Tag Archives: the cars

Features, In Memoriam

Breaking: Ric Ocasek of The Cars Has Passed Away (1944-2019)

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It was only a couple of days ago that we shared the news about the passing of Rock singer Eddie Money, and now we must add to the sadness and share the news about the passing of the great Ric Ocasek of the legendary New Wave Rock band The Cars. Reports cite that the NYPD was called to investigate an “unresponsive male” in his apartment by Paulina Poritzkova (his estranged wife). It would end up being Ric and he was pronounced dead on the scene. The musician was 75 years of age. No COD is available at this early time but when more information comes to light I will surely update this memorial posting.

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Ric Ocasek by Jim Spellman for Getty Images 2019

“Ric was at home recuperating very well after surgery. Our two sons, Jonathan and Oliver, and I were making sure he was comfortable, ordering food and watching TV together. I found him still asleep when bringing him his Sunday morning coffee. I touched his cheek to rouse him. It was then I realized that during the night he had peacefully passed on. We appreciate the great outpouring of love. We, his family and friends, are completely and utterly devastated by his untimely and unexpected death and would appreciate the privacy to mourn in private…from the Ocasek Family”
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

The 2018 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees Are:

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rock and roll hall of fame

The results are in and below please find the 2018 Inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ve followed the visual below with a reminder of the criteria and more. Take a look.

The Criteria: Currently, groups or individuals are qualified for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Nominees should have demonstrable influence and significance within the history of rock and roll. Four categories are recognized: Performers, Non-Performers, Early Influences, and Sidemen (as of 2000). Fans never had any input but in 2012 they 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.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

Behold The Winners Of The 2018 Rock Hall Fan Voting

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I guess it was only a couple of months ago that we shared the means for the fans to make their voices known about the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Class of 2018. The list had some Hard Rock and Metal notables among many that would make Rock fans scratch their heads but hey we are not in charge of the list and are only here to help raise awareness. Earlier this morning, the winning names in this Fan Voting poll were revealed and I submit them for your approval along with the statement that was released..

The Statement: Congratulations to the 2018 Fan Vote Winners. Thank you for supporting your favorite artists by voting in the #RockHall2018 Fan Vote! The poll is closed and the following artists will each receive an extra vote in the Official Induction Vote. Altogether we received 6.8 million votes for all 19 Nominees.

1. Bon Jovi – 1.16M votes
2. Moody Blues – 947K
3. Dire Straits – 613K
4. The Cars – 552K
5. Judas Priest – 538K

PiercingMetal Thoughts: So there you have it. The results are right in front of you and clearly the Metal Legions DIDN’T stand up to be counted as much as I might have hoped. Sure they are in the “Top 5” but they are number five and unless the actual voting parties for the “honor” actually have them in their list to be put in the Hall, they only get one additional vote. I think Bon Jovi will be the only one from these Fan Vote winners to even get into the Rock Hall to be quite honest and while would love the whole bunch of these to make it (since these were all of my picks as well) I think its very unlikely. The full list of the nominees is in the graphic below and you already know that the Hall loves to induct a Rap artist or group nowadays and some of the others are only known for one song or album which always surprises me. Anyway, that’s all I have on this matter. What do you think of these results and did you help them to become reality? If you didn’t I am a tad disappointed since it only took a moment to nominate the five you could speak up for but with peoples attention span being so quick I am not surprised at all. Until next time.

Official Website: http://www.rockhall.org

Features, PiercingMetal Says

The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame 2018 Nominees Are:

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has just released their “Class Of 2018” Nominations, so after some reminder premise on how one achieves such an honor I will line out the list for you.

rock and roll hall of fame

The Criteria: Currently, groups or individuals are qualified for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Nominees should have demonstrable influence and significance within the history of rock and roll. Four categories are recognized: Performers, Non-Performers, Early Influences, and Sidemen (as of 2000). However, fans have no input concerning who is nominated or elected to the hall.

The Nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 are: Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Bon Jovi, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, Kate Bush, the Cars, Dire Straits, Eurythmics, J. Geils, LL Cool J, MC5, The Meters, The Moody Blues, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Link Wray and The Zombies

As time allows, I’ll be tossing some thoughts about each of them in this list rundown.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

Presenting The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees

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rock and roll hall of fame

It’s that time of the year again my friends and I am speaking about the fact that the nominees for the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions have been released. I’ll share them with you below and then we can discuss in a little more detail.

photo-2017-rock-hall-nominees

Nominees: Bad Brains, Chaka Khan, Chic, Depeche Mode, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), The J. Geils Band, Janes Addiction, Janet Jackson, Joan Baez, Joe Tex, Journey, Kraftwerk, MC5, Pearl Jam, Steppenwolf, The Cars, The Zombies, Tupac Shakur and Yes.

Fans can vote their favorites in an online ballot that lets you select up to five artists. I’ll have that at the close of this missive.

PiercingMetal Thoughts: This year like others before it finds some interesting choices in the mix and I am running out of the groups to complain about not being included since we are finally seeing Yes on the ballot along with Journey and some others that I feel are long overdue. We also see more Rap and Disco related artists being included and my stand remains the same on those types of additions to the nominees. “THEY ARE NOT ROCK!!!!” Call me closed minded or not looking deep into the roots of said artists but someone like Tupac Shakur, while a legendary music figure, is a legendary RAP music figure and not a Rock one. Yeah Run DMC made it in, but they also did Rock things during their heyday. Chaka Khan is a little harder to speak against since she is widely known as the Queen Of Funk but Janet Jackson? No frigging way is that Rock at all and is more Pop Disco stuff. The top of my long overdue list goes to Yes who in my humble opinion are the reason that Progressive Rock exists. When I think of Prog I think of Yes and ELP and the latter one has been in for a few years now. I like a lot of the Rock acts being offered up and while Steppenwolf is widely known for taking the “Magic Carpet Ride” and being “Born To Be Wild” does this merit inclusion? Joe Tex is a Soul Artist and I must admit that I only ever knew his “Ain’t Going To Bump No More With No Big Fat Woman”. I wasn’t the biggest follower of the MC5 or Bad Brains and J.Geils Band either but loved so much Journey and Cars music that I was happy to see them be a part of the mix. The same applies for me with ELO whose back catalog was a part of my musical upbringing. Pearl Jam and Jane’s Addiction was a tossup for me personally and I opted for Pearl Jam being included based on liking more of their material than the other.

So before I close out I wanted to share who I voted for in the Fan Voting process. I selected Journey, The Cars, Electric Light Orchestra, Pearl Jam and Yes. I stuck to the Rock of course since this is the “Rock Hall” after all. I’ve shared the link below for you to give your opinions a chance and help honor the groups you feel are the most deserving. You can let me know what you think of this year’s nominees in the comments section below and if you choose to, please also let me know who you voted for. It will be nice to learn who others are behind.

Official Fan Voting: https://www.rockhall.com/vote