Queens Is Done!

I just handed in the manuscript for Queens of Noise! 120,000 words later! Now I get to go have the poor hand I’ve broken with too much typing fixed. Excuse my radio silence while I heal.

Jett Snubbed Again

Alas, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame passed over Joan Jett and the Blackhearts again this year. The good news is Heart and Donna Summer will be inducted, along with Rush, Public Enemy, Albert King, and Randy Newman. That means one third of this year’s musical honorees are female, a considerable improvement over the overall numbers: As I reported in Salon last year, only one-tenth of the total Hall of Famers at that time were women. It’s particularly galling to see Rush anointed and Jett bypassed, given the Canadian band’s awful treatment of their label mates the Runaways back in the day. But Rush were able to mobilize a huge fan base. Next year, Jettheads, let’s get it together. Joan’s manager, Kenny Laguna, was philosophic in an email: “We predict 4 or 5 years of nomination. This is year 2.”

via Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees: Rush, Public Enemy, Heart and Randy Newman | Music News | Rolling Stone.

Last Chance to Vote for Jett

Undoubtedly in response to repeated complaints about its clubbiness, or perhaps in deference to the proliferation of participatory culture in general and American Idol in particular, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is allowing fans a vote for the first time. Tomorrow is the last day to voice your choice. Currently Rush is in first place. Yes, Rush — the same band that denied the Runways a sound check and mocked their performance from the side of the stage in Detroit in 1977. For years, fans of the overwrought Canadian trio have decried their exclusion from the Cleveland citadel. I’m sure they’re rallying to rectify the situation.

I’ve made my own public complaints about the gender divide of the Cock Rock Hall. (This Salon screed is about to be republished in the new edition of Best Music Writing.) I’m not going to tell you how I think you should vote — you can probably figure it out. I know the public vote will still play second fiddle to the official nominating sausage fest. But last I heard, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were in fourth place. And you know I love rock and roll.

Online Fan Poll | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

via Last Chance to Vote for Jett.