Rant #3,635: The Twist

Chubby Checker finally gets a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination.

What took so long?

All dance music owes a debt to Ernest Evans, and he should have been enshrined decades ago.

But no Monkees, no Lesley Gore, no Turtles, no Tommy James and the Shondells, no Michael Nesmith, and no Paul Revere and the Raiders.

But there is Mana ... who is this?

 I can't argue with Billy Idol, but Mana?

And did the nominating committee forget that one of Billy Idol's biggest hits was "Mony, Mony" ...

Written by Tommy James, who had a huge hit with the song himself?

In other words, it's the same old, insane old at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where the cart is ALWAYS put before the horse, proven again this year by the Tommy Janes snub.

This has happened before, when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts somehow got in ...

And one of their biggest hits was--

"Crimson and Clover" which was written by ...

Tommy James, who, again, had had a huge hit with the song himself.

Yes, the place is a joke that keeps on giving.

And what about Lesley Gore?

She checks off every box in the list, including being the muse thst allowed Quincy Jones to bring his talent to the pop world, and let's be honest about it ...

Without Gore, there is no Joan Jett in this supposedly hallowed Hall.

Nesmith is an interesting omission. His contributions to melding country, pop and rock are beyond measure, and as a video pioneer, he is without a peer--

But he was a Monkee--

And he, and they, will NEVER get in, nor will the others I mentioned.

Instead, we have Mana.

Yes, the same old, same old ... the acts that did the roadwork for those who followed are simply forgotten--

But the great thing is that fans don't forget so easily.

Let's hope thst Chubby Checker is not just nominated, but actually gets in.

That will be a sign of hope, something that Mana just doesn't produce.