Here We Go - Vertigo...Video, Vertigo...Test For Echo

Here is a list of popular musical artists and bands. See if you can spot what they have in common.

Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Norman Whitfield, Big Star, Richard and Linda Thompson, Chicago, Rush, Styx, Yes, Pete Townshend, Carole King, Dire Straits, Steve Miller, The Cars, Moody Blues, The Hollies, Metallica, Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp, Jethro Tull.

(Cue the music they play during Final Jeopardy!)

Any ideas? Notions? Okay, here it is. None of the acts on this list (which is not in any kind of order, in case you were wondering) are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The story behind all of this, one that asks readers which bands they think have been wrongly shunned by the Rock Hall, can be found here on MSNBC.

At the bottom of the story is a poll that online readers can take - the question asks which of the names in the list above is the most overlooked, with respect to inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. There are twenty names on that list - and only three of those names got 10% or better of the voting. Chicago and Peter Gabriel got 10% each, but the band that got the most votes, 12% of the votes cast?

Rush.

Of course, there may be some problems with that list, too. As I looked it over the first time, my eyes locked on Townshend's name. Surely, I thought, it cannot be that The Who is not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I searched the database of inductees at the Rock Hall's web site, and sure enough, The Who was inducted in 1990 - and Townshend was part of that induction. Actually, this is getting worse as I go along. I am searching the Rock Hall web site while I am composing this blog post, and I just got a search string back on Carole King - who was inducted in 1990, with Gerry Goffin as songwriters in the non-performance category. That's not the same, technically, as Carole King being inducted as the folkie who recorded the remarkable album Tapestry, but she is in the hall.

I may update this later tonight - I have to head off to work now, however. One last thing - while looking around the Rock Hall web site, I came across the 2007 inductee list. Van Halen is on it. Van Halen gets into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before Rush does. This hurts me.

UPDATE: Just got home from work, and checked the poll again. Rush is now at 13%. Chicago holds at 10%, and Peter Gabriel dropped to 9.6%. Also, for the record, I think that the following artists from that list belong in the hall: Rush, Peter Gabriel (twice - as a solo artist and with Genesis), Carole King (as a performer), and Chicago. I would say Pete Townshend, too, but he's already in with The Who, and if he's done any solo material, I can't imagine that it stacks up to the work he did, or the performances he gave, with The Who. I would almost say Metallica, too, but I don't think they are eligible yet. An artist is not eligible until 25 years after their first record. Metallica's first album, Kill 'Em All, was released in July of 1983. Unless there was a single released long before the album was released, then they have a while to go before they are eligible.