Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk that it's the 1978 Hall of Acclaim election.

Select the ten most deserving artists, based on records released through the end of 1977.

When considering your vote, you may want to check out the top 100 eligible candidates. For a reminder of who’s already been inducted, see the results thread.

For your ballot to be eligible, you must submit a ranked list of your ten most deserving artists.

***IMPORTANT!***
Also, for your top FIVE artists (at least), you must explain why they deserve to be in the HOA. You may recycle your comments from past elections if you wish, but I want us to have a context for WHY we're selecting these artists. Ballots without comments for the top five will NOT be counted!

In addition, you may nominate up to three people for the Backstage Wing. This is optional; your ballot will still be eligible even if you don’t vote for Backstage candidates.

Deadline for ballots is Sunday, December 28, at 6:00 pm US Central time (midnight GMT).

Voting is now open. And happy holidays, everybody!

1. SEX PISTOLS - They may not have invented punk, but they perfected it. Image is everything, at least when it looks as good as this.

2. TELEVISION - Oh, that record. They should be included everywhere, even the Golf Hall of Fame, for Marquee Moon.

3. LOVE - Once again, a band I'd like to include mostly because of one record. Forever Changes is so hypnotic, that for a month a couple of years ago, I couldn't go to the bathroom without listening to it. My girlfriend went nuts.

4. KRAFTWERK - Very innovative, and still the freshest sound in electronica. One of very few electronica musicians I never get tired of.

5. ELTON JOHN - He had already done all of his best stuff by this time. Very good melodies and voice.

6. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
7. ELVIS COSTELLO
8. THE ANIMALS
9. THE SMALL FACES
10. THE CRYSTALS

Congrats to Frank Zappa and Leadbelly for finally making the Hall!

1. SEX PISTOLS - Music will never be the same again. "Never Mind the Bollocks" sparked a revolution that would forever change the world.
2. KRAFTWERK - Music will never be the same again, part two. The power plant from Düsseldorf already inspired people like David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Giorgio Moroder, and their influence will grow and grow.
3. CHARLIE PARKER - The Bird frequently visits my ballots. Last year he almost got in the Hall. There's some strong competition this year, but who knows?
4. QUEEN - Freddie Mercury is by far the technically most gifted rock singer of all time. Ooh, and guess who were in the next studio when they were recording "News of the World"? God Save Queen!
5. ABBA - Pop geniuses. "S.O.S." is the greatest popsong of the seventies.

6. Fleetwood Mac
7. Cream
8. Captain Beefheart
9. Janis Joplin
10. Curtis Mayfield

Backstage:
1. Leonard Chess
2. W.C. Handy
3. Malcolm McLaren

1. Robert WYATT : because I'm a believer
2. SEX PISTOLS : Alas !!
3. Tom WAITS to be inducted
4. The EAGLES : I really like "Hotel California", and I think they did a lot for country-rock. I don't give a damn about them being too commercial. "HC", "Desperado", "New Kid In Town" are beautiful songs.
5. Fela KUTI : a true genius, the other Thirld World star after Bob M. The lyrics are pure dynamite and the music is awesome !! Check out "Zombie" or "Confusion" or any of his '70s material.
6. Curtis MAYFIELD
7. Serge GAINSBOURG : I need every French pop lover to help me induce the best French artist of the modern (i.e. post-Brel/Brassens) era.
8. Django Reinhardt
9. Dick Annegarn
10. The Zombies

I’m glad my top three got in last week, because 1977 counts now, and the landscape looks very very different.

