Patti LaBelle Is Still Not In The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

Patti LaBelle is still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!! Neither is Teddy Pendergrass, Donnie Hathaway, Tower of Power, Bill Withers, Roberta Flack or Gil Scot-Heron. These omissions would be heretical for most any African American over the age of forty, but the truth of the matter is, it’s not African Americans who make the decision about who is nominated and elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Despite the fact that rock and roll was born in black music communities (primarily in the west and southwest of the country) in the early 1940s, African Americans wield little influence on the musical opinions and tastes of the country’s major periodicals and media outlets. For those Anglo-American male dominated institutions, it is typical to overlook or dismiss the importance of African-American oriented styles of music (and the artists of all ethnicities that play these styles) and the impact on popular music in general and rock and roll in particular.

What we’ve seen over the past few years is that the voters (journalists primarily) who determine the eventual rock award winners are following a disturbing trend that diminishes the importance of the 70s black music movement, while continually lauds musical artists and styles that were not nearly as popular or significant.

An artist has to have been in the business (first professional recording) for twenty five years before they can be considered for the rock hall. The list of the 70s greats who have not been selected is both an outrage and a disgrace. Without much thought, some of the important 70s soul, jazz fusion and funk artists who must be inducted sooner than later includes: Patti LaBelle (and Labelle), Al Jarreau, Gil Scot-Heron, Grover Washington, Ashford & Simpson, Kool & the Gang, Donnie Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Mandrill, Minnie Riperton, Bill Withers, Tower of Power, Lionel Ritchie (and the Commodores), Jeffrey Osborne and the band ” LTD, the Spinners, the Stylistics, Frankie Beverly and Rick James.

This issue is not as important as the Free South Africa Movement of years past or ridding the country of the prison-industrial complex. But, this is about America’s cultural history, who’s writing it and what they are telling.

About three months ago the Save Our Seventies (S.O.S.) Black Music Campaign and Coalition was established. This loose, informal group of like-minded enthusiasts” mission is simply to persuade the board of the Rock and Roll Foundation to establish an African American advisory board that will recommend nominees. It’s clear from the nominees and winners of the last five or six years, that the current board needs assistance and direction from folks familiar with African American culture and music between 1970-80. It was too important a time in the musical development of this nation and the world to allow the mainstream press to continually present its biased perspective, one that characterizes black music of the period as insignificant if it mentions it at all.

If you want to support the mission of the S.O.S. Black Music Coalition, then visit us on Facebook Causes. Or, contact the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and tell them to establish an African American advisory board.

In late January or early February we will directly contact the hall and let them know of our concerns. Please join us. Hopefully we will give exposure to the artistic giants from the 70s who have left such an awesome legacy and had such a great impact on the world of music.

BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator Robert Bell is a native Philadelphian and the author of The Myth of Rock and Roll: The Racial Politics of American Popular Music; 1945-2005 and Republicans Are Pigs, Except for My Dad – Urban Discourse, Paycheck to Paycheck, a collection of essays, thoughts and ideas, most of which were written between 1999 and 2003. Mr. Bell has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Temple University, works as non-profit management executive and has been active in many social justice movements including the struggle for reparations through the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA). Mr. Bell is the father of two children. Click here to contact Mr. Bell. His website is robellpublishing.net.