Let the Sex Pistols in: The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame announced the names of new inductees yesterday. U2, the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, The O'Jays, and Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein were all named. One-hit wonder Percy ["When a man loves a woman"] Sledge was also named.
But, yet again, the Sex Pistols - and others, like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Stooges [Iggy Pop's first band], and Patti Smith - were not named.
Okay, now this is getting a bit ridiculous. Who is more influential and worthy of nomination - Percy Sledge or the Sex Pistols? Sledge or Skynyrd? Come on. This is a no-brainer. The Sex Pistols have influenced thousands of bands over the years. Percy Sledge's one hit has been included on a handful of baby boomer soundtracks like "The Big Chill." Snooze. Who is more worthy? Sledge's "When ..." is a great song. But what about Skynyrd? "Free Bird!" has been called for from every stage in America. And on impact, can Sledge compare to the imprint the Pistols made on "rock and roll"? It is no contest. You could even make the case that Johnny Rotten/Lydon is more worthy by himself than Sledge because he was involved in two very influential rock bands - the Pistols and Public Image Limited. PIL, as the band was known, had two pretty amazing albums - "Second Edition" and "The Flowers of Romance." I wouldn't consider the first album, "This is what you want ..." or the bootleg album as "great," but they should be considered very good.
FMQB reported that the Pistols have "have not exactly spoken highly of the Hall in the past" with MTV reporting that Rotten once called the museum the place where "old rockers go to die." But who cares about that crap. Stop being a bunch of pompous rock snobs - put the Pistols in the Hall already.