Singling out Singles

If you walk up to the bell, the saying goes, ring it.

So the Hall inducts songs now, as of 2018. And that’s great. It inducted six songs in that year, and another six in 2019.

And in 2020… zero.

Please don’t tell us this is going to be like the Ertegun (Non-Performer) and Early Influences and Musical Excellence (Sidemen) all over again… where you say you’re going to give an award but then forget to actually do so.

Is this a consolation prize? Steven Van Zandt explained: “…not to say these artists will never be in the Rock Hall. They just are not in the Rock Hall at the moment.” Uh-hunh. And I have a bridge to sell you.

Look, it’s fine to have a consolation prize. The Musical Excellence award should not be that— at least not for Performers, as it has become.

But Singles will work. Or could, given a chance. How many times have you heard, “How could (act) not be in? (Song) is one of the best rock songs ever!” See, OK, yeah, maybe that song is… but can you even name any other song by that band? Even if you can name five, that doesn’t make them Induction-worthy, necessarily.

And so— induct just the song, then. If the implication is, “You’re getting this one song in, but never your whole band,” while that sucks on some level, it’s at least an answer. And it’s not a loss; your song— and your band’s name, attached to it— will be in the Hall. Forever. While that’s not an induction, it’s way better than nothing. Tons of great bands will never get anything at all, Hall-wise.

Would you rather hear, from your crush, “Maybe… someday…” and be strung along for ages? Or get a simple, devastating— but final— “Ain’t gonna happen,” so you can mourn and move on?

I would further argue that having a song in the Singles list is better than being considered a “sideman/woman” when you— and everyone else— knows you were in the damn band.

How can I say that? Turns out, there have been studies done on Olympic medalists. Gold winners are happiest, of course. But Bronze, third-place, winners are second happiest. They didn’t lose, they medaled! “Hey! Got an Olympic medal! I will have ‘Olympic Medalist’ in my name here on out. I got to stand on the podium, see my country’s flag flown at the Olympics, come home with a prize…”

Silver medalists, meanwhile, were the least happy. Remember, in some Olympic competitions, you can lose by a tenth of a point, or a hundredth of a second. All that came between you and Gold was a hangnail, an eyelash!

So while the fact that the Hall is already— in just the third year!— skipping a year of Singles inductions is upsetting, the fact that they are doing it at all is a good thing. Now they have to, y’know, actually do it... not just step up to the bell, but ring it.

And let six songs in every year. We may run out of “Early Influences” at some point, and even “producers” (who knows how the industry will change?!)… but it will take ages to run out of Singles to induct, even at the rate of an EP’s worth a year.

https://www.futurerocklegends.com/blog_files/The_Rock_Hall_Singles_Category_Clings_to_Life.html

Update: I do not see that any Singles were inducted in either 2021 or 2022. Harumph.