I promised at the end of 2018, more specifically, when the 2019 inductees for the Rock Hall were announces, that I would be beginning in earnest my own campaign to have Styx considered in 2020 induction.
I hold to that promise and begin my campaign with a simple introduction of my strategy to lay out Styx’s credentials to be considered for the Rock Hall- in line with the Hall’s own published guidelines, located online at: https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/induction-process
“Ballots are then sent to more than 1,000 historians, members of the music industry and artists—including every living Rock Hall inductee—and the five performers receiving the most votes become that year’s induction class. Beginning in 2012, fans were given the chance to vote for the nominees they’d like to see inducted into the Rock Hall. The top five vote-getters in the public poll form one ballot, which is weighted the same as the rest of the submitted ballots. “
This means I/we have 2 avenues of influence, either the popular vote or by raising awareness of the band among the “institutional voters”. We shall try and move the dial on both counts.
Meeting the Eligibility
According to the same page at rockhall.com:
“Artists—a group encompassing performers, composers and/or musicians—become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll.”
We’ll put aside the first point as obvious, Styx (1972). This leaves us with:
- Unquestionable musical excellence and talent
- Significant impact on the development,
- Significant impact on the evolution and
- Significant impact on the preservation of rock & roll.
Keep each of these bullets in mind as we weave through the year, and analyze Styx at a very granular level to demonstrate how they have more than earned the right to be inducted.
What this is not:
This is not a “Styx deserves this more than…’X'”. There will be comparisons, to be sure, but in no way would I want to suggest that the ONLY reason Styx should be inducted is bause of another less qualifies inductee- those are others arguments- this body of work is to demonstarte that Styx deserves entry based on their own merits, and how those merits have met the four bullet points above.
Who should get in?
While I would have a pretty clear vision of which band members should be included in the induction- I feel like that’s putting the cart before the horse- you’ll see whom I think should be included- at the conclusion of this series of posts
What are we going to learn about Styx?
Alot. You. me. everybody. If we can build momentum for the effort, perhaps we can get band members, former band members and others to share their insights on some of the topics that are covered in this effort. It’s a long road to December, so we will pace ourselves.
What’s Next?
Well, probably a Facebook Page is he start- maybe a Twitter account. we’ll see. I’ll continue to post here, and share the posts out to social media. But, regardless- get ready to explore one of the great bands from the edge of last century…