[tweetmeme]The prospects, however slim, of The Smiths all gathering in the same room — forget about a live performance, just getting the four together behind a podium would have been a miracle — were dashed early Tuesday when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced next year’s inductees, a list that did not include the first-time nominees.
Those who did make the cut: Lou Reed (as a solo artist; he’s already in with the Velvet Underground), Green Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bill Withers and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Plus, Ringo Starr will be honored with the Award for Musical Excellence.
Joining the Smiths on the list of nominees that didn’t get in: Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A., Sting, Kraftwerk, The Marvelettes, The Spinners and Chic, the latter of which has now been passed over nine times.
The Smiths’ snub is just the latest failed nomination for a hugely influential, if not commercially mainstream, ’80s alternative band. The Cure was among the 2012 nominees, but Robert Smith and Co. were not inducted and have not made the ballot since. Similarly, the just-reunited Replacements were nominated last year for the 2014 class, but didn’t make the cut either.
The Class of 2015 will be inducted April 18 in Cleveland — but the big question of whether we’d see Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce together in the same room is now moot.
