Rock's Class of 2004: Who makes the grade?

By Malcolm X Abram
Knight Ridder Newspapers

	STUART RAMSON / AP The induction of the very Southern trio ZZ Top, from left, Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard, seen in 1999, might be a signal that Rock Hall voters are ready to welcome other Southern rockers.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

So here is the class of 2004.

Traffic

When the list of inductees was announced, I questioned the choice of this band and received considerable, well-reasoned flak from Traffic/Dave Mason fans when I suggested that there were more deserving artists who could have taken this spot this year (which I still believe).

On TV The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be televised at 8 p.m. Sunday on VH1.

But the English pop/psychedelic jam band, formed in 1965, did contain some future rock 'n' roll all-stars in Dave Mason, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi, and their progression from artsy, eclectic pop/folk rock to jazz-inflected, exploratory jam rock contains many fine tunes.

Though few modern bands are vocal about a direct influence, Traffic's songs are still all over heritage rock radio. "Dear Mr. Fantasy," the original version of "Feelin' Alright," "John Barleycorn" and, of course, the nearly 12-minute magnum opus and indictment of the music business, "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," regularly covered by many contemporary jam bands, have kept Traffic's name around.

Jackson Browne

In the early 1970s, music fans couldn't walk down the street without tripping on a singer/songwriter (a phenomenon that has repeated itself in recent years).

Confessional, navel-gazing tales of dissolution such as "Running on Empty" and "The Pretender" helped place Browne alongside James Taylor as poster boys of '70s singer/songwriters, and his lyrical introspection and quintessential soft-rock sound kept him on pop radio into the early '80s. And, through sheer radio, TV and film osmosis, people who don't know Browne's name or face can hum the hooks to a couple of his hits.

George Harrison

Harrison's already in the Rock Hall from his work with that Liverpool quartet, but he had a pretty good career as a solo artist.

His post-Beatles debut, "All Things Must Pass," is a classic that he would never quite top. He gave the world songs such as "Isn't It a Pity," "What Is Life" and "My Sweet Lord," for which Harrison was later sued by the writers of the Chiffons' "He's So Fine."

Harrison was never quite the hit machine that Paul McCartney or John Lennon were, but he did have a resurgence in the '80s, first with the Lennon memorial tune "All Those Years Ago."

Harrison had his biggest pop hit in nearly 20 years with "Cloud Nine," an upbeat album that yielded the hits "Got My Mind Set On You" and the wistful "When We Was Fab." He was also part of the successful supergroup The Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

ZZ Top

They're going on 34 years of fuzzed-out, fat-toned, down-and-dirty Texas boogie-woogie blues-rock and endless nights on the road. Oh, yeah, and don't forget the beards.

ZZ Top is one of the few bands that has managed to keep the same members for the duration of its existence, and the trio of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard is still going.

For many, this Houston-born trio epitomizes blues-rock. They took the basic blueprint of electric Chicago blues (their first big hit, "La Grange," was a direct "homage" to John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen") and added a Texas-toast-size layer of thick rock fuzz and a bawdy sense of humor.

In the '80s, they discovered synthesizers, beat boxes, the power of cool videos and sexy classic cars, and became unlikely MTV stars. The biggest hit albums, 1983's "Eliminator" and 1985's "Afterburner," took the basic Texas boogie and grafted on synthetic '80s excess. And though they sound a bit dated now, "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" are still fun and fine driving songs.

Bob Seger

Heartland rock at its finest. Detroiter Bob Seger has had a great career making honest, unpretentious rock 'n' roll with a touch of soul, written for folks who do an honest day's work 9-5 and relish the chance to blow off steam to some no-nonsense rock.

Seger has been making music since the early '60s and survived a considerable amount of commercial hard times, despite the presence of future classics such as "Turn the Page" from "Back In '72."

His career really took off after forming the Silver Bullet Band in 1974. The band provided the perfect musical backing for Seger's three main modes: foot-stomping rockers such as "Katmandu" and "Old Time Rock and Roll"; the introspective, plain-spoken narratives of "Night Moves" and "Against the Wind"; and the gentle balladry of "We've Got Tonight."

The Dells

The Dells (or the Mighty Mighty Dells as fans call them) have been singing for 50 years, with the same lineup of lead baritone Marvin Junior, tenor Verne Allison, second baritone Mickey McGill, lead/falsetto tenor Johnnie Carter and bass Chuck Barksdale from 1960 to the present.

Formed in a suburb of Chicago, the quintet had its first hit, the doo-wop ballad "Oh, What A Night" in 1956, sung by former lead tenor Johnny Funches, who left the group a few years later.

The group made some critically acclaimed albums throughout the 1970s but fell on commercial hard times through much of the '80s, limiting output, though fans still flocked to see their performances.

In 1990, director Robert Townshend asked the group to consult on his film "The Five Heartbeats," about a fictitious doo-wop group, which incorporated bits and pieces of the group's lives and career. For the soundtrack, the Dells recorded "A Heart Is a House for Love," which cracked the top 20 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop chart.

Prince

I think full disclosure is in order at this point: I've been a fan of His Purple Weirdness since his debut single, 1978's "Soft and Wet," when as an 8-year-old I couldn't figure out why the two women singing this prurient little funk ditty would call themselves "Prince."

He's a prime example of someone whose influences are obvious (Larry Graham, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Joni Mitchell, Santana, Led Zeppelin, etc.) but he managed to filter them through his own whacked-out muse and produce a catalog like no one else in pop music.

His mix of the profane and the spiritual was virtually unheard of back in the 1980s, and tunes such as the rocking incest song "Sister," the funk workout "Head," "Sexuality" and "Erotic City" are classics.

He also pioneered sounds that have become commonplace. In 1984, the idea of a pop song without a prominent bass line was considered not only unorthodox but commercial suicide, yet "When Doves Cry" was a No. 1 single and he did it again with 1986's "Kiss."

His crossover "Purple Rain" showed that R&B, funk and rock could be thrown into a pot and ladled out to the masses — it sold 17 million records — and the sprawling "Sign O' the Times," arguably his creative peak, showed an artist unafraid to try anything.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company