Why I will never set foot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and why I will never set foot in it.

Last week there was another round of inductees of the Rand Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF.) Among the list were some artists who really deserved to be there. Also among the list (as with years past) there were some entertainers who made me shake my head by their inclusion---and not in a good way.

Mitch Ryder is not in the RRHOF.

Face it, the RRHOF is an organization run like an exclusive country club by some good ole boys of the industry. I don’t believe any of them were musicians in their career but they wrote extensively and in many cases wonderfully about rock music. Contrary to what most people think, being a rock critic is difficult and requires talent and creativity. Those guys did it well and that's where it should have stopped---at the by line. Because quickly it became obvious that the good ole boys were playing favorites. But it wasn’t so much that they were bringing all the crappy bands in; it’s that they were leaving too many great artists out.

A full disclosure: I hate rap and loathe hip hop with dance music a close third.

Kansas is not in the RRHOF.

Steve Miller’s tirade went viral last week as he described the terrible experience of his induction. Some people criticized him while I backed his sentiments 1000%. It wasn’t the people in the induction class he had a beef with, but rather, the entire process. The entertainers “the Black Keys” now regret inducting Miller into the RRHOF. Fuck You Black Keys. Come back when you grow up and write something relevant like Steve Miller has done for 40 years.

Electric Light Orchestra is not in the RRHOF.

After Miller’s complaints became widespread, the responses from the RRHOL representatives were arrogant and offensive, downplaying Miller’s beefs rather than responding by saying “Sorry you had a bad time Steve, we agree with you that this process that we’ve been running has some major flaws and we know it really sucks, but we’ve only been doing it 30+ years., so give us a break. . .oh, a new Green Day record is coming out? Excuse us while we start a circle jerk.

The Moody Blue and Yes are not in the RRHOF. Getting mad yet?

There are still many of us too naive to know what a fucked up, dysfunctional place the music industry is and believe bands should be inducted upon merit. If that were to be true, then what merit are we talking about? Record sales? Records made? Pffft. The group Chicago has created arguably what is one of the most versatile and compelling catalogues of music by anyone. They’ve melded jazz, fusion, big band, pop and rock and roll all into a well-traveled and well received revue. But up until last year when they were inducted, their career was ignored --- and you can thank the good ole boys for that.

The Doobie Brothers, Bad Company, the Guess Who and Journey are not in the RRHOF.

On the other hand bands like Green Day and. . .well, let’s just use them as an example for now, as they are probably the biggest offender of terrible music there known to exist on the planet. Chicago already had 18 albums under their belt by the time Green Day was formed and rode some novelty act wave of success while delivering such memorable tunes as---wait, there aren’t any. Like the world really needed a punk rock opera. Green Day is and was nothing more than an exploited brand of God awful noise who somehow rose to success shouting incoherent drivel, you guessed it, thanks in part to some of the good ole boys.

America, Jethro Tull and Dire Straits are not in the RRHOF.

In the meantime, Chicago’s early work driven by Terry Kath went unnoticed (they've been eligible for almost 30 years.) Don’t believe me? Go to youtube and watch Chicago, live at Tanglewood from 1970 and come back once you’ve been schooled in rock and roll. The omission of Chicago and so many other bands is a crying shame and injustice of magnitude proportions. Meanwhile. . .Joan Jet? NWA? Guns and Roses? Who’s next Bjork? The Dixie Chicks? Miley Cirus or will it be the Gogos for that amazing body of work (3 albums) that totaled just over 94 minutes of music?

King Crimson, Roxy Music and ELP are not in the RRHOF.

Ever hear of Bert Berns before last Sunday? Didn’t think so. As if Van Morrison and Neil Diamond wouldn’t have been discovered by someone else. But at least I was glad to his his work acknowledged.

Yes, I understand they have different categories in the RRHOF to broaden the spectrum of what acts are inducted. This year the pissing wars were between Gene Simmons and NWA. Simmons didn’t think the “music” that rappers and hip hoppers make would be around in ten years. God, I hope he is right.

The inimitable and scarcely elegant Ice Cube said this in response to Gene Simmons, citing how Simmons predicted (or hoped) the novelty or rap and how it will be gone and how music is cyclical.

“The question is, 'Are we rock 'n' roll?' And I say — you goddamn right we rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' roll is not an instrument. It's not even a style of music. It's a spirit that's been going on since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul, rock 'n' roll, R&B, heavy metal, punk rock, and yes, hip-hop.”

Thank you Mr. Cube. It that’s the criteria, by that logic shouldn’t Pavarotti, Domingo and Maria Callas in the RRHOF too?

Gram Parsons, Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell and Glen Campbell are not in the RRHOF. Neither is Ted Nugent, the MC5, Todd Rundgren, Warren Zevon, The Spinners, Boston, Three Dog Night, The Guess Who, J Geils band, Joe Cocker and Peter Frampton.

I am not alone in thinking NWA (and other entertainers of that wretched ilk) should not be included in the RRHOF. While I am not a huge fan of Simmons I agree with him 1000% about what he hopes will be the death of rap and hip hop. Hip Hop and Rap “artists” and I use that term lightly should not be in the RRHOF anymore than Madonna or the Beastie Boys. I know at least one friend who will call me a racist, close minded old white guy for saying that, but my response is let Hip Hoppers and Rappers start their own Hall of Fame hopefully in a place as far away from me as possible, like Florida. It can be funded by the gangs, thugs and drug pushers and pimps it is made up of.

I am still hoping the next big trend in the music industry is talent. I’m glad a few of the 2016 inductees are finally there. At least the good ole boys club gets it right once in a while.

My last band photo

This is the last known photo of my first "unofficial band."

We sang in the forest and God allowed our voices to reach into the brotherhood, where we listened, grew, made promises in the flesh and heard him singing the high tenor part we never knew existed, as the high lonesome sound of life rushed in.

It was beautiful and heartbreaking and all the hummingbirds in the forest took pause and smiled.

Determining the Price of our Souls

I’ve had the pleasure of having a ringside seat in Stewart Francke’s career. As he gets set to release his 14th full length release I cannot help but marvel at the incredible amount and quality of work he has assembled over the years. I have never been disappointed in any of his records, though I must confess after hearing his latest, “A Familiar Fire” it did not meet my expectations.

It exceeded them.

It’s not often that I get to toot my own horn about my brushes with greatness and delicate geniuses (one of my many jocular nicknames for him) but after being blown away in the early 90’s by three cassette only releases, it was me who got him out of retirement in 1995 to make his first “real record.” The rest has been a body of work that has only become stronger with time as he has done what very few songwriters can do; compose and perform in several different styles, combining Motown, Bob Seger, Springsteen, Brian Wilson, Marvin Gay, Van Morrison and a little bit of Sondheim to round things out.

His first recordings were really nothing more than 4 track demos, but they embodied a sound and vision of a learned young man living life on rock and roll’s terms. Once he started making records and devoting himself full time to his art, he no longer had to make excuses or explain what he was really trying to say with his songs because their musical and lyrical prowess spoke for itself.

Early in his career Francke was taken under the wing of Boogie Bob Baldori, who was playing with Chuck Berry. He called Francke to play bass on some of Chuck’s gigs as a teenager and was schooled in Rock and Roll. Many people may not know this but Stewart is always writing music and constantly drawing on influences like those days playing with Berry. There are a lot of songs that have never been released while others have stuck with him and morphed into something else over the years. I always tell people that Stewart is one of the few people who is constantly ripping himself off musically and is not afraid to borrow a line, phrase, chorus or verse of a previous song and reinvent it. The opening song “Wave” on his new record is proof.

Through the years I’ve heard rough mixes over the phone, bits and pieces of songs played on piano or guitar in his living room or in mine as they were being written. Each one of them would leave me wanting more. In addition to the hundreds of live performances, I’ve been with him for long nights at the studio, in our homes, or on the phone talking about something important even when the talking doesn’t come easy.

The most recent example of this was being parked in my driveway listening to the final mixes of the new record earlier this week in the middle of the worst snow and frigid temps to hit Michigan in 20 years.

On this record Stewart returns to the sparse instrumentation of his earlier recordings (Where the River Meets the Bay and Expecting Heroes) and he recorded many of the guitar and bass parts himself. Co-Producer B. Rilley did a great job of putting the vocals to these poignant narratives up front in the mixes so nobody will miss a word; and you won’t want to. His voice is clean yet rugged; strong and honest and these new songs will stir your soul.

Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Francke has never been a songwriter who cheapens things like faith and love with thin, fluffy words for the sake of a perfect rhyme. There are no clichés and no fan is ever cheated when they shell out their $15 for a CD.

"Starlings gather in the yard the way they always do when they feel a storm is breaking
Darling this is very hard, that you & I are through, and I fear my soul is aching
I’m getting to know this loneliness. . .I guess."

-From “Love’s Very Marrow”

His story is not woeful, but rather empowering; something the national media could really sink their teeth into but won’t and something the Detroit area music media could sink their teeth into but hasn’t in several years and when they did they only gave us a taste. That’s the sad price we pay when editors are beholden to Kid Rock, Eminem. Jack White, ICP or whatever the new sound of the day may be. The people I just mentioned may have the numbers of Hollywood stars in their I-phone, but how many of them have Bruce Springsteen as a fan? Springsteen recorded with Francke on his record “Heartless World” in 2011 and it was virtually ignored by AAA radio and the Detroit media.

Stewart was an ambassador of Detroit music long before most of today’s Detroit stars were making music. He reunited the legendary Funk Brothers for their first recording session in decades (recording his music) back in 2004 after the release of the movie “Standing in the Shadows of Motown,” but has remained largely shut out of the Detroit Music Awards for years. I guess that happens when you’re not young enough or hip enough or don’t have enough “likes” on facebook. . .so much for possessing artistic acumen.

But for Francke, it’s not about awards and it never has been. It’s about the connection with his audience; one that has grown with him over the years and remained steadfast amid the clutter of people who have suddenly become musicians with drum loops, ephemeral writing and free downloads.

There’s a song on the new record called “Raining in Saginaw” which to me is more about the spirit of Detroit than it is the city by the bay. Let’s hope someone in the Michigan media picks up on it because Detroit could use something beautiful and uplifting about now. All the songs that make up “A Familiar Fire” have heart, guts and significance. They present something courageous and dare I say, “Poetic.” But they are not just a bunch of pretty ballads where “love” rhymes with “of” and “from the heart” rhymes with “from the start” like we’ve heard a thousand times on the radio. They possess something greater, which is the ability to change the way we think; which ultimately leads to how we accept this world and how the world accepts us. Within the songs are the secrets about how we live, what we keep, give away and the amount of grace we maintain when we lose.

"Now you say you’ve lost your faith;
You say you’ve lost love for the human race
You’ve had too much to carry and grief too large to bury
Suzanne this town is hard but you've gotta play your card
Your beauty's your lock and key; it still can set you free."

-From “Wave”

Francke weaves beautiful and unpredictable melodies that soar with story lines that go head to head with some of the great songwriters of our generation. They are created for the people who have followed him on his journey and allowed their journey’s to include him. He may not have moved units like Eminem, Kid Rock or the White Stripes, but instead he gives you something you can hold onto in this beautiful, messy and often slippery world.

"We are not what we were when but I’ve got this feeling that we’ll feel that way again.
Kiss me and I’ll whisper to ya what I’ve learned
Oh it’s nothing next to what I’ve burned."

–From “The Pylons”

Stewart Francke is one of Detroit’s most reliable gems and with each new record his story becomes fuller, richer and more deserving of wider recognition. Through his music he tosses questions into the wind that most people are afraid to ask, much less answer with honesty. And though some answers are implied, you’re going to have to discover that implication for yourself when the record comes out sometime in March.

Francke would not ask us to follow him into the pain-filled, joyful and mysterious places he’s been without first returning from them himself. “A Familiar Fire” is proof that he has.

Stewart Francke, new CD coming in 2014

I own the dubious distinction of getting Stewart Francke out of retirement in 1994.

He was a successful journalist making a living, but I thought he was a better musician.  “Come on man,” I said to him one day.”Get a band together, go to a real studio and make a real record.”

He listened.

In 1995 he released his debut CD as a solo artist. The reviews were over the top, the live shows exciting and very quickly the light lit on the national stage when the hit TV show “Melrose Place” licensed his regional hit “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.”  The song was the title episode and the exposure boosted Francke giving him instant notoriety as the bona-fid recording artist he already was. 

He continued to release award winning records until a leukemia diagnosis sidelined him. But it didn’t keep him down. Since then he has continued to release great music and earned the admiration of the toughest music critics in the world and performers like Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger and a guy named Bruce Springsteen. Bruce tipped his hat and recorded with him on his CD Heartless World.

Francke is back at it, finishing up a new CD for release in the spring. It is being funded through Kickstarter and I hope you’ll consider backing him on it. As a journalist he was an ambassador of the entire Detroit music scene before guys like Eminem, Kid Rock and the Whitestripes were getting attention and helped change the way the rest of the country looked at Detroit born Rock and Roll.  Please visit his kickstarter page to see how you can become a part of the next phase of his amazing career. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stewartfrancke/a-familiar-fire-stewart-franckes-new-cd-project