The HOA is on the 80s/90s cusp...time for the 1990 election!

You may want to check out the top 100 eligible candidates. For a reminder of who's already been inducted, see the results thread. (Normally I supply links here, but I don't know how now that Bravenet is doing its coding differently. Can anyone help?)

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

Please please please please remember that 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 have the option to nominate up to three people for the Backstage Wing. This isn't required.

Deadline for ballots is Sunday, April 12, at 6:00 pm US Central time (midnight GMT).

Voting is now open

OK. Warning everyone. I just spent a ton of time writing long explanations for my votes (and for why I'm not an elitist for rejecting the Eagles) and when I tried to "make changes" after a preview the whole dissertation vanished.

I don't have the energy for a re-write.

Here are my votes: 1. George Jones, 2. Woody Guthrie, 3. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, 4. Doug Sahm, 5. Townes Van Zandt, 6. Wanda Jackson, 7. XTC, 8. The Zombies, 9. Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10. Buck Owens & His Buckaroos.

Please see the AMG bios for the reasons. If I recover I may supplement these with more explanation, but I doubt it will make any difference in the final tally. The only one in the top five with a chance is George Jones. I'm voting for him because he is the bomb.

1. PET SHOP BOYS - Every song sounds like a one-hit wonder song, but in a great way. Probably the catchiest pop group since ABBA.

2. LOVE - Back to the podium with Love. A wasted vote is also a vote, as one wise man (me) once said. If I had been voting tactical I'd dropped them a long time ago, but I still love Love.

3. KATE BUSH - Quirky female singers are often good, but Kate Bush stands miles ahead of most of them.

4. DEPECHE MODE - They just got darker and darker, more and more popular, and better and better.

5. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Now, look who's back in the top 5. Surrealistic Pillow still spins on my stereo.

6. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN
7. GANG OF FOUR
8. ERIC B. & RAKIM
9. VIOLENT FEMMES
10. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

OK. I have recovered from being angry about losing my last detailed post of reasons. I will now provide some abbreviated reasons so as to comply with the rules. (Don't accidentally count my votes twice.)

1. George Jones - The bomb.

2. Woody Guthrie - A hugely important figure in 20th Century music in terms of folk music and as a songwriter. Voice of the Oakies.

3. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Primary force behind the development of Western Swing, which is a fantastic style of music that combined big band jazz with a country flavor and was an important precursor in the development of our favorite music (rock).

4. Doug Sahm - Also the bomb. He combined many different Texas styles into a delicious mix. But he's hardly known.

5. Townes Van Zandt - Great songwriter. Will be more popular in 10 years than he is now.

6. Wanda Jackson - Ground-breaking and damn-good female vocalist.

7. XTC
8. The Zombies

9. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Wrote and recorded a ton of fun Southern Rock. Not as morally reprehensible as some PC types might think.

10. Buck Owens & His Buckaroos. So, so, so good. Just ask The Beatles. The Beatles contract with Capitol Records required that they be given copies of all Buck Owens releases. His influence directly contributed to them inventing country rock.

1. The POGUES : they missed it by a spot last time, so this time maybe…

2.The EAGLES : Welcome to the hotel HOA

3.Woody GUTHRIE : in 1988, a compilation called "Folkways : A Vision Shared" with Leadbelly and Guthrie covers was issued. Lead is in the HOA now, but Woody is till waiting outside. Please let the hobos in.

4.DE LA SOUL : inventive, funny ("des saucisses"), musical, a new way of doing rap

5. Philip GLASS

6. TELEPHONE : 1989 is the year they split
7. RENAUD
8. IRON MAIDEN
9. DEPECHE MODE
10.GRATEFUL DEAD

1. BUZZCOCKS. Uh oh. Looks like they're my new T. Rex.
2. KATE BUSH. Now officially overdue.
3. THE POGUES. The second-best band Joe Strummer ever belonged to.
4. XTC. They've been slowly climbing my list for some time...I honestly can't pick out one album of theirs which towers above the rest. They just gradually released a lot of very, very good stuff.
5. BEASTIE BOYS. Now you're talking. Paul's Boutique signaled that they weren't just a flash in the pan.
6. VAN HALEN
7. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
8. PET SHOP BOYS
9. THE B-52'S
10. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. A symbolic vote, like Lyle. I thought they were terrific and singular...sort of an everyman Devo (except that they had more range than Devo). Plus, what other band "released" new music by putting it on their answering machine?

01. THE STONE ROSES: they're leading the Madchester scene with a loose and unprejudiced approach to the current rave music, mixing it with sixties psychedelic pop to obtain a new and fresh style.
My favourite album: The Stone Roses (1989).
My Top 5 Songs: This Is the One (1989), Made of Stone (1989), I Wanna Be Adored (1989), I Am the Resurrection (1989), Elephant Stone (1988 ).

02. DE LA SOUL: young blood (they're under 20 years old) for the hip hop, a deep breath of fresh air for a style too self-absorbed and an injection of humour to a style that tends to be taken too seriously. All that (and more) is De La Soul.
My favourite album: 3 Feet High and Rising (1989).
My Top 3 Songs: Me Myself and I (1989), The Magic Number (1989), Eye Know (1989).

