Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committtee member Dave Marsh isn't happy with the 2008 inductions of The Ventures and Leonard Cohen.

"I realized a long time ago part of the deal with this process is that there are some people who need to be in who I'd rather have my fingernails pulled out than listen to," Marsh said. "Like the Grateful Dead (who were inducted in 1994). But at some level, it's about fame, too. And none of that justifies the Ventures and Leonard Cohen. None of it. The problem is, you've got a bunch of people who know a lot about music on the (nominating) committee, but then you have a lot of people doing the voting who don't."

Why shouldn't the Ventures, who hit with "Walk, Don't Run" in 1966, be in? "Great guys, but an instrumental group built around guitars, not a rock group," Marsh said.

Oddly, Marsh blames the 600+ member voting committee as the root of the problem, when in fact the Nominating Committee continues to increase its power over the process by limiting the number of names on the ballot, then dictating a set amount of inductees from the limited choices. Much more on Marsh over at Tom Lane's Music Blog.

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In a long article about Madonna's career at Cleveland.com, Rock Hall Foundation president emeritus, Seymour Stein gushes over Madonna.

Madonna has "a true rock 'n' roll spirit," Stein says.

"She takes chances. She doesn't care about the odds. She cares about whether she believes in something or not.

"Believe it or not, Madonna is one of the easiest artists I ever worked with, because she knew what she wanted. And she was almost always right, too."

Reuters has an interview with Stein too.

In one of the most predictable columns ever written, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman continues his objection to all things Jann Wenner and Madonna.

Madonna is either too busy or too famous to perform at Monday night’s New York dinner for Jann Wenner’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Wenner must have lost his touch. In the old days, he could make inductees do anything.

Because Madonna can’t or won’t perform, and the other inductees are not exactly rock stars, the evening is shaping up to be a true disaster commercially for the money-hungry Hall of Fame Foundation.

...the Rock Hall show sounds like the grind it’s been designed to become. And isn’t this what years and years of hubris gets you? By ignoring a generation of potential inductees — almost all of the '70s — they’ve cut off most of their audience.

Alan Light, former Spin editor in chief, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, thinks Madonna is worthy of her 2008 induction:

"She has loomed for a long time as a really significant, really influential figure," said Alan Light. "She is as famous a woman -- if not in the world, certainly in the Western world -- as anybody that's alive."

...

As for any gripes the pop singer doesn't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, save it, says Light.

"If you define rock and roll in any way other than it has to be played with electric guitars and be based on blues changes or whatever, any definition that is more expansive than that -- anything that talks about the rebellious side of it, the counterculture side of it, the creative, ambitious side of it -- she clearly should be there," Light said. "She changed the playing field."

The article also quotes one of the many artists Madonna influenced, Alanis Morissette:

"To me, she's this woman that's deeply feminine, combined with this masculine drive," said Canadian pop singer Alanis Morissette, who was signed to Madonna's record label, Maverick Records, in 1995. "For a long time as a kid, I felt very self-conscious about what a tomboy I was, but she was someone that I could always look up to."

Steve Morse, a former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee member for seven years, isn't happy with Madonna getting inducted this year.

"[I]f you think of rock 'n' roll, Madonna is not the first name that comes to mind," said Steve Morse...

He considers her selection, particularly in her first year of eligibility, an embarrassment.

Her music was never played on rock 'n' roll radio, he said. Some veteran rock artists like Deep Purple, the J. Geils Band, Steve Miller and Alice Cooper are still waiting for induction. Morse long and unsuccessfully argued on behalf of the late Gram Parsons.

"It seems like this is driven by commercial achievement and sales, rather than having anything to do with the rock 'n' roll genre," Morse said. "It's really a commercial move. They'll be able to sell more tickets to the museum and more people will watch the broadcast."

Morse may have been part of the Nominating Committee restructuring that went on a couple years ago, so he may have been an unwanted voice of resistance to opening the doors to hip-hop and pop.

Boston Herald music writer Jed Gottlieb wants to take a broom to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to clean out the "pretenders." Here's his new criteria:

1. You have to rock. If Janis Joplin, Bon Scott or Joe Strummer wouldn’t have toasted your tunes with a pint, you’re out.

2. You have to blow minds. The Beatles and Hendrix switched the world from black and white to color. Well, you gotta do that. Or at least come close.

3. You have to have done at least one thing that categorically qualifies as rock ’n’ roll: lighting your guitar on fire, getting busy with your 14-year-old cousin or writing a letter to the Hall of Fame calling it a, um, urine stain after being inducted (as the Sex Pistols did) all qualify.

Gottlieb wants no part of Madonna, Leonard Cohen, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Eagles, The Bee Gees, Miles Davis, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, or John Mellencamp. In their place he wants to honor many of the popular snubbed artists: Beastie Boys, Lou Reed, The Cars, The Stooges, KISS, and The Cure. Check out the full column here.

Hidden Track also comes up with a list of 10 bands they want to see inducted: Tom Waits, The Cure, Genesis, Rush, Willie Nelson, The Stooges, KISS, Metallica, Sonic Youth, and Alice Cooper. Videos, career highlights and ten more names at Glide Magazine.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee could do a lot worse than start with the names from these two lists when they're putting the ballot together for 2009.

