A Controversial Question
03/16/2010
I tend not to bother writing about the standard big controversies of the day. It's not that I don't care, or don't think they're important, but most of what I have to say about them is being said perfectly well by other people, and most people already have well-defined views on them, and many other forums in which to air those views if they're of a mind to. But I do venture into that territory when it's warranted, and I think in this case it is:
Should ABBA be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
My answer: yes.
Ok, you can argue that their music should not, strictly speaking, be called "rock and roll." But if, e.g., Madonna, The Four Seasons, and the Bee Gees, are in there, ABBA very much deserves to be. Just call their music timelessly brilliant pop, if you prefer. And don't try to take my copy of Gold away from me. Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders.
I'm glad we've settled that. It's been weighing heavily on me all day.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet Cupo | 03/16/2010 at 01:35 PM
Well, yes. Of course.
Posted by: Pentimento | 03/16/2010 at 02:06 PM
So it's not as controversial as I thought? And here I am all prepared for martyrdom.
Posted by: Mac | 03/16/2010 at 02:21 PM
Well, you know, the readers of this blog are just brainwashed clones.
Posted by: Janet Cupo | 03/16/2010 at 02:40 PM
Of course, most of you/us being Catholic.
Posted by: Mac | 03/16/2010 at 03:24 PM
Maybe the clone thing is why you and Pentimento have the same icon. Of course, that's only when you are Mac, when you are Maclin Horton, you have another icon.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet Cupo | 03/16/2010 at 05:23 PM
Yes, there are probably only a dozen or so basic Catholic clones, maybe fewer. Funny it took us so long to figure this out. But I guess that goes with being brainwashed and programmed.
Posted by: Mac | 03/16/2010 at 06:07 PM
Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus have been listed as rock stars. So yes, I don't see much controversy in your argument.
Posted by: antiaphrodite | 03/16/2010 at 09:05 PM
Oh no. Now you're making me reconsider. If it means I have to let them in, perhaps ABBA shouldn't be there. Perhaps the Hall of Fame should be reconfigured as a box holding a few 45s of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, and five or six others.
Posted by: Mac | 03/16/2010 at 09:28 PM
Aheh.
Posted by: antiaphrodite | 03/17/2010 at 01:33 AM
Who could possibly think otherwise?
Posted by: Paul | 03/17/2010 at 06:32 AM
The comments seem to be working well.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet Cupo | 03/17/2010 at 06:36 AM
I've always thought that entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a bit like the Sex Pistols reunion tour being sponsored by American Expression. If you know what I mean...
Although I'm pretty sure ABBA does not belong in the same club as the Ramones...
Posted by: Basil Seal | 03/18/2010 at 04:21 PM
erm... make that American Express though American Expression sounds nicer.
Posted by: Basil Seal | 03/18/2010 at 04:23 PM
Yeah, it's not to be taken seriously at all--like the Grammies, the Oscars, so-and-so's list of the 100 greatest albums ever, etc. I was slightly surprised at ABBA being included, though. I suppose they're not as un-hip as they used to be. In the mid-'70s I worked a couple of jobs where the radio was playing a lot, and ABBA was always a breath of fresh air.
Posted by: Mac | 03/18/2010 at 04:58 PM
On the rock family tree ABBA belongs somewhere on the disco trunk I suppose and somehow or other one of my favorite bands, New Order, is more a less a descendant in that line although it drew its members entirely from the surviving members of the goth/punk Joy Division. To say nothing of later projects of the Clash's Mick Jones (Big Audio Dynamite) and even John Lydon nee Rotten's Public Image Ltd. And of course Blondie, whose greatest success was probably their disco-ish cover of The Tide is High. When I think about it like that, ABBA seems like a natural but maybe it's just because I watched Muriel's Wedding the other night...
Posted by: Basil Seal | 03/26/2010 at 07:42 PM
Yeah, I suppose ABBA does fit there, but I think of them more as something the disco crowd adopted than as a real part of that development. To me they seem more like a development of the lighter side of pop. How that fits with their actual history and intentions I don't know. Though at least one of them was in a Scandinavian rock band that was popular there in the mid-60s.
Funny you should mention New Order--I've been considering...what's the name of it?...famous album with flowers on the cover...as one of my monthly downloads at eMusic.com. I like Joy Division's "Closer" though I know NO sounds nothing like that.
Not familiar with Muriel's Wedding.
Posted by: Mac | 03/26/2010 at 09:03 PM