501.) Tues Apr. 17, 2018

Originally Published on Apr. 17, 2018

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Snub Week

The Song of the Day is:

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway – “Where is the Love”

From the album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)

I’ve got a two-for-one deal today on Rock Hall snubs.  Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway are two soul music icons and Howard University alumni who would commonly perform together right up until his tragic death.  I would be delighted if these two friends were inducted in the same ceremony, but at this rate, it seems highly unlikely.  Roberta Flack is the better known of the pair, as she started the seventies as one of the most popular performers in the world.  Flack had stockpiled four albums (including the one pictured above) before her big break came with the inclusion of her “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me.  She instantly became a Grammy darling as that song and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” won back to back Record of the Year awards (despite the fact that “First Time” was actually three years old).  This song won a Grammy as well, for Best Pop Vocal by a Duo, Group or Chorus.  Flack had a soul meets folk appeal to her music, she is currently 81.  Hathaway on the other hand was more of a cult artist, as his biggest hits were with Flack, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t produce masterpieces.  He did.  Hathaway was a terrific singer, and one of the best arrangers in soul music.  The transformative arrangement he did on Ray Charles’ “I Believe in My Soul” is simply astonishing, as well his Blood, Sweat and Tears cover, “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”.  He would ultimately release five studio albums, two of which were collaborations with Flack, and a soundtrack before his untimely demise.  In 1979, some time after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, Hathaway apparently leapt from a fifteenth floor hotel room.  Friends and family were shocked as his career was in an upswing.  Flack would later share her duets with the great Peabo Bryson.  Both artists, together and separately are beloved by soul music aficionados.  So whey are they not included in the Hall of Fame, with no nominations yet, despite decades of eligibility?  My guess would be demographics.  With most of the heavy hitters inducted in the soul music category, there is less demand for these artists.  I’ve already stated that being dead does not help the push for induction, especially for cult artists.  Flack is also viewed as an adult contemporary artist as much as she is a soul or folk artist.  The Hall avoids adult contemporary at nearly all costs (save Hall & Oates and Neil Diamond).  I would say Flack has a better chance than Hathaway of induction, but really, both are worthy.