USA Today talked to Dave Clark about his band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[Dave] Clark's only regret about the delayed induction is that two bandmates, Denis Payton and Mike Smith, didn't live to bask in the glory. Sax player Payton died of cancer in late 2006. Singer Smith, who was left paralyzed from the chest down by a spinal cord injury in 2003, died of pneumonia Feb. 28. Clark had spent the previous Sunday at Smith's home to watch their beloved Tottenham Hotspur soccer team beat Chelsea.

"It would have been wonderful to be inducted a couple years ago and have everyone there," says Clark, whose Hall appearance will include his tributes to the late bandmates. "Denis knew he was dying when he found out we were on the (2006) short list, and he was over the moon. He said, 'What a way to finish my career. It's icing on the cake.' At least Mike knew we were being inducted, and he was thrilled."

Joan Jett has been chosen to perform a tribute to the DC5 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Monday.

Anytime an artist that can't be categorized strictly as "rock" gets attention from the Rock Hall, there's an outcry from certain vocal fans.

Jim Henke, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee member, gives his justification for induction a pop star such as Madonna:

"To me, it's the same issue as last year with Grandmaster Flash and `does hip-hop belong in?'" says Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. "I think here at the museum and among other inductees, we've always defined rock and roll pretty broadly.

"It's not just about four guys with guitars or something like that. Madonna certainly had a huge impact on popular music and rock `n' roll throughout the `80s and `90s and she's certainly deserving of being honored."

Henke points to Madonna's music, her incorporation of dance elements and her mixing of styles that influenced lots of performers that came after her.

In 2009, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held in Cleveland for only the second time, and it will be the first to be open to the public (as we learned in December). The ceremony will likely be held at the Quicken Loans Arena downtown (aka "The Q," home of the Cleveland Cavaliers), less than a mile from the Rock Hall Museum. Tickets to the ceremony are estimated to be about the cost of a rock concert ($80?), but no details have been set.

The one song that stands the best chance to be played during the final jam at the end of the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is "Hallelujah," written by inductee Leonard Cohen.

The song has become ingrained in our culture over the past 20+ years thanks to scores of cover versions (even showing up on American Idol this week). Michael Barthel over at clapclap.org broke down the history of the song in a hugely comprehensive fashion. Check out the number of cover versions by year:

(via kottke)

Yes founder and singer Jon Anderson speaks out on his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub:

Have to ask you this: How do you feel about not being recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

I'm am so annoyed! So [angry]! You can quote me on that. [Dramatic pause.] No, I don't care. [Laughs.] When it happens, it will happen. It never bothered me until 10 years ago. The manager who was managing Yes said 'I'm going to put you in the Hall of Fame next year' and we said 'cool.' And then it didn't happen. We said, 'What happened?' He said, 'They don't want you.' It went on for five, six years, with him making this pitch. ... When it happens it will happen.

Although they have never been nominated for induction, the Nominating Committee has seriously considered them. In any case, Future Rock Hall currently gives them a 41% chance at eventual induction.

On the face of it, having Iggy & the Stooges perform a tribute to Madonna at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony might seem like an odd choice. But the two have some old connections. As Rolling Stone (and others) pointed out, "both the band and Madonna are Detroit natives, and Iggy Pop opened for Madonna at the Dublin date for her Reinvention Tour in 2004."

Idolator takes the connection a step further: "the Stooges' bassist in its current incarnation is punk legend Mike Watt, whose obsession with Madonna once spurred friends Sonic Youth to record an entire album in tribute to her in 1988."

Both also (obviously) have a history of shock performances and don't mind shedding their clothes.

There's no question that the Iggy & The Stooges tribute will be the most exciting and unpredictable part of the ceremony.

The 2008 Rock and Roll Induction Ceremony takes place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on Monday, March 10th at 8:30 PM EDT. Here's how you can watch it:

• Live on TV: VH1 Classic or MHD (for high definition)
• Live on the web: BestBuy.com. The site says you will need Windows Media Player to be able to stream the Ceremony. Let's hope they have support for the Mac.
• Edited version on TV: VH1 will air an edited 2 1/2 hour "highlight edition" on Saturday, March 22nd at 11:00 PM. Could the lack of star power at the ceremony this year have pushed the ceremony out of primetime?

Rolling Stone reports today that since Madonna won't be performing at the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Iggy & The Stooges have been enlisted to pay tribute to the Material Girl. Perhaps their performance will serve as a showcase for the 600+ members of the Rock Hall Voting Committee who have refused to vote in The Stooges so far. The Nominating Committee has put The Stooges on the final ballot a whopping six times, more than any other artist not in the Hall.

It also appears that Leonard Cohen won't be performing either; he's having Damien Rice play for him. Additionally, James Cotton will pay tribute to Little Walter, and Patti LaBelle will do the same for Gamble and Huff.

The only two inductees who are confirmed to perform at the ceremony are John Mellencamp and The Ventures.

Update: Joan Jett will be performing a tribute to the Dave Clark Five at Monday's ceremony.