Freak Out! The 2008 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees Are...

Visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was an awesome experience, and it's important to consider the Hall based entirely on the exhibits you'll see.
After all, you probably wouldn't even consider visiting the Hall if all you had to motivate you was the incredibly thinning nominees and the glaringly absent artists who's cultural significance far outweigh their sales significance.
It’s gotten to the point where the nominees are turning into head-scratching moments and artists that you’d never associate with “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominee.”
And the contenders for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2008 are:

• Afrika Bambaataa
• Beastie Boys
• Chic
• Leonard Cohen
• The Dave Clark Five
• Madonna
• John Mellencamp
• Donna Summer
• The Ventures

Now, believe it or not, I don’t have a problem with Madonna on that list. I understand how polarizing she can be among rock aficionados and I get that “Madonna” and “rock,” when using the most stringent of terminologies, probably wouldn’t qualify as a well thought out choice.
But fuck it; as provocative as Madonna was, she deserves inclusion based on the sole fact that there wasn’t a more feared entertainer than her since Elvis
No, for me the curious thing is: What the fuck are Chic doing on there? Donna Summer?
And yes, what about the Dave Clark Five?
To be honest, I don’t even think Beastie Boys deserve to be there yet. At the very least, they should be placed on hold until Paul’s Boutique turns twenty five.
John Mellencamp? Ditto. You’ve got to hold the dude to at least a quarter century off of Scarecrow; everyone knows that the shit before that was pretty weak.
Afrika Bambaataa and Leonard Cohen are both token entries, meant to appease those who want to lend a little bit of critically acclaimed with their dirtyass rock and roll. I’ve never heard an album by either artist truly rock, but if you’ve gotta throw in Madonna, I suppose you got to throw in a few extra for the college station Music Director too.
The Ventures? What the hell. Leave them on. Hell, they had Mosrite guitars named after them, so sure, let these instrumental kings walk, don’t run to the podium.
But for me, the class of 2008 would have looked like this:

• Alice Cooper (band)
• The Stooges
• New York Dolls
• Rush
• Captain Beefheart