[rocknation]

Cleveland.com: The nominees for 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction could be announced later this week. The debate as to who gets nominated and who doesn't is sure to be a heated one. One of the bands that will be at the center of the discussion is Bon Jovi...

If you put the emphasis on the "fame" part of the Rock Hall, then Bon Jovi should have been inducted already. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide...more than Rock Hall inductees like Rod Stewart, R.E.M., Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers...Bon Jovi has two of the biggest rock albums of all-time with Slippery When Wet and New Jersey. Along with that, the band has released huge rock anthems like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bad Medicine, I'll Be There for You, Always and It's My Life...

There's a stigma to rock music of the 1980s and Bon Jovi hasn't been able to avoid it. Acts like Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Journey had huge success during the decade, but haven't received much consideration for the Rock Hall. Many critics are quick to write off their work as shallow, putting a glam-rock or pop-rock label on it... An act like Van Halen easily gets inducted in 2007, even though its output (especially the Sammy Hagar period) isn't all that different from Bon Jovi's. Still, Van Halen had guitar legend Eddie Van Halen...Bon Jovi hasn't had that level of influence, unless you count bands like Nickleback and Hoobastank. I'm not sure that's something to brag about.

It's that time of year again? I guess that now that Kiss and Rush are in, the role of rock band whose induction is inexplicably overdue has been handed to our guys. But it's not inexplicable at all.

If a combination of longevity, artistic merit, and influence is what makes a Hall of Famer, what Bon Jovi did wrong was become successful WITHOUT the merit of the critics. (I certainly don't give merit to someone who defines Def Leppard and Journey as glam rock!) And there's the matter of HOF judge Dave Marsh, who has publicly stated that BJ will not get inducted as long as there's something he can do about it. Apparently he sees BJ as "poor relations" of Bruce Springsteen -- he's described Jon as an "opportunist." That's an opinion which he is most certainly entitled to hold, except that he's written four books about Springsteen, hosts a radio show of his music -- AND has a wife who CO-MANAGES Springsteen! In other words, Marsh has a vested interest in ensuring that Bruce has no competition as THE New Jersey rock god -- a vested CONFLICT of interest!

As far as being influential, the success of Slippery is what kickstarted the entire commercial hard rock genre -- and equally important, also dug the other non-commercial hard rock and metal bands out from the underground. Yes, the scramble for the other record labels to come up with their own Bon Jovi gave us Poison, Warrant, Winger, Slaughter, etc. But those same labels NEVER would have tried to push through Guns N Roses, Ozzy, Queensryche, and especially Metallica and Slayer if Bon Jovi hadn't kicked out the jams.

If Bon Jovi is not at least nominated, perhaps the time has come for fans to start organizing to pressure the HOF, or at the very least get Dave Marsh to recuse himself. Fortunately, this article has a happy ending:

POLL: Should Bon Jovi be inducted into the Rock Hall?

Yes 95.44% (1,905 votes)
No 4.56% (91 votes)

[Javier]

The timing for it would be all wrong. But at the same time, it would be kind of funny if they were to get nominated and even inducted now after that whole thing with Richie. Though I'm sure Richie wouldn't have any problem jumping back to Bon Jovi and perform at the induction if it were to happen lol....

[trevrox]

I think Dave Marsh can go **** himself.

That is all.

[semigoodlookin]

Marsh is a dick. I don't think he has a particular beef with Bon Jovi per say, although he dislikes most bands from the 80s rock scene. He very much hates Journey and KISS. Total tosser though. They won't get in this year, and won't be nominated either. I really think there is not even a story until they are nominated.

[trevrox]

Originally Posted by semigoodlookin

Marsh is a dick. I don't think he has a particular beef with Bon Jovi per say, although he dislikes most bands from the 80s rock scene. He very much hates Journey and KISS. Total tosser though. They won't get in this year, and won't be nominated either. I really think there is not even a story until they are nominated.

I can't wait until the day they get in and Dave Marsh has to watch. I hope Jon mentions him in his speech.

[Iceman]

Who cares about the RRHOF? It's been a joke for years now. It's just a marketing scheme that has nothing to do with reality or music. It's credibility was questionable when they inducted bands like Talking Heads or Elvis Costello and it died screaming when Grandmaster Flash, Madonna and Patti Smith got in. The corpse got abused when Run DMC got inducted.

A joke, that's all that it is. A scam to cheat people of their money.

I really don't care about Bon Jovi getting in, nor anyone else for that matter. Not anymore. ABBA's in there. Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame? Beastie Boys? Public Enemy? Randy Newman?

It's only a vehicle for the owners of the trademark to satisfy their musical wants and needs. It has nothing to do with rock'n'roll or fame or being good at what you do. It's about these morons running it liking your music or not liking it and occasionally sucking up to the performers.

