So does this make Son House the Buck O'Neil of rock?

Seems to me like the Rock and Roll HOF should take some cues from its baseball counterpart and start being a little less inclusive. In a given year baseball may only yield one or two new inductees, while the folks in Cleveland annually lard their roster with a half-dozen or so fresh faces (and yes, that was just an excuse to use "lard" as a verb like Bob Xgau is wont to do).

If you ask me, Aerosmith should still be fighting for a spot in the pantheon with Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven, while Jackson Browne and James Taylor should have been long ago relegated to Don Mattingly "not a chance in hell" status, instead of smirking up the hall with their unique brands of bittersweet folk-rock (and I didn't even need to look up that Simpsons quote -- frightening and sad, I know).

Here's this year's crop, of which apparently 5 will be honored:

Van Halen
R.E.M.
Patti Smith
Grandmaster Flash
Dave Clark Five
The Stooges
Chic
The Ronettes
Joe Tex

Personally, I think unless your catalogue is just unbelievably thick with greatness (ie. Prince, Springsteen), you probably need to have made at least some kind of seismic, groundbreaking contribution to the evolution of the rock. Normally I'm not an innovation-over-performance kinda critic, and I sure as hell wouldn't argue The Flatlanders over Fleetwood Mac or Neu! over Neil Young. Still, I don't know if "having a bunch of really great singles and a few really good albums before changing lead singers and becoming a butt-rock joke" or "releasing a landmark debut and several more very solid, marginally successful albums, then attaining temporary superstardom via twinkly melancholy and vague ruminations on dead idols" necessarily qualifies one for automatic immortality. And I love R.E.M., but just as I'm sure is the case with plenty of people who love Jack Morris, I don't know if they should exactly be shoo-ins for the Hall. Perhaps after earning it over time the Bruce Sutter way, but not in their first few go-arounds. Of course, it should've been just as hard if not harder (if not impossible in some cases) for Browne, Taylor, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Blondie, ZZ Top, Santana, CSN and several others.

For the sheer revolutionary nature of their work, I don't think you should have a Hall without Grandmaster Flash or the Stooges. Maybe throw Chic in there as well. In reality, Stipey and Fast Eddie will most likely lead the pack. After all, somebody's gotta sell tickets.