THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME IS A JOKE!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a politically correct elite institution that should be exposed for the joke that it truly is.

It all began in 1983 when Rolling Stone Magazine co-founder Jann Wenner started the Rock and Roll Hall Foundation, with a few other journalists from his publication. The search for a location for their museum ended up in Cleveland, after considering other cities such as Memphis, Detroit or New York City. It has been claimed by some that the Ohio city offered the best deal. Off the bat, did they go after the money? One could argue that the choice ignored the historical significance of the geography of rock and roll.

Once the museum was completed in 1995, the nonprofit organization, which can charge as much as $25,000 a table for an artist to attend the induction ceremony, set out a mission to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music' (straight from RRHOF website.) This philosophy is guided primarily from the point of view of the editors of Rolling Stone Magazine. The gross misconception of all of this is that this mission is objective. Clearly, it is not. It might as well be called Rolling Stone Magazine's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Unlike other Hall of Fames, as the ones in the sports world, where merit can be measured by statistics, getting into the RRHOF is very subjective and unfair. With the nominating process controlled by just a few people, if an artist is not liked by these elite snobs their chances of getting in are nonexistent. The Monkees dominated the pop charts with seven number one records from 1966 to 1967, and out sold the Beatles in that period. Cable music channel MTV should be grateful to the Monkees for the pioneering work they did with the music video form. Sorry to tell you Monkee fans, you can forget your entry into the hall, it will never happen. Co-founder Jann Wenner never liked your band.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame allows fans to petition to get the artist nominated. Every year the legions of Kiss fans send in tons of signatures. Journalist Dave Marsh is believed to have a major influence in the nominating process. He has said that Kiss is a substandard band. Sorry Kiss fans, you will never get in. Marsh does not like progressive rock much either, so the fans of long standing bands such as Genesis, Moody Blues and Rush will never see their bands inducted in Cleveland.

It is easy to see that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee plays favorites. The support the artists they like and pan the ones they dislike, with no regard to the fans. A few years ago they were accused of switching votes when the Dave Clark Five received more votes than Grandmaster Flash. Mr. Wenner, who was narcissisticly inducted himself in 2005 with a lifetime achievement award, switched his vote in order to get a rap act in. Surely this balancing of the musical genres happens every year.

In 1967 Rolling Stone Magazine began to cover music. I viewed the rag as a chronicle of the late sixties, and one of the symbols of the counterculture. Now, with its dominion over the RRHOF, it has turned into the elite entity that it used to rebel against. Every year, more fans who follow music are realizing that the Rolling Stone Magazine's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke.