Has the light gone out for you? Because the light's gone out for me. It is the 21st century. It is the 2000 HOA election.

Submit a ranked list of your ten most deserving artists. 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 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, June 28, at 6:00 pm US Central time (midnight GMT).

Voting is now open. And sorry for quoting a song that won't be released for another 7 years.

Guess I’ll go first…

1. NINE INCH NAILS. With The Fragile (which I admit I never got into), all of Trent’s stuff ranked on AM is now out.
2. JESUS AND MARY CHAIN. I’ve run out of things to say about them, so I’m resorting to anagrams of their name: Cyanide Jars Humans, Jay’s Hand Manicures, Shady Insurance Jam, Maid’s Raunchy Jeans, Scary Inhuman Jades. So there.
3. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS. For a while there, it really seemed like the Chems were the sound of the future. Maybe they were.
4. JEFF BUCKLEY. I’ve got to think he’ll get in eventually. His live album comes out this year (2000).
5. THE VERVE. Chuck Klosterman lists the Verve as one of the most accurately rated bands in history—neither under- nor over- (iirc, others were the Beatles, Van Halen, and Blind Melon).
6. WIRE
7. PUBLIC IMAGE LTD.
8. WILCO
9. THE FLAMING LIPS
10. LIZ PHAIR

My fourth special edition of HOA: get back
(I've followed so far a self-imposed rule about voting for an artist/band that released something relevant the year(s) before but doing this some of my favourite artists remained non inducted, so I looked for the list of my Top 100 artists that I sent to Moonbeam and voted for the remaining non-Spanish ones)
(I’m afraid I’m going to recycle previous comments; sorry schleuse but I’ve been extremely busy lately)


01. KING CRIMSON: three different periods (70s, 80s and 90s) with Robert Fripp as the only link and as the Cerebro and as a result we got an impressive and innovative body of work difficult to categorize (prog-rock?, jazz-rock?, hard-rock?).
My favourite album: Red (1974).
My Top 3 Songs: Starless (1974), Cadence and Cascade (1970), Elephant Talk (1981).

02. ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Door-influenced psychedelia and Joy Division-influenced post-punk are the two main foundations for the sound of Echo & The Bunnymen, dark but brilliant, thunderous but majestic.
My favourite album: Ocean Rain (1984).
My favourite song: The Killing Moon (1984).

03. CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG: every work they released as solo artists, as a band or (even) in pairs from 1969 to 1972 was a masterpiece. Don’t believe me? “Neil Young”, “Crosby, Stills & Nash”, “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”, “Déjà vu”, “After the Goldrush”, “Stephen Stills”, “Four-Way Street”, “Songs for Beginners”, “If I Could Only Remember My Name”, “Stephen Stills 2”, “Harvest”, “Crosby & Nash” and “Manassas”. And now? Do you believe me yet?
My favourite album: Déjà vu (1970).
My favourite song: Our House (1970).

04. PREFAB SPROUT: sophisticated sounds, the clever songwriting from Paddy McAloon meets here with the elaborate arrangements of Thomas Dolby with awesome results.
My favourite album: Steve McQueen (1985).
My favourite song: Goodbye Lucille #1 (Johnny Johnny) (1985).

05. THE STYLE COUNCIL: Probably I’m the only one thinking that but to me The Style Council are almost as good as The Jam, with an eclectic approach to exciting genres as sixties pop, Motown soul, smooth jazz, bossa nova, French pop and synth pop and with a decided social content.
My favourite album: Café Bleu (1984).
My favourite song: My Ever Changing Moods (1984).

06. DEEP PURPLE: the pioneers of the hard rock, almost as ambitious as Led Zeppelin and almost as loud as Black Sabbath, and the most competent players of their instruments. Virtuoso-rock.
My favourite album: Made in Japan (1972).
My favourite song: Highway Star (1972).

07. JOE JACKSON: fascinating evolution, from the sharp new wave hero of the late 70s to the sophisticated crooner of the mid 80s, fishing in the fertile waters of jazz, latin, funk and… pop.
My favourite album: Body and Soul (1984).
My favourite song: Not Here Not Now (1984).

