October 16, 2004

How could they forget this icon of the Eighties?
By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter

TOGETHER they sold 100 million records, invented the pop video and left a trail of screaming girls in their wake. But Boy George and Duran Duran have been written out of the 1980s in Britain’s first music Hall of Fame.

A panel of experts led by Sir George Martin has drawn up a shortlist of ten artists who will be considered for each decade in the Channel 4 series. The 1980s nominations will be revealed tomorrow night and the public are invited to choose the most worthy entrant. But The Times has learnt that the two decadedefining groups have been snubbed.

Viewers will not be allowed to choose Duran Duran or Culture Club, led by the flamboyant Boy George, after the panel decided that they did not have sufficient musical merit.

The ten will include purveyors of rock music’s gloomier moments such as the Smiths, REM and Joy Division. But the panel, which includes the broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, the musician Dave Stewart, the Blur bassist Alex James and the Glastonbury festival organiser Emily Eavis, has ruled against unashamedly pop acts.

Critics said that excluding Simon Le Bon’s group and Boy George was an omission akin to whitewashing Margaret Thatcher and Diana, Princess of Wales, from the same decade’s history. Their absence is even more controversial given the names touted for inclusion at their expense.

A source on the jury said: “There was a very strong feeling that the Beastie Boys deserved to be in the Top Ten.”

Peter York, the style commentator who chronicled the 1980s, said: “These are extraordinary omissions. There is a place for REM but the Eighties was a decade of fantastic, uniquely British pop music which people still enjoy listening and dancing to today.”

He said that Duran Duran’s Rio video offered a “picture postcard of prosperity”, predicting the working-class conspicuous consumption of the late 1980s that was inspired by Thatcherism.

Boy George was a “very important figure who produced inventive pop music which mixed a variety of musical styles”. The Pet Shop Boys, who mixed English melancholy with electronic beats, had a better case for inclusion than the Beastie Boys, Mr York said.

The panel had displayed “muso-rockist” tendencies by rewarding Morrissey and Bruce Springsteen at the expense of the genuinely popular, he said.

Although the 1980s have been derided as a musical void, the organisers of the poll said that it had proved to be the most competitive decade.

Madonna and U2 have been awarded the first honorary places in the Hall but there are other musical titans to accommodate. Prince and Springsteen dominated the live stage while Michael Jackson’s record-breaking Thriller could mean that he is entered for this decade too.

Synthesizer pop threatened traditional guitar bands and rap music broke into the mainstream. Jamie Theakston, the Hall of Fame presenter, has nominated the militant rap group Public Enemy as the band of the Eighties.

The decade ended with a flowering of British talent, the “Madchester” scene led by the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses. The Hall of Fame steering group has attempted to reflect every influential musical genre in its list of ten for each decade, meaning that some big-name acts will be overlooked.

Duran Duran sold 70 million records — more than Oasis — and will tomorrow enter the charts with the first new album by their original line-up in 20 years.

The Birmingham five-piece pioneered the pop video with exotic short films in the early Eighties and were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Music honour at this year’s Brit Awards.

For three years Boy George was the most famous pop star in the world. Culture Club scored a string of No 1s including Karma Chameleon, but it was the cross-dressing Boy George who inspired an army of lookalikes. He was mobbed from Tokyo to Los An

This will end up being badly put across.

I'm sorry, but Sherwin's comments in The Times are bollocks IMO. It is, for me, right and proper that the artists to be nominated had musical talent and influence to go with the sales. Duran Duran were shite - disposable and badly dated. Boy George has maybe three good pop songs to his name, and not a lot else. I like Boy George, but he is not an enormous talent. The only argument I have any truck with is that the Pet Shop Boys should've been in, which I probably agree with. But if you're going on record sales, then why not claim that The Spice Girls should go in the Hall Of Fame. Look, Adam, at the end of the day, the Hall Of Fame should recognise musical achievement - that, by and large, is what the American equivalent does. For Duran Duran to triumph over REM would be an utter abomination - and it goes without saying that I will vote for The Smiths, of course (though if I could vote twice, I would vote REM too). Bruce Springsteen was an 80s colossus whose music is also well respected critically, even though he probably did his best work in the 70s - nevertheless, recognition is proper. 'Nebraska' is excellent, while 'Born In The USA' has at least seven fantastic songs - bizarrely, it's the most successful songs from that album - namely 'Born In The USA', 'Dancing In The Dark' and 'Glory Days' - which now sound dated. On the other hand, 'I'm On Fire', 'Downbound Train', 'My Hometown' and at least four others from the record are still fabulous pop-rock songs. Point is, Springsteen has the musical clout to go with the sales. Why is it "muso rockist" to nominate The Smiths? Because they didn't fare as well commercially as they did critically? I find that argument ridiculous, it's snobbery in reverse. The implication that Duran Duran are more worthy entrants than The Smiths is just stupid - or are we saying that the Hall Of Fame is merely there to celebrate those who were popular? Talent MUST be the main reason for nomination - it must be, or we devalue music. Let's be honest, Duran Duran were ephemeral trash. Listen to 'Rio' today and it's cringeworthy. No longevity. Of course, you could say, with truth that Elvis Presley's later records were a bit naff, but at least Elvis revolutionised music and left behind a catalogue that contains some classics, especially his earlier Sun material. Duran Duran can't make any such claim. Smithdom, my vote goes to you.

kind of bullshit. Smiths weren't popular? He seems to want people to think that only the critics like them; I would put money on more teenagers of today caring about the Smiths than the wankers Duran Duran - who have received FAR too much attention on their reunion.
boy george is okay, culture club could have been in there instead of REM - yawnx4845.
The Smiths footage was great. So were the comments.

Come on you lot, we have won polls before, so lets all place our vote on this one and place The Smiths in the hall of fame where they rightfully belong.
(and if we can make Joy Division number 2 even better lol)

Gramp

I understand that this is a hall of fame, and that there are fewer famous pop stars than Madonna, but surely the list of criteria for getting on this list must have included being good.

What I dislike most about all this nonsense, aside from the horrible self-congratulatory back-slapping private-club Masons-with-guitars attitude, is this thing about automatic entry for 5 artists.

Okay...The Beatles, Elvis and Bob Marley I can see the point of their automatic inclusion. Madonna? Well okay, mostly crap records since 1990 but I can understand her iconic appeal.
But U2???
U2 for fux ache!!!
Somebody somewhere is having a huge laugh.