>Nirvana, The Replacements, N.W.A., Chic, Peter Gabriel, Kiss,
>LL Cool J, The Zombies, Cat Stevens, Hall and Oates, Deep
>Purple, Link Wray, The Meters, Linda Ronstadt and Yes.

Hall & Oates, Chic, NWA, The Replacements, and Yes

Now... my reasons why I've excluded some

Nirvana is a given. they will get in the hall of fame. But this list is so loaded with people who may never see another nomination that I would pass on themjust to be able to put in someone who might get swept under the rug.

LL is a tough one. To me, he *should* go in. He deserves it. Yet, for some reason, he was the first person I thought was easy to remove. He would probably be my metaphorical 6th man.

Deep Purple is a band with some tracks, but I'm kinda confused how they even got the nom.

Kiss. Jann Wenner will never let that happen. And I don't know that he's wrong.

Linda Rondstadt has one of the best voices I've ever heard, but again, I don't know that "HoF" jumps out over some of the other choices here.

I really wanted to put Gabriel in here, but much like Uncle LL, while I think he should be in, I'm cool with him not being in. Because honestly.... he already is with Genesis.

Cat Stevens should be in the HoF. Yet I know Gram Parsons isn't so I went on a "sometimes life ain't fair." lol

Link Wray should be in for the power chord alone. But that kinda seems cheap to me.

The Meters and The Zombies are both bands I would make my final pick if this year wasn't so stacked with more deserving artists.

Now, some clarification on two of those I picked.

Yes. I'd vote them in on the strength of Wakeman and Howe alone, but they had a banger of a career. And they were highly influential in the prog sense.

The Replacements. I would say a few people I left out deserve to be in more than they do. but I'm a huge fan, so I just left the fanboy fly here.

Again... I love this whole crew of people. There really isn't a single "They don't belong!" vote in there. Except for Kiss. Who I even like, but I don't know that they are a Hall of Fame band as much as they are a Hall of Fame Brand. Does that make sense?