JB wrote:Surprised at this take by a free-thinker like you, Mr Blanks. Make a credible musical and commercial case why ABBA shouldn't be there, other than they offend your machismo and you feel like a 17 year old boy who needs to say something sux to fit in with peer pressure. Not my thing either, but you should hear iconic r&r musicians talk them up, and they sold tens of millions of records around the world. Complex harmonies and melodies that would be impossible for the Stooges to approach, for example. Not to diss Iggy, but merely to make a point of what band goals are for an art form. Does R&R by definition HAVE to be lead guitar based? Does it have to be ear splitting? Do the artists have to spit on people? Lyrics and depth? Not exactly a strong point, but they were ESL ferners after all.
ABBA is a "what took them so long" no brainer by any objective measure.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Listen here, I succumbed to that type of peer pressure at the age of 13. Get your facts straight!
Never said they suck, I just don't regard ABBA as r'n'r. Sold millions of records, complex harmonies and melodies, I may give you that. If that is the criteria than I have a website for you to go to and sign the petition, because they provided the same, she had the voice of an angel, and she went out rock and roll style
http://www.gocarpenters.com/This is what is on the official RnRHOF website for criteria
Performers
Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. What influence and significance was provided by ABBA? If they came out and said that record sales and chart topping singles weigh heavily in voting, than I can accept induction.
As with most HOF's, they want to make it a best of the best. I think by inducting ABBA, they're going to start looking at record sales and overall popularity more so than influence and significance. It's a door that'll be opened and I'm scared to see who'll be stepping through in the future.
JMO