So, RRHOF can suck my dick.

Ice

[Alphavictim]

You never know. Kiss got in after years of hassle, but Deep Purple still aren't in.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Alphavictim

You never know. Kiss got in after years of hassle, but Deep Purple still aren't in.

KISS didn't "get in" and there was no hassle. They were "eligible" (RRHOF sets the "rules") since 1998, but they never did anything to get in there. The hassle was that a lot of the fans complained that KISS wasn't in there and RRHOF had to answer them. KISS never asked to be inducted and they never said they wanted that. The media just built it up to something it never was and was never going to be.

And Deep Purple NOT being in there tells all there is to know about RRHOF. Or Def Leppard. Or Iron Maiden. Or T.Rex. Or Steppenwolf. Or Thin Lizzy. Or Scorpions. Or Gary Moore. Or Mötörhead.

But they did induct Run DMC. And ABBA.

It's just a little boys' club.


Ice

[trevrox]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Deep Purple NOT being in there tells all there is to know about RRHOF. Or Def Leppard. Or Iron Maiden. Or T.Rex. Or Steppenwolf. Or Thin Lizzy. Or Scorpions. Or Gary Moore. Or Mötörhead. Or Bon Jovi.

Fixed!

-

[Kathleen]

Originally Posted by semigoodlookin

Marsh is a dick. I don't think he has a particular beef with Bon Jovi per say, <snip>

He has a major beef with Jon and always has. He calls him "The Jersey Pretender". I posted about this ages ago.
_____________________________________________

I think this article was from August 1996. It was posted on backstage as there was a thread posted on Jon sometimes responding to posts on message boards. Any way, thought it was funny to read again. Oh and Dave Marsh, is the guy that wrote Bruce Springsteen's biography.

Jackass' Bon Jovi sticks it to critic

Edited by Scott Roesch

The way we see it, a person's entitled to change his or her mind. But not everyone is so magnanimous. Rock-and-roll superjournalist Dave Marsh, for example, took offense when Jon Bon Jovi performed at Bill Clinton's fiftieth-birthday bash last month at Radio City Music Hall. The Jersey rocker, you see, had been a high-profile Republican supporter; he backed the Bush campaign in 1992. But Jon's had a big change of heart since then, which was evident as he gyrated his way through "That's All Right, Mama" for the commander-in-chief who, as you know, is a huge Elvis fan. On August 18, the day of Bubba's birthday party, Marsh posted this message to the Velvet Rope, an online newsgroup:

I wonder if anyone backstage will have the guts to walk up to the talentless little Jersey opportunist and say, "Hey, Bon Jovi! Remember back in '92 when you turned up at the Bush party and were quoted on the front page of the New York Times saying, 'I'm normal. I'm a Republican'? Are you doing this as a spy, a traitor, or just because you're a jackass who can't stand to turn down a high-profile gig? What a useless pud! (And that goes double for the birthday boy.)
Well, Jon just began dabbling on the Net this summer, but he seems to have already grasped the finer points of flaming. His response?

dear dave,
being Gods Gift to journalism must be tough.
Why don't you stick to writing Kiss Ass bios
It's America and you can change your mind GROW UP.
And if you got something to say do it in person.
Jon Bon Jovi

Naturally, when we bumped into Jon last week, the first thing we asked was whether he and Marsh really did duke it out online. (This may come as a surprise, but people do occasionally make stuff up on the Internet.) "That was my letter," said Bon Jovi. "I answered him. You bet I did." As for his political about-face, "I don't vote for the party," said the actor-musician, "I vote for the man, and for the platform." Besides, "I had too much respect for the office [of the president] to consider partisan politics. Why don't people respect the office enough to say, 'Wow, what an honor, to sing at the president of the United States' birthday party'?" Jon added that he likes Clinton's stances on abortion and gun control, and he likes Hillary too, which is why he plans to vote for the Democratic ticket come November. "You know," he concluded, "I just don't think Bob Dole is the answer."

Reached for comment Tuesday morning, Marsh wasn't overly impressed with Bon Jovi's explanation. "I hate to escalate matters," he said, "but is he running for office? Most of the people I know who are telling lies that bald are running for office. What does it mean, saying 'I'm normal. I'm Republican' one year, and this respect-for-the-office stuff the next? He wasn't endorsing George Bush [in 1992], but the Republican party. The guy is extremely dishonest or stupid or both."

It doesn't look like there's an easy answer to this feud, so perhaps it's appropriate to leave the final word to a neutral third party. The Johnny Cash song "The One On the Right is On The Left," a ballad about a band that disintegrates due to political feuding, may sum up the situation best. The advice given to folks in the music business is--take note Dave and Jon--"If you have political convictions, keep 'em to yourself."