Genesis gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2010)

rock hof page

Congratulations to the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees!
Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges as its 2010 artist inductees. Also being inducted this year as individual recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award will be David Geffen and songwriters Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Elle Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell. The ceremony will take place on March 15, 2010 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and will air live on Fuse, Madison Square Garden’s national music television network, as part of the three-year broadcast deal between the Foundation and Fuse.

“We are very happy to present this year’s inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they represent a great cross-section of artists that define the broad spectrum and history of rock and roll and people that have contributed immeasurably to our business” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President & CEO Joel Peresman.

The performer inductees are:
ABBA
GENESIS
JIMMY CLIFF
THE HOLLIES
THE STOOGES

Ahmet Ertegun Award (nonperformers):
DAVID GEFFEN
BARRY MANN & CYNTHIA WEIL
ELLIE GREENWICH & JEFF BARRY
JESSE STONE
MORT SHUMAN
OTIS BLACKWELL



The 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by over 500 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty-five years after their first recording is released.

All inductees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Through approaches as creative and diverse as the music itself, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
tells the story of rock music with its exhibits, education programs and Library and Archives, which will open to the public in downtown Cleveland in late 2010.

Presenters and performers at the induction will be announced at a later date. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be televised live on Fuse; more information can be found at fuse.tv.

Surprising? certainly. As a Genesis fan, especially the Peter Gabriel work, I won't deny I am happy to see this. Even as much of a joke the Rock Hall in Cleveland is (or has been). Perhaps some of the people voting either a) changed. b) or wised-up finally.

The real evidence will be now having Genesis in there, Yes, Rush, The Moody Blues, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ELP, even Kansas could follow.

I can't help but think about Kevin Gilbert right now. As huge fan of the Gabriel period, he'd probably be proud, even though I'm sure he felt/would-feel the Rock hall is/has-been as much of a joke as many others like myself.

Deep Purple, Kiss and many others The Ramones? etc should be in there as well. But with Black Sabbath getting in a few years ago it may-have (Metallica) finally changed a bit of the limits of that embarrassing instituition. So as Sabbath did with Metal, Genesis may do with progressive rock. Who knows, maybe Dream Theater and Marillion will find their way in there someday (Marillion would be even more shocking. Porcupine Tree would probably manage to get in 1st, yet arguably PT owe a bit to Marillion certainly).

I'm not sure why I should really care, but I guess it's the never-say-never. If things finally happen, it does change your feeling a bit. But on the other hand, if Gabriel and Phil Collins get in soon-after this, but it's 10 years from now and Rush and Yes aren't in, the feeling about that place and the doors this may open will probably just go away. Because frankly, Genesis were largely more commercially successful than any other "prog" bands save for Pink Floyd. Rush I Suppose is close in some ways, especially in recent years with tv, movie and talk show appearances and references. But Genesis were stadium-worthy back in the late 70's, and just Phil Collins himself probably became bigger than Rush or Genesis alone with his Disney soundtracks and #1 singles.

Plus as I just read Mike Rutherford mention in an interview shying away from the p-word; Genesis to me have always had a different aesthetic than other "prog" bands. It was never about chops with them. They wrote some longer songs, certainly, but they had more of a Beatles-approach to extended songs. It wasn't about chops, but transitioning moods and odd/non-traditional melodies. Theatrical-sense. You could actually call Genesis, mainly with Gabriel "Theatrical-rock" in a way. And to compare that to Dream Theater or Rush even, the emphasis wasn't as much about playing their instruments, but telling a (sophisticated) story.

So in that sense, Genesis were more like Floyd than the musicianship that prog is often thought-of.

Still, to have them finally get in says something. Let's hope it says even more for some of those deserving acts in that signficiant but largely-ignored (and laughed-at) genre.

I wonder what they'll play, or if Peter, Steve, and especially Phil will BE ABLE to play? a Gabriel-reunion from this is really a silly notion, but I'm sure some press will speculate about it.

Peter: I'm looking forward to checking out "Scratch My Back," the new orchestral covers album coming in February; however if this doesn't influence a reunion with the guys, perhaps it will at least give more evidence that the long-awaited I/O record actually will become more than just a name for a possible future album. It only has been 7+ years since Up, lol.