08. TODD RUNDGREN: a genial singer-songwriter, a skilled multi-instrumentalist (he play almost all instruments in his albums) and a talented producer.
My favourite album: Something/Anything? (1972).
My favourite song: I Saw the Light (1972).

09. JAPAN: a band that exemplifies the transition between the 70s and the 80s, they began as a clone of New York Dolls (they “stole” not only the lipstick and the dirty sound but even the names!) but evolved into a glamorous and sophisticated band (a kind of Roxy Music gone electronica) fascinated by the Far East images and sounds.
My favourite album: Tin Drum (1981).
My favourite song: Visions of China (1981).

10. MADNESS: not the purest band coming from the Two-Tone scene, but the ones that has taken the ska style to mainstream audiences. And all that because of a contagious (and very British) sense of humour and their special craft for timeless pop melodies.
My favourite album: One Step Beyond (1979).
My favourite song: My Girl (1979).

And my umpteenth special edition of the backstage wing (today: music and lyrics)
01. VINICIUS DE MORAES & ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM: De Moraes, a Brazilian poet and diplomat able to easily transfer carnality and “saudade” into song lyrics and Jobim, a composer capable to write one masterpiece after another with as astonishing regularity, they together created the gorgeous bossanova style. Favourite song: STAN GETZ & JOÃO GILBERTO The Girl From Ipanema (1963).
02. BERTOLT BRECHT & KURT WEILL: the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill teamed to write The Threepenny Opera, with a peculiar mixture of high and low culture that define the decadent sound of Berlin between the wars. Favourite song: LOTTE LENYA Die Seeraüber Jenny (1930).
03. GERRY GOFFIN & CAROLE KING: at the beginning of the 60s they were a real teenage couple writing splendid teenage symphonies from the Brill Building that fulfilled the teenager dreams. Favourite song: THE CHIFFONS One Fine Day (1963).

Where is everybody?

1. The Flaming Lips – In one fell swoop, they went from weirdo cult band with a few good-to-great albums under their belt to weirdo all-time great artists. Wayne Coyne is a true visionary with the talent to back up (most of) his greatest ambitions, and the Lips’ best music is absolutely breathtaking.

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 – A true visionary who, unlike far too many of his contemporaries, lasted long enough to become a living legend. Long overdue for induction!

4. Wilco – Jeff Tweedy’s most ambitious music is yet to come, but with SUMMERTEETH they’ve just made what is still arguably their most purely enjoyable album – largely due to the contributions of Tweedy’s soon-to-be-former creative partner, the sadly late Jay Bennett.

5. Love – As we start to enter the homestretch of this HOA exercise it’s time to try to elevate our favorite overlooked cult heroes into the pantheon, Arthur Lee (R.I.P.) and his ramshackle band of fellow late 60s L.A. weirdos being a prime example.

6. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7. Nine Inch Nails
8. Belle and Sebastian
9. Wire
10. Neutral Milk Hotel

BACKSTAGE WING
1. Nicky Hopkins
2. Michel Gondry
3. Greil Marcus

1. The Verve - I decided to move them up to the top spot since I want to them in this year.

2. Nas - The creator of the greatest hip-hop album of all time.

3. Jeff Buckley - Could have been one of the all-time great artists.

4. The Neutral Milk Hotel - I recently discovered In the Aeorplane Over the Sea and I love it.

5. Liz Phair - It seems like I'm voting for people now based on one really great album. Next week, will be more competitive.

