The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The mere mention of this venerable American historical institution (and its attached museum in Cleveland, Ohio) is enough to conjure up images of grizzled pop stars enjoying one last day in the sun. Judging by recent inclusions - Jeff Beck, Genesis, John Mellencamp, Van Halen - you'd be forgiven for wondering whether the jurors have their car radios permanently stuck on a classic rock drive-time show. But last week, something strange happened when the shortlist for the class of 2012 was announced. Whisper it, but the bands included were actually pretty good. Cool, even.
Sure, there were still nods to the old-timers. Power balladeers Heart, Joan Jett - famous for her enduring 1975 hit I Love Rock'N'Roll - and the long since departed bluesman Freddie King all made the 15-strong list, which will be whittled down to around five artists in April. But they were joined by the Beastie Boys, the goth progenitors The Cure and the hip-hop innovators Eric B & Rakim. Elsewhere, Sweet Child O' Mine might be a karaoke and wedding disco favourite, but anyone who grew up in the 1980s cannot help but have a soft spot for Guns N' Roses, before the fame went to dear old Axl Rose's head. And all the cool kids who bought Nirvana's Nevermind probably filed it next to the exuberant funk-rock album Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Antony Kiedis's band were also nominated.
Even some of the "oldies" on the list are critics' favourites. Take Donovan, whose psychedelic flower-power folk still captivates the reunion circuit. Without Laura Nyro, Bob Stanley argued in The Guardian last year, it's arguable there would be no Kate Bush or Björk. And Donna Summer's groundbreaking 1977 hit I Feel Love is often credited with kick-starting dance music.
Still, it's probably a bit early to start heralding a change in direction for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - not least because this isn't the first time the Beastie Boys have been nominated. Recent years have also been characterised by some half-decent inclusions, such as Talking Heads in 2002, The Clash in 2003 and REM in 2007. But there is the sense that the people behind the Hall of Fame are more aware that something needs to be done to drag it into the 21st century.
The problem they have is unfortunately of their own making: the accolade often seems old and largely irrelevant mainly because the bands it celebrates usually are. Artists are only eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. While that's an admirable safety mechanism against the one-hit wonder, it does fly in the face of how the music industry operates. Although pop continually borrows from the past, it's the forward momentum, the thrill of the new that keeps it exciting. Otherwise, we'd all be content with listening to the first Coldplay album from 2000 rather than wondering whether their fifth album Mylo Xyloto, out later this month, will in fact cement their place in the rock'n'roll canon.
It would be a major surprise, of course, if Coldplay weren't nominated in 2025 - and that's the other criticism with the Hall of Fame; that it tends to celebrate the same sorts of multimillion-selling artists who tour arenas and win Grammys. It is, in the end, predictable. If the people in charge were really keen on change, then bands such as The Smiths - a group whose influence on popular music is far greater than their sales - should be recognised. Even the name, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is slightly outmoded. Last time we checked, the inductees Grandmaster Flash and Run-DMC - and the shortlisted Eric B And Rakim - were very much hip-hop acts.
So perhaps the only people who really need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are the museum in Cleveland, and the forgotten artists for whom induction could be a much-needed boost to their back catalogues. They don't tend to get inducted very often, sadly. But if this list encourages just one person to return to the youthful brilliance of the Beastie Boys' second album Paul's Boutique, or the exuberant, mysterious goth pop of The Cure's Lovecats, it will in a way have done part of its job. In the meantime, it's only 24 years until Justin Bieber can be included in the Hall of Fame, at which point he'll be coming to terms with life as a fortysomething. Horrifying thought, isn't it? Bet he will still look like a teenager, though.
