If only Mark McGwire had started a band instead of the All-Star Game, he would have been a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Unlike the one in Cooperstown, the Hall of Fame in Cleveland doesn't discriminate against users of performance-enhancing drugs.

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is about as rock n roll as Wilfred Brimley. Conceding this, I watched the inductions of U2, Percy Sledge, Buddy Guy, The O'Jays, and The Pretenders this weekend on VH1.

A few words on the inductees: Back when Saturday Night Live was cutting edge, they had Percy Sledge on as a musical guest. He wasn't current, just cool. Buddy Guy is an awesome name. It's like Bud Dude or Pal Homie. The O'Jays came up with "The Love Train," a song that has inspired myriad interpretations. U2 are like The Beatles or Madonna (apologies for saying Madonna and The Beatles in the same sentence) in that they reinvent themselves every few years. They were New Wave, hyperpolitical, Eurotrash, and even not U2 when they were The Passengers. And The Pretenders, like The Who and The Grateful Dead, stand among rock's elite in sacrificing multiple members to the rock god, drugs.

The Pretenders may be the most underrated band ever. "Talk of the Town," "Back on the Chain Gang," "Never Do That," "2000 Miles," and "Night in My Veins" are some of the best songs you've ever heard. Chrissie Hynde attended Kent State amidst the deadly shootings in 1970, worked in Malcolm McLaren's "Sex" fashion boutique, lost two band members to heroin and cocaine, had Ray Davies' kid, and married Jim Kerr from Simple Minds. That's pretty rock n roll. I got a chance to see The Pretenders a few years back. Upon entering DC's 9:30 Club, an obnoxious PETA display greeted me. During the concert, some angry lesbians accosted my wife and I for attempting to make our way from the front of the packed club past them to the bathroom in the back. I suffered their temporary screams, for I knew they would be fat and ugly for much longer. Despite the unpleasantness, The Pretenders rocked.

Do you not own a Pretenders album? How about getting their debut Pretenders or the follow-up Pretenders II? For an overview rather than a cropped snapshot of their music, try The Pretenders Greatest Hits.

And if The Pretenders aren't your thing, try picking up a CD from one of the other acts that made it into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. This week I'll be featuring a disc from each of the inductees under the "Recommended Listening" links on the right side of the page. Some other selections by those acts are featured above in this post. In just a few clicks, you can support FlynnFiles and pick up some great music. What are you waiting for?

The biblical end of days.

I don't know as I'd call these drugs performance-enhancing, unless you mean a person's performance as a jackass.

The Pretenders are good, and put on a fine live show, but Hall of Fame? 'Learning to Crawl' was over 20 years ago. They had three great albums off the go and then... Maybe we can just put the early Pretenders in the Hall.

In fact, if U2 hadn't made it back out of the post-'Achtung Baby' wilderness, I'm not sure they'd go either. These things ought to be strict.

(For example - why the heck is Don Sutton in the Hall?)

The Pretenders should be in the Ron Santo, Jim Rice and Bert Bleyleven category. They were good but they never dominated. U2 belongs no doubt. Actung was their last great album but they have so many good songs. I think Cheap Trick is better than the Pretenders and more deserving and they both came out the same year. Only problem is Cheap Tricks front man is not a hermaphodite, animal activist from Ohio. Such is life.

The R&R HOF has just become an excuse for the industry to gather and enjoy themselves while offering self congratulations.
While the song “When A Man Loves A Woman” is a great one, Percy Sledge is the definition of a one hit wonder.
The O Jays had some disco hits in the 70s. This makes for the Hall of Fame?

Dan. Is it necessary to bash liberals in every context? In this case lesbians.
Why not comment on state rights regarding Congress injecting themselves in the Terry Schiavo situation?
I guess conservative valves are very portable pertaining to whatever the issue is.

Rob: What's odd is not that I objected to seeing obnoxious PETA banners and literature at a Pretenders concert, but that obnoxious PETA banners and literature were at a Pretenders concert. You suggest that I'm injecting politics into a non-political subject. That's funny, that's what I thought when the first thing I saw upon entering a rock club was a giant display booth for PETA. As far as the incident with the lesbians are concerned, what does that have to do with politics?

I’ve often wondered what hits me about U2 (is it our Irish kinship? Don’t think so.). They have an odd and eclectic sound and are technically very simple from a musical standpoint. This must be what gives them the unique sound that hooks you.

In fact, I wonder: Bono is not a particularly great front man. Doesn’t have a smooth, polished style or voice. The Edge is not a particularly great guitarist. Nothing complicated here.

But, the band in total possesses that intangible that can only be referred to as soul.

They did three numbers on SNL about a month ago and blew everybody away. Especially ‘Walk Away’ at the end.

Dan - With all due respect....
The point was the fact that PETA (Liberals) was where you perceived they shouldn’t be. Thus some ugly PETA lesbians (liberals) accosted you. Did you know if these females were actually lesbians or is that just the slur you are using. This is what conservatives accuse liberals (or as the right likes to think) the media of doing. Just placing a “matter of fact insult” in the middle of something unrelated. You must realize that the PETA/lesbian story is totally out of place in the R&R HOF comment.

Also you will notice on Fox or any other conservative organ that missteps from the right are either ignored or glossed over. The Terry Schaivo story should be front and center. Do you have no point of view on this? Thought I disagree with you most times, I thought you were intellectually honest.

The Pretenders are boring. Chrissy Hynde spends so much time proclaiming how "rock & roll" she is that she isn't rock & roll at all. As for U2 -- blecchh!! The Rock Hall is a joke. And this is a guy from Cleveland telling you that!

Gee Rob,

apparently you haven't bothered to scroll down the post page of FlynnFiles considering that he posted on the attempted murder that is being perpetrated on poor Terry Schiavo a few posts back on the 18th.

The anecdote about the fat ugly lesbians accosting him was part of his story about getting to experience a Pretenders concert. It is odd that you seem to ignore Dan's describing them as "fat" and "ugly" and instead think calling them "lesbian" is a slur. How can a liberal find the term lesbian to be a slur? You tell your concert stories your way and Dan will tell his in his way.

And how does relaying to his readers his subjective experience of a particular rock concert have to do with Fox News?

The issue of Schiavo has taken a political turn with the interjection of Congress and the president. Conservatives who believe in personal rights, small government and states rights need to reconcile this with those beliefs.

Not hard to do Rob.

There is no right to murder someone. There I reconciled the politics with conservatism.

"I suffered their temporary screams, for I knew they would be fat and ugly for much longer."

That comment made my day.

"There is no right to murder someone."

Well, in that case, you'd have to prosecute just about 90% of all hospitals who regularly overdose dying patients into hospices and into an early grave (and regularly 'pull the plug' under questionable circumstances). The truth is, you do have the right to kill people in this country. It just depends under what guise you're doing it in. This is why Tom De Lay can kill his dad, but we must all believe that some skygod wants us to save the Terri Schiavos of the world from themselves, even when they expressly tell family and friends they do not wish to live life as a veg or braindead. Ah, such morality and love. How you and your brethren love the nanny state when it fits your interests (or hypocritical belief in the unknown).

Cheaptrick is better than the Pretenders? Are you out of your friggin mind? Really, I like Cheaptrick but to compare them to the influential Rock of the Pretenders is ridiculous. Chrissie not only rocks, but at 50 still looks great.