Rock Hall Nominees Announced, And Boy, Do I Feel Old (Again)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for the Class of 2020 have been announced and, as with sports Halls of Fame, boy do I feel old.

It used to be just the Baseball Hall announcements, when, at a certain point, I realized I remembered the nominees when they were rookies. Now, I'm get it every year with the rock stars. Except for the geezers on the list, I remember playing many of the new nominees' first songs on the radio.

The first time nominees are Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, The Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, The Notorious B.I.G., Soundgarden, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and Whitney Houston.

Back for another try are Depeche Mode (nominated twice before), Judas Priest (nominated for the Class of 2018), Kraftwerk (nominated five times before), MC5 (nominated four times), Nine Inch Nails (nominated two times), Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (three times) and Todd Rundgren (nominated in 2019).

Now, if I had a vote, I'm thinking Benatar, Dave Matthews, The Doobs, and Whitney Houston for sure. Todd Rundgren was pretty influential both as a performer and behind the scenes. Nine Inch Nails, and Biggie Smalls, too, deserve some serious thought. People more familiar with Motorhead and Soundgarden can make the same arguments for them.

Since I'm most familiar with the hitmakers, Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, and The Doobies are slam dunks for me. The others need at least some discussion, many of those for simply longevity questions.

But as with the Baseball Hall of Fame, this is a fun topic to discuss and disagree about.