Wow, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse... OK, actually, the nominees for the 2009 class at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aren't bad -- most are certainly worthy -- but it's just so uninspiring and is going to make for a pretty boring ceremony. And they are: Jeff Beck, Chic, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-DMC, the Stooges, War and Bobby Womack.

We're fully in the era of huge rock bands, but because the hall is continually making up for poor past decisions, much of the slate is given over to correcting slights from the past rather than moving forward to recognize worthy acts that are freshly eligible.

To qualify for the hall, an act must have put out its first release 25 years ago. That means, gulp, 1984. Only Run-DMC and Metallica are fresh qualifiers. Everyone else has been eligible for years; some, like the Stooges, have been passed over before.

There are plenty of lists out there of eligible acts that have never been nominated, some more worthy than others (Rush? Really?). But who is really out there who was snubbed? The Smiths are eligible this year, but they'll never make it. The Bangles? Please. Bon Jovi? Perhaps someday. Dwight Yoakam? In a perfect world. Los Lobos? Again, ideally yes, but not likely.

The problem is that people who criticize these annual nominee lists, myself included, tend to forget that it has little to do with artistic merit. Being groundbreaking and respected is a big key, and commercial success is another. Run-DMC and Metallica are easy choices because they meet both criteria. The Smiths and Los Lobos are certainly the former, but experienced too little of the latter to ever gain serious consideration. For sheer influence, bands like Minor Threat and the Replacements ought to be there, but neither was popular enough to merit more than a footnote in a punk rock exhibit in the outer reaches of the hall.

So, predictions? Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony and, because they charmed the pants off the crowd at last year's ceremony with their run through a couple of Madonna tunes, the Stooges.

Labels: music, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame