Meet The Nominees Vol. 13
The White Stripes
Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record, which means that new candidates are emerging from an era in which traditional rock bands are less culturally prominent than they had been in the past. As a result, the number of rock bands that pop up as obvious candidates are starting to grow increasingly rare. Therefore, when one such band hits the 25 year mark, they have somewhat of a built in advantage. The White Stripes stand out as one of those few old time rock bands with a significant resume.
First off, realizing that they’re already eligible makes me feel old. They released their first 2 albums around the turn of the century, so they already had a bit of a following when The Strokes made their initial splash and observers started branding their sound as The New Garage Rock. The Stripes were included as part of that movement and they did have a raw, pure sound that fit in with the likes of The Hives or The Vines. Jack White immediately stood out from the crowd and caught notice as a studio wizard, able to produce a distinct and powerful force within the confines of a 2 piece band. The whole Jack & Meg vibe was noteworthy as well, with their red & white wardrobe and the inscrutability surrounding their relationship.
And yes, their music exploded out of the speakers. Even after many of their garage rock peers started to fade away, the Stripes continued to thrive and created a classic with their 4th album, particularly when audiences heard Seven Nation Army for the first time. That simple riff seemed timeless, and it quickly became a marching band standard as well as a stadium/arena perennial for when the home crowd needs to get fired up. Jack White went on to become omnipresent in the music scene with a plethora of side projects and plenty of outside production work; the album he produced with Loretta Lynn, for example was an absolute banger.
Unfortunately with the nomination some old time misogynists have started to come out of the woodwork criticizing Meg White’s drumming. Her style is very basic, but it fits in with the band’s sound so perfectly. Focusing mainly on the bass drum and the tom-tom, she establishes the unrelenting groove that provides the space for Jack to perform his magic. It’s not easy for only 2 people to produce such a deep sound; she was the ideal drummer for what this band needed.
A nomination in the first year of eligibility is often a promising sign. As one of the major musical figures of this century, there is obviously a place for Jack White in the Hall. Whether it’s this year is less certain, but an eventual White Stripes election is only a matter of time and much deserved.
If elected, would they perform at the ceremony? - Probably not in this form. Even in their heyday, Meg White was a huge introvert. Since the White Stripes broke up, she has stayed completely out of the public eye. It seems to be a longshot that she attends, let alone performs. Would Jack White want to perform Stripes songs with a different drummer?
Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit - Icky Thump
My personal favorite - So many to choose from. It seems lame to go with the obvious choice, but that Seven Nation Army riff is undeniable.
Possible Side Category Inductee - Malcolm McLaren
OK, he may have been a bit of a charlatan, and it’s a legitimate question to ask if he was a trendsetter or simply a trend follower, but Malcolm McLaren made enough of an impact on the culture that there’s no reason he couldn’t go ‘round the outside ‘round the outside and into the Hall Of Fame as an Ertegun Award winner. It might even be a nice piece of symmetry if it happens this year along with an Early Influence prize for The New York Dolls.
While running a London clothing shop with Vivienne Westwood, who herself might have a shot if the Hall chooses to honor fashion designers, he started a brief connection with the Dolls. It didn’t go all that well for either party, but his next move played off big time. After testing the wind, exploiting then-current fashion trends and renaming his shop SEX, he helped some of his customers form a band, The Sex Pistols were born, and a revolution was underway. Their relationship was highly contentious, mostly over money, but it’s undeniable that his promotional skills played a sizable role in cementing their impact.
He continued to establish a presence post-Pistols, stewarding the early careers of the likes of Adam & The Ants and Bow Wow Wow. And don’t ignore the impact of his own recording career, specifically Buffalo Gals. It certainly helped make early hip-hop a bit more user friendly for white audiences. The musical landscape for roughly a decade sure would have been a lot different without his presence.
Nickel & Dime
Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated published an amusing piece the other day. The Yankees do not cover the cost of wi-fi for players on the team plane. Admittedly, it’s a fairly trivial issue. Even players that make the major league minimum can certainly afford to pay for their own wi-fi, but it’s more the principle of the thing. The article states that it’s estimated that the total wi-fi cost for an entire team over the entire season would come out to around $40,000. For the Yankees that’s couch cushion money. It seems really petty to ask your players to pay for that. Even more embarrassing, a survey reveals that 28 of the 30 franchises cover these costs for their players. The only other holdout? That would be the notoriously cheap Cincinnati Reds. You don’t want to share that type of honor with that thrifty of an organization.
To be fair, however, the policy seems reasonable. The Yankees can’t risk a player surfing the web on a team flight and accidentally seeing a photo of a man with facial hair. It might give him ideas.
Indoctrinating Ignorance To Our Children
What’s happening in Florida with Ron DeSantis’ creeping authoritarianism is equal parts depressing and frightening. It’s perfectly illustrated by the recent revisions made by Studies Weekly in a textbook for children. A side by side comparison between the old and new versions of the Rosa Parks story reveals the omission of a key historical fact.
No explanation in the new version for why she was asked to move or why it was right for her not to move. This is just breeding ignorance in our children. Spare me any argument that children are too young to be taught about racism. If a black child is old enough to experience racism, then a white child is old enough to learn about its existence. That in and of itself does not make a child “ashamed” of being white.
Lance Reddick
There are certain actors for whom once you see their name in the credits you know you’re about to see an outstanding performance regardless of the quality of the project. Lance Reddick was a prime example of that. With his intense eyes and imposing voice, he had a knack for portraying powerful authority figures. His sudden death was a major shock and a terrible loss.
He first caught my attention when he appeared in Oz. As good of a show as Oz was, it was clearly one for which you needed to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy. It too often devolved into over the top implausibility. What it did do was introduce some of the most memorable characters of its time. Reddick’s character had one of the most tragic arcs of anyone, which says a lot coming from that show. He was first introduced as a new inmate, eventually revealed to be an undercover narcotics officer posing as a prisoner to investigate the drug pipeline moving into the prison. As was usually the case with characters on that show, his story did not end well. He demonstrated the ability to keep his feelings suppressed, a skill which would serve him well when it came to his most famous character.
There were a multitude of reasons why The Wire was as great as it was, one of which was the scores of multi-dimensional characters it contained. Reddick’s Cedric Daniels was one of the more noteworthy. Seemingly yet another example of the old trope of a supervisor acting as a foil for the main character, time revealed more layers to his story and that he was in a no-win position. His underlings looked at him as a typical middle management stooge. His superiors looked down on him as overly ambitious, yet unable to play the political game that would promote him to the level he deserved. He conveyed the sense that he was always ready to explode in rage, but understood it would be imprudent to do so. I loved this scene from the series finale. McNulty’s serial killer hoax had been exposed, leading to one of history’s most uncomfortable elevator rides.
What a perfect combo of actor and character. He had memorable roles in such projects as Fringe, Bosch, and the John Wick franchise. Don’t forget the way he had fun with his image on the old Comedy Central series Corporate. He was only 60 which is much too young to have died from natural causes. He will be missed.
SNL Strike Update
Good news for the SNL post production crew as the union reached a tentative deal in their contract negotiations with NBC. Having worked in post production for many years I know how hard editors work and how long their hours often are. I can only imagine the heavy workload the crew has for that show to create pieces that look so good on such a tight deadline. Good to see they’re likely to get what they deserve.
Fox Sports Is Not Sending Its Best
For some reason Fox continues to believe that the best way to build an audience for baseball is to give the lead analyst role to a broadcaster who appears to actively hate the sport. Yet amazingly enough John Smoltz has not been the weak link in the broadcast booth for the initial batch of knockout rounds of the World Baseball Classic. I’m not sure if Joe Davis had responsibilities elsewhere that prevented him from doing the Friday & Saturday games but I don’t understand why Kenny Albert got the assignment. Fox employs Jason Benetti after all. My only explanation is that with Joe Buck moving over to ESPN, Fox policies require that a nepo baby needs to hold the mic. At least Davis returned for the US/Cuba semi, and I presume he’s got the assignment the rest of the way.
The United States/Venezuela quarterfinal was a spectacular game, but Albert failed to match the moment. I can easily overlook a mistake here and there, but there were two glaring moments that were not acceptable, beginning with the second batter of the game. After a lead off single by Mookie Betts, Mike Trout dumped a hit into right field. As Betts advanced from first to third, the throw skipped past the third baseman. The camera angle did not make it obvious that the stray throw bounced into the dugout, but the third base umpire sent Betts home with the first run. Albert gave no explanation, it was up to the viewers to figure out for themselves what happened.
Worse was the 5th inning in which Venezuela took the lead. As Daniel Bard struggled with his command, it would have been instructive if Albert had told the viewers whether anyone was warming in the bullpen. And then when Jose Altuve got hit by pitch and was clearly hurt, neither Albert nor Smoltz gave it much acknowledgement. He went right into the dugout with the trainer, yet they barely gave it a mention. Not even an “I hope it’s not as bad as it looks” comment.
What’s Gonna Happen Tomorrow
Well, Orange Man claims that an indictment is coming down tomorrow and that his cult followers need to be ready to respond. Presuming that’s accurate I’m not sure how worrisome the warnings are. It’s safe to say that there will be an ugly response, but it seems unlikely that things will be as centralized as the way January 6 was.
At the same time, the preemptive comments from pundits and GOP leaders are something to behold. Many of the same people who want to impeach half of Joe Biden’s cabinet are horrified over what they perceive to be a politically motivated indictment. Elise Stefanik pledges to investigate the source of the leak, conveniently overlooking the fact that Trump himself is the leaker. The constant references to George Soros from critics reeks of antisemitism. And we are barraged by “this ensures his nomination/election” chatter, seemingly forgetting that there has been no prior evidence of political blowback. Impeachment didn’t forge a path to reelection, and January 6 hearings didn’t lead to an overwhelming congressional majority. It’s almost as if evidence of criminal activity turns off voters. Strange, huh?
This may just be an appetizer, after all. Those that have been observing the case note that the potential charges from the Georgia case appear to be much more severe and damning than whatever comes from the Manhattan D.A. office. It remains astonishing to me that so many people continue to be so willing to choose to die on the Trump hill.
Springtime Is Here
4 out of 5 meteorologists recommend Tending The Herd as the ideal accompaniment for the vernal equinox. So why not share the fun with all your friends? Thanks for reading.
