KISS finally got the nod. Who should be next? Mark Ellis has a couple of suggestions.
With KISS finally inducted after much drama into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the thoughts of hard rock and metal fans turn to who should be next.
The consensus candidate is Deep Purple, whose inevitable and rightful place in the order of ascension is widely accepted by fans and rock cognoscenti alike. Hard rock guru and That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk has very publically made known his disagreements with the Cleveland, Ohio institution, and many share his belief that Richie Blackmore and company must be next in line.
I don’t disagree with that, but strongly advocate that the Scorpions follow Deep Purple into the hall.
I was an aspiring journalist when Deep Purple hit with “Hush” in 1969, and reviewing first album Shades of Deep Purple was one of my early self-assignments as entertainment reporter for the Napa High School Injun-eer. Some of my hardest-rocking pals were totally about Hendrix, Cream, and The Who, and they made the mistake of judging Purple on the basis of the band’s debut Top 40 hit. But I listened to the whole record, and heard in Blackmore a different kind of spectacular guitar talent, in Ian Gilliam a vocalist to rival Cream howler Jack Bruce, and in Jon Lord a keyboardist who sounded bigger than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
“Smoke on the Water,” “Highway Star,” and “Woman from Tokyo”—these and other remarkable recordings enshrine Deep Purple and its influence at the ground floor of the edifice of heavy rock.
Purple must go next, and then must go the Scorpions.
During my cub semesters at Napa another band was just getting its act together that I, and most other stateside rockers, had never heard of. It wasn’t until 1979 that the Scorps hit the radar once and for all with Lovedrive, and its balls out pop metal calling card, “Loving You Sunday Morning.”
All America and the universe came aboard in 1982 with breakout single “No One Like You,” and global mega-stardom followed heavy MTV rotation of the caged and hormonally overamped “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”
Savage Amusement was a letdown for some, but therein was another monster, “Rhythm of Love,” a tune as riff heavy and transcendent as anything a legion of melodic metaliers would go on to produce.
Certain recordings capture historical truths with profound resonances. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young did it with Kent State shootings master track “Ohio.” Jimi Hendrix contributed his tortured paean to our national anthem on a Monday Woodstock morning after most people had left the festival. I nominate “Zombie” by The Cranberries, a metal-esque screed which evokes memorably the Irish troubles. Not a big hit, but Neil Young powerfully interprets the feelings around September 11th 2001 in “Let’s Roll.”
In this illustrious company 1990’s “Wind of Change” must surely be counted. President Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The wall came down, and the Scorpions produced the perfect eulogy for a century wracked by wars both hot and cold. It was as if humankind already knew this refrain, sensed the elemental aptness of its melody, and only needed troubadours to bring it full in a time of upheaval.
With Vladimir Putin making his moves, “Wind” becomes freighted with irony, but no less monumental, and its values no less fundamental to our best hopes for peace.
Deep Purple, cornerstone with wunderkind Hendrix, bluesy Cream, and explosive the Who, must go next, but then? Hard rock and 1980s good times. The memory of a wall, built by totalitarianism, conceptualized by Pink Floyd, and memorialized by the greatest German band of all time.
Scorpions to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
—modified photo Pablo BM / Flickr Creative Commons
Thank for the clarification, Joe apologies to Rod Evans
Ian Gillan did not sing on Hush or the Shades of Deep Purple album.
Let’s go with New Order and make everyone mad.
Joan Jett or GTFO.
Agreed. I’m no Scorpions fan but the Hall’s definition of Rock and Roll is becoming considerably blurred. Madonna? Leonard Cohen? How is Elvis Costello in there but Joe Jackson isn’t? And what about the Prog era? Genesis, Yes, ELP are all unrecognised. In the mid-70s Jethro Tull was one of the biggest bands in the world and they’re still around. We could keep making cases for bands … maybe we should start our own Hall.