by Zach Bigalke

Created on: March 11, 2008

A joke, by its nature, is a fleeting laughter... that which is legitimate can be turned to, again and again, unyielding to the flightiness of time...

No Hall of Fame is ever going to make every member of the public happy. A hall of fame, by its nature, is a museum and information center of the most famous people of a certain field. There are inevitably going to be politics involved in deciding which of the most famous people make it into the hall of fame. Someone is always going to feel snubbed... others will feel marginalized when others get in. It is the nature of the famous to be fickle - it is how they achieve the success they enjoy. A Hall of Fame must look beyond this fickleness to capture history and project it dynamically for current and future visitors.

A hall of fame, furthermore, is a subjective pursuit at best. Not everyone is going to agree with some of the induction choices, and not everyone is going to agree with those who are left out. "You can fool some people some time, but you can't fool all the people all the time..."

Does this subjectivity delegitimize the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Founded by the creator of Rolling Stone magazine, Jann Wenner, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been oft-criticized since its inception in 1986. Many are leery of the voting process, accusing Wenner and the Hall at times of rigging the votes. But these criticisms have never been proven; every critique has been defeated with documented voting procedure and protocol...

Certain acts, most notably the Sex Pistols, have felt the need to rebel against the Hall of Fame. Again, this is perfectly within the rights of oft-fickle celebrities. Yet even the derision of certain bands can delegitimize the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame, on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, is a museum and depository for rock and roll history. Regardless of induction status, it documents the history of rock and roll and the genres it has spawned. The Sex Pistols still are documented as a part of rock and roll history DESPITE their feelings about the management or organization or controlling interests of the Hall.

Therein lies its legitimacy - history is the solid bedrock upon which all current and future rock and roll music is composed...

Learn more about this author, Zach Bigalke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.