Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-Worthy Acts #5 - The Smiths

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It's almost as if I spend more time on hiatus than I do here on the site. Nevertheless, duty calls, and it's high time to resume my countdown, in no particular order, of acts that I feel deserving of inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As always, feel free to disagree (but "They SUCK!" isn't really a worthwhile opposing viewpoint. Please explain why they suck!) We are at #5: The Smiths. I love Manchester bands, and The Smiths are one of that city's all-time greats. The band formed in 1982 when, impressed with a book Morrissey (vocals/lyrics) had written about the punk band The New York Dolls, guitarist Johnny Marr showed up unannounced at the singer's door and asked him to join up with a band he was forming. The Smiths lasted only five years, during which they made just four studio albums. But holy crap, were those four albums soooo good! (Unless, of course, you belong to the "THE SMITHS SUCK" contingent, which is actually quite sizable.) Led by Marr's jangly guitar style and Morrissey's mopey, morose, often political lyrics (which featured a heavy dose of the vocalist's dry sense of humor,) the group's influence on alternative guitar-based rock cannot be understated. And while, despite the best efforts of MTV and college radio, The Smiths really never caught on in America (other than with the alternative music crowd,) three of those albums reached #2 in the UK, with 1985's Meat is Murder hitting #1 there. In addition, 18 of their 22 singles landed in the Top 40 of that country's Singles chart, eight of them achieving Top 20 status. And in 2000, New Musical Express magazine nominated them for their "Best Band Ever" award (they lost out to The Beatles.) The Smiths have been on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot before, in both 2014 and 2015. With The Cure having been inducted in 2019, hopefully the door has been opened for other 80's alternative acts. The Smiths are definitely one of those bands. Just don't expect a reunion performance should they make it. They really don't like each other all that much to begin with (and litigation against Morrissey and Marr brought forth by bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce over royalties didn't exactly help matters much,) and have turned down numerous lucrative offers to reunite. Doesn't mean that they shouldn't be in there, though. Even if you think they suck. (Info verified by Wikipedia)