A Campaign to Keep Kiss Out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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So Kiss has been nominated a second time for induction into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As their first nomination was in 2009, this marks their
first time since the creation of the “fan ballot” which allows fans to have
some limited input into the selection process (the five bands with the most
votes on the fan ballot will each get one additional vote on the official
ballot). I will, of course, be casting a vote to try, in my small way, to keep
Kiss out. I urge all people who truly care about music and rock and roll to
join me in my efforts.
Sure, they have recorded a good party rock song or two,
and I think I might actually like Kiss if they were just some hard working New
Jersey or Long Island bar band, but it is their “you wanted the best, you got
the best” arrogance combined with a stage show seemingly designed more to sell
comic books than albums that makes me abhor their unwarranted combination of
mediocrity and bombast.
I do not want the Hall of Fame sullied by their presence.
I recall being at a Springsteen concert in 2009, and
while waiting for the Boss to take the stage, I was talking to my friend about
the Hall of Fame nominations. I said to him that I thought it would be outrageous
if Kiss were inducted their first year being nominated and the Stooges got snubbed
again (they were finally inducted that time after seven prior losses).
Suddenly, this little guy who had been standing next to us got right up in my
face (or as close as he could given his stature) and started making his case as
to why Kiss deserved to be honored. It was something like: “Kiss has sold 40
million albums. How many did the Stooges sell?”
I calmly explained my admittedly rather naïve and idealistic
notions of the Hall of Fame, that nominees should be judged based on a mix of
quality, integrity, and influence, and that sheer popularity, while a factor,
should not be the only criterion by which a band should assessed. He responded
by barking the album sales again, and some shit about the “Kiss Army.” I calmly
looked at him and told him that we would “agree to disagree. One of us is
right, and one of us is you.”
I know that all Kiss fans are not necessarily as
obnoxious as the little creep next to me at that concert (and he liked
Springsteen, so his taste wasn’t all bad), but I have had some bad experiences
with Kiss fans. I do freely admit that, like many people who
dislike the Grateful Dead because of their hatred of the hippies who love them,
my disdain for Kiss has a tremendous amount to do with my first encounter with
a hard-core fan. You see, years ago, on my first day at a job working at a
music store, my manager, who was a
brusque, abrasive, diminutive, goateed, stringy-haired… just straight-up
unpleasant little man, subjected me to a lengthy lecture as to why Kiss was the
best band on earth, walking me through the catalog and giving me bios of the
band members. I can imagine my old boss and this little creep at the Springsteen
concert getting into it over stale Budweisers, comparing their collections,
talking about how long they had to wait in line at a Kiss convention to get
Paul Stanley’s autograph, and giving each other high fives in a ritual
resembling a cross between male bonding and ‘roid rage. At any rate, in spite
of those events, I will allow that liking Kiss does not make you a bad person.
Yes, I am aware that my reasons for not wanting Kiss to
be inducted into the Hall of Fame has a lot to do with my own pretention,
idealism and hypocrisy. I am fully aware that I am frequently guilty of subjecting
people to pontifications about music similar to that of my old manager. I know
that, based on my own predilections, I am trashing something that brings other
people joy. I also recognize the fact that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is
hardly an unimpeachable organization.
But so what? Sure, it may be a bit perverse, but not
surprising that my contempt for Kiss actually brings me a hint of joy, and I’m
sure Gene Simmons isn’t crying over it. So I am mounting this campaign purely for
fun and with the hope that I can do my small part to make sure that (what I
consider to be) more worthy acts are inducted into that (somewhat dubious)
institution.
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| The Meters are good. You should vote for them. |
So go to http://rockhall.com/get-involved/interact/poll/
and vote. Vote your taste. Vote your conscience. Or just close your eyes and
point. But whatever you do, just don’t vote for Kiss.
By the way, in the end I voted for Chic (brilliant
musicians who never get enough credit), Deep Purple (snubbed long enough), Hall
and Oates (saw the on the Big Bam Boom tour in 1985), The Meters (legendary
funk), and The Zombies (underrated legends). As a prog rock geek, I feel bad
for not voting for Yes and Peter Gabriel. However, Gabriel got in with Genesis
a couple of years ago and can wait a few years to get in as a solo artist. As
for Yes, I’m sure I’ll vote for them next year.