1. SEX PISTOLS. What can you say? Sure, they get a little too much credit, but there are three things I believe are irrefutable about the Pistols: one, they made what is still probably the most influential album of the last 35 years. Two, they—or at least Johnny and Malcolm—consciously created an enduring image (the name of Johnny’s next band is no accident) which is one of the great icons in rock & roll history. Three, they just wrote some shockingly effective, direct, catchy pop songs (ABBA has nothing on them in this respect…sorry, Klauw). They have some notable limitations—including a fast flameout—but an HOA without these guys would be as inconceivable as one without Elvis.
2. TELEVISION. Over the weekend, I listened to Marquee Moon for the first time in I don’t know how many years…I’d forgotten how good it was. For spark and inventiveness, no other punk (or proto-indie) band of the 1970s can touch these guys.
3. THE CLASH. This high already? Yep. For me, the Clash are either the second- or third-best English band ever, and this is the year they planted their flag. Their s/t lacks Never Mind the Bollocks’ sheen (if that’s the right word), and it’s a masterpiece.
4. T. REX. And we come to #4-7, my zone of longshots. I’ll continue to push the (now dead) Marc Bolan, who, as a 29-year-old elder statesman, was an important advocate for punk in ’77. His last public appearance was with David Bowie; he would be posthumously name-checked in song by both the Who and R.E.M.
5. PATSY CLINE. Had absolutely nothing to do with punk rock, so far as I can tell.
6. CURTIS MAYFIELD. I have to admit, I’ve been overlooking him.
7. WILLIE NELSON
8. ELVIS COSTELLO
9. MODERN LOVERS
10. TALKING HEADS

Backstage:
1. MALCOLM McLAREN. But for this year only.
2. HILLY KRISTAL
3. HOLLAND/DOZIER/HOLLAND. The Supremes seem unlikely to get in at this point (thanks for the interesting note about voting patterns, Paul). I think their songs are unquestionably admirable—probably more so than the girl group themselves—so maybe it would be more appropriate to commemorate those songs by inducting the guys who actually, you know, wrote them.

while everyone else is kickin the punk rock ballot, i'll be the adult here and kick the radio-friendly soft rock ballot

1. Steely Dan
2. Jackson Browne
3. Fleetwood Mac - since moving to L.A. and picking up two Americans, FM (!) has recorded two of the best soft rock albums ever made, one of which almost everyone on the planet owns. but the best is yet to come, and things are about to get a little strange...
4. Warren Zevon
5. John Cale
6. George Jones
7. Todd Rundgren
8. Elvis Costello
9. The Clash
10. Cheap Trick

backstage

1. Hoagy Carmichael
2. Norman Whitfield
3. Holland/Dozier/Holland

1. CHARLIE PARKER - A transformative figure in the history of jazz on par with Armstrong, Ellington, and Davis. From AMG: "One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time."

2. THE SUPREMES – Not many bands have close to as many memorable hits as The Supremes.

3. PATSY CLINE – I gave up on all of my favorite Texas country stars (Bob, George, Willie, Townes, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, Doug Sahm, Flatlanders, Guy, Kris), but I still have a sliver of hope for Patsy, one of the all-time greats.

4. SEX PISTOLS – Obligatory. Would have loved to catch both the Pistols and Merle Haggard on back to back nights. (Next question, will the remaining Pistols accept their inevitable invitation?)

5. FELA KUTI – A world renowned musical giant from a culture that makes it difficult to become a world renowned musical giant. I just listened to Expensive Shit. Great title and great album. He deserves recognition.

6. TELEVISION
7. THE CLASH
8. ELVIS COSTELLO
9. CURTIS MAYFIELD
10. TOM WAITS

Backstage:
1. HOLLAND/DOZIER/HOLLAND
2. MALCOLM MCLAREN
3. WC HANDY

Okay... If I were really being strategic, I'd leave off Television in hopes of pushing forward Parker and Mayfield. But I can't justify leaving them off entirely. Marquee Moon is too good.

1. Charlie Parker

2. Curtis Mayfield - Yeah, I know that under the rules this is just for his solo output. But if he makes it in, I'll secretly know that I was voting for the Impressions as well.

3. Fela Kuti

4. Django Reinhardt - Over all, it's still Django #1 for me. But I've got to be more strategic.

5. Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young)

6. Patsy Cline

7. Television - I'd live with holding them off for a year if Parker or Mayfield could break through.

8. Steely Dan - Now we get Aja, and "Deacon Blues." They bump up.

9. The Sex Pistols - I'm not buying that they're first ballot HOF'ers, but they deserve entry. How that works when they only have one real album, I'm not sure.

