Carmine Appice on The Go-Go’s in the Rock Hall: ‘C’mon, What’s Their Influence?’
Carmine Appice had some choice words for “wimpy” acts, in particular The Go-Go’s, who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The influential drummer — who’s best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Rod Stewart — was asked in an interview with Forbes whether or not he cares about not being a Rock Hall inductee. He responded with the following:
“If we’re not in there by now, we’re never going to get in. It doesn’t matter. I’ve been given many, many awards – Modern Drummer Hall Of Fame, Long Island Music Hall Of Fame, Classic Drummer Hall Of Fame – this hall of fame, that hall of fame. You’ve got Rod Stewart in RRHOF twice, Jeff Beck in twice. We influenced them, and we’re not in. It’s really a shame. ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ was in Quentin Tarantino’s last movie. It quadrupled our royalties. Also, we’re in ‘Mad Men,’ the final episode of ‘The Sopranos’ – many movies and TV shows. I don’t think it should be called Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame anyway. It should be called Musical Hall Of Fame. They got rappers in [RRHOF], country and western singers. Some [of the inductees] are what I would call wimpy – they’re not rock and roll.”
Side-stepping Appice’s tired and dated “Musical Hall of Fame” argument (which was previously explored by this author back in February), when pressed on who would qualify as “wimpy,” Appice said the following:
“Show me the list, and I’ll tell you. You know what I’m saying. I thought it was supposed to be by influence. I think The Go-Go’s are going in. I mean, c’mon, what’s their influence? Jethro Tull’s not in, Vanilla Fudge, Mountain – so many bands that influenced rock and roll aren’t in. Kiss is in. They are a combination of Alice Cooper and Cactus. Eddie Van Halen was influenced by Cactus. Cactus should be in there, too. We influenced a lot of people. Is Suzi Quatro in RRHOF? She influenced Joan Jett.”
While this author agrees with Appice about Suzi Quatro, it’s rather insulting the dismiss The Go-Go’s in such a way. It conjures up the following quote from Rock Hall President and CEO Greg Harris from this past May:
“I think to get to the core of it, people like the stuff that’s closest to them, and I think they need to expand their thinking of rock ’n’ roll. It’s a big tent. Rock ’n’ roll was never just four skinny guys with long hair and guitars. It’s always been diverse…It frequently gets to the hip-hop question because some people are not fans. Well, the fact of the matter is that ship has sailed. We’ve inducted quite a few artists in that canon. It’s a big tent and everybody fits under it. It’s an attitude, it’s a spirit, and that’s rock ’n’ roll.”
2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
