumpkins or The Cure? The museum does nothing to answer these questions, and for this reason does not accurately depict music history as well as it claims.

Unfortunately, for as many problems as I feel the museum has, and for as easily as it can be criticized, it works as an effective business model, and I cannot think of any way it could be fixed. The exclusion is not on a purely American/foreign level, but on levels of profitability, and by changing that the system would likely go under as ticket sales decreased. The number of people in America who understand the importance of these lesser known acts is small, and likely more concentrated in New York or other metropolitan areas than in Ohio. However, I do feel like a balance could be struck, and that more floor space should be devoted to these important but ignored artists, while still having a number of items on display for the baby boomer crowd. As for the Hall of Fame itself, with such a small number of inductees each year, it is impossible to ever give credit where credit is due. A large number of immensely important artists are left out each year, and for a foundation that wishes to recognize those that make a "significant impact" on the evolution of rock and roll, it ultimately fails. There are only 5-7 inductees a year, and now with the addition of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, they also have hip hop to cover, and there are more than 5-7 important bands a year that are eligible. Looking at the list of bands eligible in 2008 I see my two favorite bands, Pulp and The Smiths, are both up for consideration, and it is sad how poorly known they are in the United States. With the system currently in place, they have absolutely no chance of being inducted.

[1] http://www.rockhall.com/visit/about/

[2] http://www.rockhall.com/visit/faq/

[3] http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/13/leisure.rotten.reut/

[4] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1966,00.html

[5] http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/music_geek/rockhallfame_040405/

[6] http://www.futurerockhall.com/