10. The Staple Singers

Backstage:
1. Irving Berlin
2. Norman Granz
3. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

1. Sex Pistols - The Sex Pistols are punk rock. Flat-out. I don't care that they've only made one album or that it will be their only one, when it is as revolutionary as NMTB, HTSP they deserve the top spot.

2. Fleetwood Mac - Another of this year's great albums is Rumours. How a band managed to take all the broken hearts and internal strife FM had and turn into an excellent album like Rumours is beyond me.

3. Elton John - See previous years.

4. The Clash - London Calling gets all the credit, but The Clash turned out a pretty solid debut album as well, with influences far beyond the usual punk rock offerings.

5. Boston - See last year.

6. Eagles - See last year.

7. Elvis Costello - Yet another superb debut album from this great year in music comes from Londonite New Waver Elvis Costello.

8. The Bee Gees - SNF is probably the only disco album I'm not ashamed to admit I own. Quite the opposite actually.

9. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Still making good music with this year's Street Survivors; unfortunately no longer after a tragic plane crash.

10. Kraftwerk - Chalk up T-EE as another great electronic album from these Dusseldorfers.

01. SEX PISTOLS: if two years before Springsteen was the obvious choice, now Sex Pistols are the obvious choice for 1977. Few times before (and who knows if after) a band has drawn such a clear line dividing before and after, has developed a look and a sound that I’m sure it’s going to determine all the images and sounds that’s going to come.
My favourite album: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977).
My Top 5 Songs: Anarchy in the UK (1976), God Save the Queen (1977), Bodies (1977), Submission (1977), Pretty Vacant (1977).

02. FLEETWOOD MAC: from the teenage rage to the adulthood complexities. The simultaneous break-up of the complicated relationships inside the band (the Buckinghams, the McVies and the Fleetwoods broke up shortly before the recording sessions) made “Rumours” the masterpiece that it is.
My favourite album: Rumours (1977).
My Top 3 Songs: Dreams (1977), Go Your Own Way (1977), Albatross (196 .

03. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: a kitsch mélange of Beatlesque harmonies, Berryesque rock’n’roll, Bachesque string arrangements and disco music beats that surprisingly work together very well, or at least quite charmingly. So how can we call them? Barockers?
My favourite album: A New World Record (1976).
My Top 3 Songs: Strange Magic (1975), Mr. Blue Sky (1977), Can’t Get It Out of My Head (1974).

04. THE BEE GEES: simultaneously to the punk revolution another revolution is happening right now, the disco music, the hedonism of the dance floor, the fever of the Saturday night. The Bee Gees began as a soft psychedelic band but now they’ve found their true sound looking at the mirror ball.
My favourite album: Trafalgar (1971).
My Top 3 Songs: Stayin’ Alive (1977), To Love Somebody (1967), Nights on Broadway (1975).

05. SUICIDE: last year we inducted Ramones and Patti Smith Group, the most notorious bands from the underground scene of New York with CBGB as its head office. Other bands show up in my ballot (like Talking Heads or Television) but I want to point to the most bizarre of the lot, with their minimalistic electronic backing for the disturbing stories and the scary howls of Alan Vega.
My favourite album: Suicide (1977).
My Top 3 Songs: Frankie Teardrop (1977), Ghost Rider (1977), Cheree (1977).

06. STEELY DAN: probably last chance for Fagen and Brecker. If a masterpiece like “Aja” isn’t enough to induct them, I’m afraid they’re going to sink in my ballots. Like a stone.
07. TELEVISION
08. BRIAN ENO
09. TALKING HEADS.
10. JOHN CALE.