6. Tupac Shakur
7. The Flaming Lips
8. Wilco
9. Belle and Sebastien
10. Grateful Dead

1. ABBA - I'm recently rediscovering their absolute brilliance. Bjorn & Benny were masters of the deceitfully simple popsong. When you're gone, how can I even try to go on?
2. NINA SIMONE - The High Priestess of Soul. I'm ashamed to admit, but we ignored her far too long.
3. DEEP PURPLE - The once loudest band on earth, whose classic line-up contained some of the best musicians in their field.
4. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Key band in the Summer of Love
5. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - Pioneers of big beat, as much influenced by hip-hop and rock as electronica, and one of the first dance acts to get excepted by "the alternative crowd".
6. CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG
7. GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE
8. AEROSMITH
9. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
10. ROD STEWART

BACKSTAGE
1. QUINCY JONES - Reflecting on Michael Jackson's career the last couple of days, I found it impossible to see it without the producer of his two greatest records, "Off the Wall" & "Thriller".
2. GERRY GOFFIN & CAROLE KING
3. ANTON CORBIJN

1. Nas - he bear witness
2. Prefab Sprout - Paddy, he make those melodies beautiful and those lyrics smart
3. The Magnetic Fields - just released the album of the decade
4. Eminem - clearly prodigious
5. Dwight Yoakam - keeping mainstream country cool in the face of such morons as John Michael Montgomery
6. Warren Zevon
7. The Blue Nile
8. Todd Rundgren
9. Gang Starr
10. Lynyrd Skynyrd

backstage

1. Brecht/Weill - sounds good!
2. Daniel Lanois
3. Mutt Lange

01. IAM : They currently are one of the 2 major hip-hop band in France which can stand proudly compared to their american colleagues, their 1997 release "L'école du Micro d'Argent" is a masterpiece, both lyrically and musically. They brought asian and african influences to their music and are able to easily switch from poetry to social engagement or humor. And the last track of that album is a 10 minutes masterpiece no other band has ever been close too. Plus their MCs have released too wonderful solo albums, very deep and sensitive.

02. Red Hot Chili Peppers : BSSM is my "madeleine de Proust" and the summit of a very decent discography

03. Rage Against the Machine : Tom Morello is God (sort of)

04. Built to Spill : Perfect from now on is the most incredible discover I have made this year, the five first tracks are, well, perfect, which an intensity I have very rarely heard, goes right to my guts.

05. Foo Fighters : Dave Grohl is the 2nd coolest guy ever and back then, they had not release any weak album yet (not for long)

06. Supergrass

07. The Chemical Brothers

08. Neutral Milk Hotel

09. Violent Femmes

10. La Mano Negra

1. Siouxsie and the Banshees- Masterful in any genre. It's great falling in love with a musical act unafraid to tackle any subject and explore their quirkiest, most psychotic episodes.

2. Janet Jackson- I'm feeling for you this week, girl. :(

3. Grace Jones- Her material from 1980-1982 rivals just about anyone's. She had some great singles outside of that window as well.

4. Donna Summer- "Con Te Partiro" was a great way to storm back for Donna, a true disco legend whose spirit and attitude made her shine so bright.

5. Aerosmith- They seem to have some support, which is good. They're one of the great American bands, in my opinion. Although their material isn't very AM-friendly at times, they are legends.

6. Annie Lennox

7. Joan Jett

8. Kim Wilde

9. Gary Numan

10. Echo and the Bunnymen

Hmm. I echo Harold's question.

I'm going to keep this election open for another week. Some of the usual suspects are MIA, and point totals are reeeaally low--low enough that I'm not comfortable declaring the winners just yet.

Hope it's just the dog days of summer...I'd love to get ballots from nicolas, Rune, Schwah, Alex D, Henrik, and John, if you guys have the time and the interest. Paul, too, if you're feeling inspired. And new voters are always welcome, of course.

I'm glasd you postponed the results, because I started working on my list this afternoon but couldn't finish. You may here from me tommorrow

OK, It's been awhile.

1. Wanda Jackson - Female rockabilly pioneer who has inspired many recent female artists (e.g., Neko Case) and who just totally rocked.

2. Eminem - Not a fashionable artist to support, due to his massive popularity and 13-year-old-white-male demographic, but the guy really shook things up and his early music sounds great.

3. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Another unfashionable entry, but one that put some undeniably great rock songs in the canon (e.g., Sweet Home Alabama).

4. Nas - Illmatic may be the greatest rap album.

5. Wire - An important band during the punk era. Pink Flag is a great album.

6. The Flaming Lips - Always innovative.

7. Lucinda Williams - Her two highest AM-ranked albums are extremely strong. I'm not wild about the rest of her catalog, but the two great ones are enough for me.

8. Love - They've received tons of votes but never get enough traction to move up to the top 4.

9. The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady is essential listening.

10. Gang Of Four - Another highly influential band from the punk era.

Backstage: Quincy Jones (Off The Wall and Thriller are two of the best sounding albums ever made).

I'll jump in here if you're short some votes.

1. MC5: MC5 were raw, wild and raunchy. They don't sound like they should've been around in the 1960's. I like listening to their debut album when I want my heart to start pumping.

2. Dinosaur Jr.: They hardly got any votes during those Best of the 80's polls last year so either I'm too young or you're too old. I find guitar solos boring a lot of the time because the guitarist seems to either be striving for technical greatness or is just reading the notes off a sheet of paper. J Mascis' guitar playing sounds unique compared to pretty much anyone else out there.

3. Buzzcocks: They don't have a Never Mind The Bollocks or London Calling, but they do have Singles Going Steady. The Buzzcocks weren't very album oriented, which is one of the reasons they don't get as much love as some of the other big 70's punk acts - but they were great at releasing singles.

4. The Jesus & Mary Chain: Psychocandy is a great record that tends to overshadow the rest of The J&MC's output. The J&MC were consistently awesome throughout the 80's (their b-sides were also solid) and even released some good material in the 90's. When will Automatic get some love?

5. Aerosmith: A staple of those sucky classic rock radio stations that play the same 4 songs from the same 100 artists...but that's not their fault. I feel it's my civic duty to roll down my windows and crank up the volume every time I hear "Sweet Emotion" come on during a stinking hot day. Plus they're Wayne and Garth's favorite band, and that's gotta count for something.

6. Wire
7. Erik B. & Rakim
8. Jane's Addiction
9. Nine Inch Nails
10. The Chemical Brothers

Yikes. I forgot to post my list, even though I had it ready.

1. NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL - The creators of two of my favorite albums. Too bad I missed it when they played in Norway.

2. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - I might get a chance to see They Might Be Giants one day, though they don't visit Norway on a regular basis. I have almost all their records, and they are all from good to brilliant.

3. DANIEL JOHNSTON - Daniel Johnston is a guy I've seen live. With fingers too thick and clumsy for the piano, he's an odd view, but his ability of writing a pop gem can't be taken away from him.

4. LOVE - Love played in Oslo some years ago, if I remember correctly, but I couldn't go, and now it's too late. They must have been quite a view in their prime.

5. MANIC STREET PREACHERS - Another band I've seen live. I love their early stuff, and (oh, I have to check if it's on Spotify - Thanks again, Henrik) I'm excited about the new album. The late 90s albums are also great.

6. MANSUN
7. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
8. RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON
9. OCEAN COLOUR SCENE
10. THE SEEDS - This week has been a lot about Michael Jackson, but the same day also saw the departure of one of the legendary garage rockers, Sky Saxon. The Seeds are a band worthy of a listen if you like that kind of music (and of course you do).

1. Robert WYATT
2. LYNYRD SKYNYRD : southern rock ambassadors
3. BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB : Compay, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder, Rubén Gonzales all in one. Great names, great musicians.
4. The CHEMICAL BROTHERS just released another great album, more pop-friendly.
5. EMINEM just released his first –and best- effort
6. Dick ANNEGARN
7. CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG
8. The DIVINE COMEDY
9. Alain BASHUNG
10. The ROOTS

Backstage : Quincy

1. 2Pac

2. Notorious B.I.G.

3. Aerosmith - This is ridiculous, they should be in by now.

4. Rage Against the Machine

5. Eminem - Officially the most controversial artist to yet enter my ballot, for better or worse. In 2000 it was better, now it's a lot worse.

6. Daft Punk

7. Red Hot Chili Peppers

8. Nas - I can't believe I'm sticking him this low.

9. Jeff Buckley

10. Foo Fighters

Biggie is already in, Alex.