The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, such as it is, announced its newest inductees earlier this week.
Two of the acts have Wisconsin ties. Cheap Trick …
… was from Rockford, but spent considerable time in Madison (even, rumor has it, playing at a Madison high school band prom).
Steve Miller is from Milwaukee, and was a protégé of the legendary Les Paul:
Deep Purple straddled the line between ’60s psychedelic rock …
… and ’70s hard rock:
My “such as it is” comment refers to NWA, which has as much to do with rock as fellow HOF member Whitney Houston. (As opposed to such acts not in the RRHOF as Yes, Jethro Tull, Judas Priest, the Moody Blues, The Cars, Bon Jovi, the Doobie Brothers, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Ozzy Osbourne, the Spinners, the B-52s, Journey, Dire Straits, Boston, Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra, Three Dog Night, and Paul Revere and the Raiders, among others.)
The biggest news, however, is that the second best selling U.S. rock act in history, whose first greatest-hits album was the number one album in the U.S. 40 years ago this week …
… FINALLY got in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, thanks apparently to the millions of Chicago fans who voted online as many times as necessary to get Chicago inducted. (It seems appropriate that a group named for a city whose reputation includes ballot-stuffing may have gotten to a hall of fame through e-ballot-stuffing.)
If you need me to explain the importance of Chicago in rock history, you haven’t been paying attention to this blog.
Suffice to say that Chicago (and others in the limited sphere of brass rock) made playing brass cool in the rock world and in the world of middle schools and high schools, for us multiple-generation band geeks. (Including our sons the trumpet, trombone and bass players.)
Terry Kath is one of the most underrated rock guitarists of the ’60s and ’70s, as noted by none other than Jimi Hendrix.
Sadly, Kath died in a gun accident in the late 1970s, so he won’t be attending the induction ceremony.
The interesting question for Chicago fans is which of the members who are no longer in the band will be attending.
The three notable names are Peter Cetera, the first bass player and one of the original three singers; Danny Seraphine, the first drummer; and Bill Champlin, who was in the band in the period to which I choose to not listen much.
It is remarkable (similar to the Rolling Stones) how many original members are still in the group, though.
Robert Lamm has moved from keyboard to keytar; he was one of the singers along with Kath and Cetera.
Walt Parazaider’s health hasn’t been good of late, but he hasn’t retired from the group as its original saxophone player.
James Pankow is Chicago’s first and only trombone player.
Lee Loughnane is Chicago’s first and only trumpet player.
As you know, I’ve seen the group three times — once at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, once at a football field in Fond du Lac (really), and once at the EAA in Oshkosh (really), where the group has played twice.
Before Chicago played in Madison in 1987, the UW Band tried to get Chicago to play with them at a Badger football game. (Which would have been the highlight of my life for about my first 27 years of life had that worked out, but sadly arrangements did not work out.)
If I ever win a big lottery jackpot, one of the things I will do with my millions (other than purchasing several Corvettes) is hire the band for an outdoor concert. (It would be cool to play with them too, but no one wants to hear me sing, and it would be an insult to Loughnane to replace him.)
To me it remains cool that a group that formed since 1967 not only continues to record and tour, but obviously enjoys continuing to perform for its fans, even the songs Chicago has played repeatedly for 48 years. (Year 49 includes a concert with Earth Wind & Fire in Milwaukee March 31.)
One amusing similarity between Chicago and Deep Purple is that each recorded songs about the creative process — “25 or 6 to 4,” which could also be about the middle of the night at the newspaper, and “Smoke on the Water,” in which recording an album at the Montreux, Switzerland, casino where Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing was thwarted by “some stupid with a flare gun” that “burned the place to the ground.”
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 