03. THE POGUES: let's vote for The Pogues while McGowan's liver can resist.

04. THE BLUE NILE: not the most prolific band (only two albums in five years) but for sure the most elegant and sophisticated.
My favourite album: A Walk Across the Rooftops (1984).
My Top 3 Songs: Tinseltown in the Rain (1984), Downtown Lights (1989), Stay (1984).

05. DEPECHE MODE: personal Gods.

06. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS.
07. THE NEVILLE BROTHERS.
08. TALK TALK.
09. XTC.
10. KATE BUSH.

And another special edition of the backstage wing (today: rock photographers):
01. ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE: last year we saw the passing of Mapplethorpe victim of AIDS, the creator of a disturbing but fascinating universe with his provocative black and white pictures, not hiding pornographic subjects. His connection with the rock world came by the hand of friend, muse and former lover Patti Smith. Favourite cover art: PATTI SMITH "Horses"


Favourite rock photograph: Patti Smith nude.


The hunter hunted: the "heroin chic" Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe photographed by Gerard Malanga.


02. MICK ROCK: the man who shot the world, or at least the rock world. David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Syd Barrett or Debbie Harry were one of the fortunate models of a photographer that knows how to capture the glamour and the danger of the rock ‘n’ roll way of life. Favourite cover art: IGGY AND THE STOOGES "Raw Power"


Favourite rock photograph: the empty look of Syd 'Madcap' Barrett.


The hunter hunted: Rock and Reed at the "Coney Island Baby" cover photo sessions.


03. ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: the quintessential photographer of celebrities, specialized in portraits for important magazines as Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. You're not really big until you're photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Favourite cover art: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "Born in the USA" and its "humanization" of the red (cap), white (shirt) and blue (jeans).


Favourite rock photograph: Willie Nelson (please let me broke for the first time my "false realistic" approach, this photo is from the 00s but I love its tactile properties, you can almost touch it, feel its roughness).


The hunter hunted: a relaxed take of Annie by Susan Sontag.

1. Dinah Washington - A singular voice. Combines the best of vocl jazz, early R&B, and standards interpretation in one exciting package.

2. Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young) - Each of them wrote many of their best songs for their stunning three and four part harmonies.

3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The yin and yang of hip hop - Grandmaster Flash pointing one way, Melle Mel pointing another.

4. They Might Be Giants - Who knows, schleuse, maybe we can make this vote less than symbolic. "Ana Ng" almost makes them HOA worthy all on its own.

5. The Grateful Dead - Again... I never enjoyed what I heard of their live output, and never regretted not seeing them live in person. I just think in the early-70's they had a wonderful string of songs.

6. Peter Gabriel

7. The Staple Singers

8. The Jackson 5

9. Beastie Boys - De La Soul will jump ahead after De La Soul Is Dead, and then fall back below after Ill Communication. Tribe Called Quest will forever be above both after The Low End Theory.

10. Pet Shop Boys

Backstage:

1. Norman Granz
2. Gamble and Huff
3. David Fincher - We're now comin on ten years of the music video era. Fincher (with his work for Madonna, Aerosmith, and (yes!) Paula Abdul) is at the vanguard of breaking the medium and music's biggest artists out of the visual language of the 80's. He is joined by Anton Corbijn and Herb Ritts. Music videos will take some further wild leaps in the next number of years, allowing some very interesting music to get some attention that it might not have received previously.

I cannot believe I've forgotten to vote for They Might Be Giants. They're one of my favorite bands ever.

Rune... the only people who might object to your amending your votes are the Jesus and Mary Chain. Feel free!

1. Stone Roses - We don't get much shoegazing stateside, which is a shame because the Roses are a bright spot in the dreary late-80s music scene. They're a great combination of reverb-y psychedlica, a slight post-punk streak and some great pop melodies.

2. Aerosmith - If you look at all the hair-metal that's about to go out of style in 1990, 99% of those bands owe a debt to Aerosmith's crunchy riffs and big choruses, except Aerosmith did them a lot better.

3. Beastie Boys - The white boys outdid themselves this year with Paul's Boutique. Three idiots create yet another masterpiece. 2-for-2 is pretty darn good in the rap biz.

4. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full was the birth of the cool for rap. Chilling out, jazzing it up and ignoring those bar lines made Rakim a legend of hip-hop.

5. De La Soul - They don't really fit in with rap. They're a little wacky compared to N.W.A., but they're wonderfully enjoyable nonetheless.

6. Tom Petty - Good old American heartland rock. He's not really a genius or a legend, but he can write a hit tune pretty darn well.

7. Depeche Mode - Not my favorite stylistically, but I can never get "Just Can't Get Enough" out of my head after hearing it.

8. Pet Shop Boys - Just like fellow synthpoppers Depeche Mode above, but change the song to "West End Girls."

9. Nirvana - These Seattleites have released their raw but memorable debut Bleach. They have potential...

10. Poison - Shout-out to Pensylvania here. We suck musically.

Hi there. I'm changing my votes, adding They Might Be Giants to spot no 1.


1. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - How on earth could I forget them. From the mid 90s upto 2000 I barely listened to other bands. There's no other band or artist I have as many records with. Of course, in this game only their two first albums count, but they're brilliant, so that's enough for me. I know every word in those albums by heart.

2. PET SHOP BOYS - Every song sounds like a one-hit wonder song, but in a great way. Probably the catchiest pop group since ABBA.

3. LOVE - Back to the podium with Love. A wasted vote is also a vote, as one wise man (me) once said. If I had been voting tactical I'd dropped them a long time ago, but I still love Love.

4. KATE BUSH - Quirky female singers are often good, but Kate Bush stands miles ahead of most of them.

5. DEPECHE MODE - They just got darker and darker, more and more popular, and better and better.

6. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Now, look who's back in the top 5. Surrealistic Pillow still spins on my stereo.

7. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN
8. GANG OF FOUR
9. ERIC B. & RAKIM
10. VIOLENT FEMMES

1. CREAM - Back at number one. In my book, the most influential rockband not inducted. The pioneers of bluesy hardrock.
2. KATE BUSH - When it comes to female singers, my personal taste generally enfavors the lower-pitched voices over the higher-pitched ones. But my taste is full of surprises. When I come across an exception to the rule, it would probably become my favorite artist, beating anyone that normally fits my taste.
3. BEASTIE BOYS - The Beastie Boys, the first to see and overbridge the similarities between punk and hip-hop, showed with Paul's Boutique they were more than just a novelty act. Plus, they made sampling an art with this record.
4. TALK TALK - I loved their earlier synthpop a lot, but it wasn't enough to make my list. But "Spirit of Eden" is a different story. It sounds so radically different from anything else I've ever heard, this must be a landmark masterpiece. I wish I voted for them last year.
5. JANIS JOPLIN -My pearl.
6. URBAN DANCE SQUAD - Time to honour my own national pride. UDS is the greatest band to ever come out of The Netherlands, Mental Floss for the Globe the greatest record. The different backgrounds from the bandmembers made them masters of allmost every genre, from funk to metal, ska to hip-hop, soul to dance.
7. THE EAGLES
8. DEEP PURPLE
9. THE STONE ROSES
10. AEROSMITH

Backstage:
1. Leo Fender
2. Gamble & Huff
3. Allen Toussaint

1. Beastie Boys – As great as their debut was, it would have been easy to assume they were a one-off, near-novelty act. Then they released PAUL’S BOUTIQUE, which 20 years later still sounds like absolutely nothing else out there, and it was clear they were going to be around for a while.

2. New York Dolls – They only made two albums, but they’re one of the all-time great bands, and their influence is huge.

3. Ornette Coleman – The music he was making in the late eighties STILL sounded like The Shape of Jazz to Come (the concept, not the album). A true visionary who, unlike far too many of his contemporaries, lasted long enough to become a living legend.

4. Cream – As we wait for the floodgates of the alternative era to open, time to give the dinosaurs another shot. At their best, the original power trio were able to harness their frequently self-indulgent virtuosity into concise, walloping pop songs.

5. Peter Gabriel – A solo career that couldn’t be more different from the brilliant but highly insular music that made his band famous. As his career went on, his sound expanded to embrace the whole world, and in the late eighties, quite unexpectedly, the world embraced him back.

6. XTC
7. Wire
8. Can
9. Love
10. Sonny Rollins

BACKSTAGE WING
1. Nicky Hopkins
2. Rudy Van Gelder
3. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

1. Cream - They still have one more year before Nevermind shuts them out. I really like a lot of Cream's music. Next to Jimi Hendrix, I think they were better at making the blues feel psychedellic than any other band.

2. The Beastie Boys - The real question is what day I should get APW tickets for. I'm not a huge lover of Colplay and it'll probably be overcrowded so I'm probably seeing them this summer.

3. The Stone Roses - Brilliant debut, doesn't get enough attention from the States.

4. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising is I think the second best rap album of all-time, albeit it hasn't aged nearly as well as It Takes A nation.

5. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - Well, I would like to see them in. The Message remains the greatest rap song of all time, the perfect expression of urban frustration.

6. The Eagles
7. Jefferson Airplane
8. Van Halen
9. Grateful Dead
10. Depeche Mode

I'm amending my vote. Slide Cream in #1, because they are the ultimate power trio, masters of the psychedelic blues, incredibly talented musicians, and the only band where everybody can solo at the same time and it still sounds good. Everyone else drops down one spot, and Poison (joke vote of the year) are no longer on the ballot.

1. Woody Guthrie
2. Pet Shop Boys
3. Kate Bush
4. Grateful Dead
5. Eric B. & Rakim
6. The Blue Nile
7. George Jones
8. Townes Van Zandt
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd
10. Warren Zevon

backstage

1. David Mancuso
2. Larry Levan
3. Tom Moulton

Greg, I'm counting your ballot because you've been participating in all my silly stuff for a very long time, and I know you know your onions.

But I really need comments, man.

(If you want to cut and paste from previous ballots, that's fine. Sorry to call ya out like this.)