10 Artists Who Aren't In The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - But Should Be.

The recent induction of The Stooges into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame removed a pretty big thorn from my side.  It was, frankly, tough to take that place seriously without Iggy & Co. getting their own peanut butter-smeared corner of the joint. 

So, one injustice fixed, but plenty more to go.  Here's my list of ten rock & roll artists who more than deserve a spot in the Hall.  Got some more of your own?  Add to the thread (and embed videos from Youtube or your fave video host, too.  To embed, switch to HTML view and drop in the embed code).

Electric Light Orchestra

Sure they were pretty over the top, but they never took themselves that seriously and. good lord, Jeff Lynne can write a song.  They sold a ton of records and carved out a unique sound that still holds up.

Joy Division

They set the course for the post-punk world with two albums that are stone cold masterpieces.  Spectacular production (courtesy of Martin "Zero" Hannett), hypnotic musical twists and turns and lyrics that are nothing less that the soundtrack to a brilliant mind falling apart.  There was nothing like them before and nothing like them since.

Deep Purple

Lengthy discography of quality albums?  Check.  Massive sales figures?  Check.  Influenced a generation of bands to follow?  Check.  Masterful musicianship?  Check.  Big hit singles?  Check.  Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?  Uh......

Thin Lizzy

See everything I just said about Deep Purple?   Ditto.

Motorhead

Lemmy is a god.  Lemmy is bigger than the Hall of Fame.  Lemmy don't need no stinkin' induction. Fuckin' Lemmy, man.  Fuckin' Lemmy.

Judas Priest

Starting to see a trend here?  For whatever reason, hard rock and heavy metal bands continually get ignored, no matter how many killer records they make and no matter how many units they shift.  I don't really need to tell you how truly great Priest is.  Just watch the video.

Link Wray

Every punk and metal band on the planet should be paying a royalty to the estate of Mr. Wray.  The modern rock & roll guitar sound begins right here.  Plus, just look at the guy.  Has anyone ever looked cooler on a stage than that?

MC5

No MC5, no punk.  Ground zero, baby.  Brother Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson, Rob Tyner, Michael Davis, John Sinclair -- we of the Rock and Roll Tribe salute you.  You deserve your day in the Cleveland sun and we sure as hell hope you get it.

The New York Dolls

The Ramones are the reason the Clash and the Sex Pistols happened.  Here's the reason the Ramones happened.   Like aliens alighting from another galaxy, The New York Dolls showed up in 1971 with lipstick, high heels and an attitude that surely must have made the local hippies run for cover. And then they delivered the music.  And oh, what a glorious racket it was.

One of my favorite bands ever, and more than deserving of the Rock & Roll of Fame.

Cheap Trick

The songs are timeless, the energy's amazing, the length of time they've pumped out great music is remarkable and Robin Zander is a god who walks among we mere mortals. 

So, what do you think?  Who would you put into the Hall?

Let's Hear It!