I have mixed emotions on Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5 being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I don't agree with them being inducted because they are a Rap group. Rap is not rock. I think it would be like inducting the Beatles or the Stones into a Rap/Hip Hop Hall of Fame. Or inducting Garth Brooks into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yes, the Beatles and Stones are good but they are not Rap! And yes Flash is good, but he's not rock and roll in any stretch of the imagination.

Yes, I did enjoy seeing one of the groups of my youth getting the respect for their music. I still can't believe Flash is in there. Growing up, I knew my music (Flash, Sugar Hill Gang, Funky 4 Plus 1, Kurtis Blow etc...) wasn't up to par with my older brothers music (Beatles, Floyd, Eagles etc...) but still rap music was my music and it was totally different from anything else. My brother would play Billy Joel or Elton John...I would play the World Famous Supreme Team or Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hydes "Genius Rap". You get the point? There was a difference.

The performance Flash and the boys put on last night was disappointing. I think Grandmaster Flash did good but I was hoping for more actual rapping instead of the rambling on and the "clap your hands" and the "make some noise" cliches. I took a walk at lunch time and listend to "It's Nasty" and "Step Off" and "Freedom" and thought why didn't they just do a few songs like that and just really nail it with some extended 12" versions while giving Flash more opportunity to showcase his skills as a DJ.

I think Flash and the boys missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to really show the rock and roll world what rap is. I think in the back of their minds, the rock and rollers are thinking that rap music is still not up to par with rock and roll and they may be right in thinking that, but thats ok. True Old School Rap (1979-1984) is still my music!

Funkcreep

Everything under popular music fall under Rock and Roll. Thats why The O'Jays (Soul), Sex Pistols (Punk) and everyone elsi is in the Rock and Toll Hall of Fame.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I wouldn't consider Flash popular music. I don't think they ever cracked the Billboard top 40 chart. I doubt they even had an album in the Billboard top 50. They were in a sense underground music. You would not and for the most part you still don't hear their music on the radio.

Some of the biggest names in Country music are not in the Hall because they are Country. I would say Country music is very popular.

Flash being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame still baffles me.

I disagree. There are plenty of people in the RRHOF who are not straight up rock such as Earth, Wind and Fire, the Staple Singers, Parliament, etc. not to mention they also induct people who were simply influential in the music industry like Clive Davis, Mo Austin, Jann Wenner.

I was neutral about GMF getting in until last night. But now I realize they really did deserve it. I thought their performance was great- I was up on my feet in my living room. And I loved Mel's speech, it was dead on. I'm happy for them.
As far as popularity- see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...%28song%29
"Rolling Stone ranked "The Message" #51 in its List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry".
And White Lines (although without Flash) peaked at 47 on the R&B Hot Singles chart, not top 40 but not bad. Depending on where you lived, that song was all over radio. Enough so that plenty of rock fans know (and love) the song.

Also a lot of people consider just about every (American) music form branched off from Rock and Roll.

You have Rock and Roll at the top of the tree (with came from Rhythm and Blues/Country/Jazz/Blues). Branched from that comes soul, Folk, phsycadelic, funk, punk, disco, new wave, hip-hop, new jack swing, house, metal, grundge, techno and everything elso.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Are you sure about that..

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Is that your final answer ?
[Edited 3/13/07 14:17pm]

Funkcreep said:

But they were hugely influential. Patti Smith & Velvet Underground weren't that popular either.

i haven't seen the show yet but i can't wait to see it just because grandmaster flash and the furious five have been inducted. yes, i believe they deserve it. they are not rock n' roll but as mentioned before neither are a lot of groups that make it in. i think it's just a term and not really meant to be taken literally. it has to fall under one umbrella otherwise they'd have the electro funk hall of fame, the drum and bas hall of fame, etc! i'm happy these guys made it in. they are the greatest hip hop group ever and it's about time they got their props! rrrraaah!

we should think of it as the Rock & Roll Era Hall of Fame, since it's basically popular artists that came after the mid 50's

Funkcreep said:

Being an oldschool HipHop head myself, I fully and totally agree with you...and not only that, I think that they should not be there in the first place because they don´t live up to their reputation, i.e. all that clap-your-hands and scream bullshit is sooo tired, especially coming from these guys who used to sing quite well on their albums and were actually really good back in the days....they are so lame these days..I´ve seen Flash mimicking with Kurtis Blow to Melle Mel´s songs, I mean mimicking, pretending to rap, not even decent lipsynching or playback....they just put on some Melle Mel records and pretended to rap all the lines live, which wasn´t the case....they were ruining their own legacy and reputation that night.

It was definitely a letdown. Flash could have really lit up the turntables, but he just gave us a few sparks. As far as Melle Mel +, I really can't remember the last time I saw them bless a mike. Everytime I see them it's the same toasting type rapping. At least Flash is still murder in the clubs. After that HOF show I tried to remember when they were in full effect, opening for Rick James at the Coliseum. Maybe someone has a video or still of that.

THEY SHOULDA HAD SOMEONE LIKE CHUCK D. OR ICE-T INDUCT FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE!!
ALSO, IF YOU'VE EVER IN YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCED GRANDMASTER FLASH ON THE WHEELS OF STEEL UP CLOSE & PERSONAL AS I HAVE, THEN YOU WOULD KNOW THAT RAP IS JUST AS CONNECTED TO ROCK & ROLL AS IT IS R & B!!!!!
HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF SOME OF ROCK'S FUNKIEST BREAKS USED BY DJ'S LIKE FLASH:

"WHISKEY AND WINE"

"THE MEXICAN"

"KEEP YOUR DISTANCE"

"GOTTA GET AWAY"

"LONG RED"

"THE BIG BEAT"

"WALK THIS WAY"

"THOSE SHOES"

EVEN DEBBIE HARRY (BLONDIE) KICKED A VERSE IN "RAPTURE" WITH APPRECIATION FOR HIP-HOP AND FLASH.....SO WHAT ARE U TALKIN' ABOUT?????

BETTER YET THE COMMITTEE SHOULDA ASKED DEBBIE HARRY TO INDUCT THEM, THEN U WOULD SEE THE CONNECTION. BUT BY HAVING JAY-Z DO IT, U DON'T SEE IT!!!!!