And at the backstage:
01. MALCOLM McLAREN: Image. McLaren entered into rock music by designing clothes for bands as the New York Dolls. But there was a lot more that merely image, as the manager of the Sex Pistols he was responsible for aiming the directionless fury of the band and achieving notoriety with one scandal after another. Favourite song: NEW YORK DOLLS Personality Crisis (1973).
02. LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY: the Jamaican mad genius that, from his Black Ark Studios, has produced most of the best Jamaican artists (including a pre-Island Bob Marley & The Wailers) and taken the dub even further that his creator King Tubby. One of the few artists from the past revered by the new generation of punk rockers. Favourite song: JUNIOR MURVIN Police and Thieves (1976).
03. HILLY KRISTAL: the founder of CBGB, a small club on New York, birthplace of some of most interesting names of today, including Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie or Talking Heads. An exciting and raw new sound that it will always tied to this place. Favourite song: TELEVISION Marquee Moon (1977).

And that’s all. Merry Christmas to everyone in the forum. And a happy 1978.

Lee Scratch Perry is a great backstage choice. I wish I'd waited to vote...

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all from a garland-bedecked Hall of Acclaim.

(1978...iirc, that was the Christmas I got the Millennium Falcon.)

Joyeux Noêl !
Happy Xmas to you all !
Recently inducted Leadbelly will sing you a christmas song if you pay a visit to my blog

1. Steely Dan – The contrasts were always heady: fiendishly complex music (executed by the best session pros money could buy), performed in brilliantly crafted and highly accessible pop contexts, all in the service of a ferociously cynical and near-misanthropic view of the world. Becker and Fagen are the Coen Brothers of rock, and the early albums – made before, to borrow Robert Christgau’s phrase, pursuit of The Tasty became its own reward – are masterpieces.

2. New York Dolls – They only made two albums, but they’re one of the all-time great bands, and their influence is incalculable. David Johansen and Johnny Thunders came off like Mick & Keith if they’d never taken off the drag from the “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby” video and started gobbling amphetamines 24/7. The Dolls were unabashedly hip, but there wasn’t a cynical bone in their bodies: they may have needed both a fix and a kiss, but you always sensed that the kiss was more important (even if that sadly wasn't true for some of them in real life).

3. The Sex Pistols – Greatest punk band of all time? Hell, no. Not even close. Possibly the most influential band of all time, except the Beatles? Probably. Does the music hold up as music, separated from the hype? Hell, yes, and then some, thanks to Steve Jones’ wall-of-squall, Paul Cook’s propulsive drumming, and – oh, yes – the often-hilarious but sometimes beyond-terrifying (you really BELIEVED he wanted to crawl under the Berlin Wall) caterwaulings of one J. Lydon.

4. Television – The Pistols get a slight nod on the strength of their influence, but never mind NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS – these guys made the greatest debut album of all time, and one of the greatest albums, period. It’s a shame they flamed out so quickly; never have two guitars soared and intertwined with such barbed beauty as those of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd on MARQUEE MOON.

5. Curtis Mayfield – It’s past time to recognize a long, distinguished career that broke a lot of boundaries. Mayfield could have coasted to easy pop-R&B success on the strength of his beautiful tenor voice, incisive guitar, and ace songwriting chops, but his ambitions and social consciousness always ran deeper, even with the Impressions. On his classic string of seventies albums, the anger and sorrow of the lyrics meld with the beauty of the music in breathtaking fashion.

6. Elvis Costello
7. The Clash
8. Randy Newman
9. Brian Eno
10. Wire

BACKSTAGE WING
1. Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Eddie Holland
2. Nicky Hopkins
3. Rudy Van Gelder

1. Can- Holding on to the top spot... for now.

2. Blondie- Plastic Letters adds another great case for their inclusion.

3. Kraftwerk- Trans Europe Express bumps them up in a big way! The Man Machine will do so even more!

4. Television- Marquee Moon really moved me when I first heard it. I haven't dusted it off in awhile, but its echo still rings in my ears.

5. Nico- 'Cuz everybody knows (she belongs in the Hall).

6. Sparks- It seems they won't be getting in, but I'll give them some more love here.

7. Aerosmith

8. Fleetwood Mac- I grew up on them as my parents were big fans. I do think Rumours is a bit overrated, but they had a lot of great songs up to this point and deserve a mention.