Rock Hall Names New Inductees

Written by Jon Williams

Last week the 2019 slate of inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was announced. This year’s class comprises seven bands and solo acts: Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, the Cure, Radiohead, Roxy Music, and the Zombies. The induction ceremony will be held on Friday, March 29, 2019, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Here is a brief look at each of the acts joining the ranks of the Hall’s famous and influential members.

Stevie Nicks is the first woman to be inducted twice, as she is already included as a member of the band Fleetwood Mac, inducted in 1998. Her solo career, which is being honoured this time around, began with the release of the album Bella Donna in 1981. Driven by the hit “Edge of Seventeen” as well as collaborations with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”) and Don Henley (“Leather and Lace”), it hit number one on Billboard’s album chart. Since then, she has continued to tour and record with Fleetwood Mac while maintaining a stellar solo career as well, releasing eight studio albums under her own name, most recently 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault in 2014.

Janet Jackson will take her place in the Hall alongside her famous brothers as a member of this year’s class—the Jackson 5 were inducted in 1997, and Michael Jackson joined as a solo artist in 2001. From an obviously musical family, Janet’s entrance into the world of entertainment actually started with acting. Still, she couldn’t escape the world of music, beginning her recording career as a teenager. Her breakout came with her third album, Control, released in 1986, shortly before her 20^th birthday. She has gone on to record eleven albums, with the most recent being 2015’s Unbreakable.

Def Leppard was one of the biggest rock bands in the world in the 1980s, but they have refused to be defined or constrained by the “hair metal” label. Forming in the late ‘70s, their debut album On Through the Night came out in 1980. Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987) were two of the biggest albums of the decade, dominating the charts and spawning a number of singles. The band suffered through such tragedies as drummer Rick Allen losing his left arm in a car accident and the passing of guitarist Steve Clark, and their star dimmed as pop metal declined in popularity as grunge ascended. Nevertheless, they have persevered, continuing to tour and record to this day. Their latest album, the self-titled Def Leppard, came out in 2015.

The Cure formed around the same time and have undergone a number of lineup changes in their forty-plus years, with frontman Robert Smith being the only constant member. Their debut album, 1979’s Three Imaginary Boys, kicked off a rather prolific career that saw them release thirteen albums in thirty years, culminating in 2008’s 4:13 Dream (currently unavailable). While the Cure has not released an album since then, the band has been touring, and there are plans to record and release new music in 2019 in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of their debut.

Radiohead is the “newest” act of this group, forming in 1985 and bursting onto the scene with the single “Creep” in 1992. That landed on their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey, the first of their nine albums, the newest of which is 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. The band has continued to experiment and evolve throughout their career and the accolades have followed, winning the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album three times. Their most recent release is a 20^th anniversary edition of their 1997 album OK Computer with new tracks, and members Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke have also gained acclaim in the world of film music.

Roxy Music is a highly influential art rock band that came together in 1970 and released their self-titled debut album in 1972. Their recording career lasted just ten years, but they put out eight albums in that time, the last being Avalon in 1982. Since then, the band has been an on-again off-again venture, with the individual members often contributing to lead singer Bryan Ferry’s solo albums. That was the case with 2010’s Olympia (currently unavailable), originally conceived as a Roxy Music album and even featuring Brian Eno for the first time since 1973’s For Your Pleasure, but eventually released under Ferry’s name.

The Zombies are the oldest act joining the Hall in 2019, forming in 1961. The band put out just two albums in the 1960s—their 1965 debut and 1968’s Odessey and Oracle. They disbanded around the time of that second album’s release and didn’t reunite until 1991, when they recorded the album New World (currently unavailable) and then split again. Singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent got back together in 1999 and have continued to tour and record since, with their most recent album being 2015’s Still Got That Hunger.

In 2019 these musicians will cement their legendary status as they join the ranks of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and your music-loving patrons will want to discover or re-discover their catalogues. Make sure you have plenty of their incredible tunes available—use the links above or SmartBrowse on our website to find their albums as well as concert films and other related media we have available.

George R.R. Martin Goes Back in Time

Written by Jon Williams

For the past two weeks, a new book from George R.R. Martin has been at or near the top of the bestseller lists. No, it’s not the one that fans have been so eagerly anticipating: The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth installment in his Song of Ice and Fire series. It is set in the same world, however. While the books of the series itself concern themselves with the aftermath of the rebellion that toppled the reign of the Targaryen dynasty in the fictional realm of Westeros, Fire and Blood tells the earliest history of those Targaryen kings.

A Song of Ice and Fire is probably more popularly known by the title of its first volume, A Game of Thrones. Published in 1996, it was the first book of what was originally planned as a trilogy. The next two installments, 1998’s A Clash of Kings and 2000’s A Storm of Swords, did not come close to finishing the story, as Martin’s expansive style and an increasingly involved plot necessitated expanding the series to seven books. Those plot complications have also slowed down the writing. The fourth book, A Feast for Crows, came in 2005, and the fifth, A Dance with Dragons, in 2011.

And that’s where the series stands at the moment. A vocal segment of fans has grown increasingly dismayed at the long wait for the next book, with some even speculating that Martin wouldn’t even finish the series. On a recent blog post, however, he assured fans that The Winds of Winter is still forthcoming, and that he would indeed finish the series. In the meantime, there has been plenty to keep everyone occupied. The HBO series Game of Thrones debuted its first season in 2011 and has gone on to establish itself as a television phenomenon. It surpassed the source material from the novels with its sixth season, and the eighth and final season will premiere in April of 2019. Those who are really into the books and show can learn the Dothraki language used by the fierce horse lords (including Khal Drogo, played by Aquaman's Jason Mamoa). And readers/listeners looking for more Westeros backstory will enjoy A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, detailing the adventures of hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, the future king Aegon V Targaryen.

In a related but (at least supposedly) not connected vein, Martin also offers The Ice Dragon, a tale aimed at children and young adults, a sharp contrast with the gritty and bloodthirsty mode of A Song of Ice and Fire. These fantasy worlds are what Martin is most known for, but he’s equally at home in other settings. The Wild Cards series he edits and compiles is a sci-fi alternate history of the post-WWII U.S. that has been infected with an alien virus. And while it’s currently unavailable on audiobook, his novella Nightflyers is the basis for a ten-episode TV series currently airing on Syfy.

So for your patrons who are watching Nightflyers or gearing up for the final season of Game of Thrones, or even just patiently waiting for The Winds of Winter (not to mention A Dream of Spring, the final volume), there is plenty of material from George R.R. Martin to keep them entertained. Check out the titles listed above, and be sure to visit our website to find music from Game of Thrones as well as other related materials.