My Ten Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs: Link Wray (#9)

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After Scott gave his list of ten act he believes to be worthy of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction I decided to steal that idea and create my own list. As this is all personal opinion (which seems to be how a lot of people have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the first place, and why a number of acts have never even been considered), I don't expect agreement. But let's have fun anyway! Here's today's missing link. #9: Link Wray Ha, see what I did there? Link Wray. Power chord. 'Nuff said. I think the main reason Link Wray has only received token consideration (he's been nominated twice) is he spent much of his life overseas, and for some reason the good folks (ha ha) in Cleveland seem to think it's a "people who were popular in America rock and roll hall of fame," as if rock and roll has no worldwide audience or success. (There's an act on my list a little further down the line that I believe is shunned because of the fact they weren't as popular in the US as they were elsewhere; and I also believe the nominated-but-never-inducted Kraftwerk has that issue.) And you might listen to Wray's best-known song (linked below), "Rumble," and think, "So what?" (No, that's a Joe Walsh album. ) But you're listening to it sixty years after the fact. When "Rumble" was released in 1958 it was a completely NEW sound. So new, in fact, that, according to Picky Wedia, some radio stations banned the song for fear it would incite a riot! Link Wray's influence is everywhere in rock and roll, thanks to that distorted power chord that made generations of aspiring rock, punk, garage, and even metal kids with guitars go "holy crap, that's amazing!" It was then. It is now. 1958's "Rumble," which introduced the concept of the power chord to rock and roll: