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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the 2015 ballot and the street hardcore Hip-Hop group, NWA, was one of the artists nominated for inclusion. The controversial group will have some tough competition as only the top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a fans’ ballot that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2015 inductees.
“We are pleased to present this group of nominees, as they represent the myriad places where rock and roll converges with blues, electronic, dance, Motown, R&B, funk and other genres,†said Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “Rock and roll incorporates the styles of so many different kinds of music and that’s what makes this group of nominees — and this art form — so powerful and unique.â€
To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. The 2015 nominees had to release their first recording no later than 1989.
Along with NWA, here are some other notable acts that will compete for inclusion to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
The disco group, formed by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards, emerged in 1976 and debuted on Atlantic Records with their self-titled debut,
Chic. The album spawned the hits, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ and ‘Everybody Dance’ in 1977. They went on to record the classic songs, ‘LeFreak’, ‘Everybody Dance’ and ‘Good Times’. Good Times was the first song sampled for a commercial Hip-Hop record which was Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’The Marvelettes, Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (now Schaffner), Georgeanna Tillman (later Gordon), Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins were a group who gained popularity in the mid-1960s. Wanda Young (now Rogers) replaced Georgia Dobbins prior to the group signing their first deal. Their hit, “Please Mr. Postman”, was the first number one record on Motown Records and they were also the first all-girl group to do
it. In 2005, two of the group’s most successful recordings, “Please Mr. Postman” and “Don’t Mess with Bill” earned million-selling Gold singles from the RIAA.The Spinners originated in 1954 in Ferndale, Michigan, outside of Detroit. The original members were Henry Fambrough, William “Billy” Henderson, Pervis Jackson, James Edwards, Robert “Bobby” Smith and Crathman “C.P.” Spencer. Some of their hits were, It’s A Shame, Could It Be I’m Falling In Love, I’ll Be Around and The Rubberband Man.
The band originally started as The Creators, which then morphed into Nightshift before becoming War in the 1960s. They were ‘discovered’ while performing with Deacon Jones (A football player at the time) by record producer Jerry Goldstein and singer Eric
Burdon (ex-lead singer of the British band the Animals). They had hits like ‘The Cisco Kid’, ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness,’ ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?’ and ‘Low Rider.’Grammy Award winning Bill Withers started his music career in the 70s and had a string of successful hits, as well as earning platinum status for his recordings. He was signed by Clarence Avant and signed to Sussex Records and had his first album produced by Booker T. Jones. His string of hits included ‘Lovely Day’, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, ‘Lean On Me’ and ‘Just The Two of Us.’