Handicapping the 1988 Hall of Famers

After the celebrated 1987 group of honorees headed by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys, the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies can’t help but be a letdown, right?

To compete with names as respected and as influential as those, you’d have to come up with--say--the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder?

As it happens, those three are among the 30 nominees being weighed by a panel of 300 recording industry insiders--from executives to critics--who have been asked to vote on this year’s honorees.

Under Hall of Fame rules, performers become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record--in this year’s balloting: 1963. Ballots are due Monday and the winners will be announced in October.

Of the 30 nominees, 12 became eligible this year. The remaining 18 were previously nominated, but did not get sufficient support to be inducted. Besides the Stones, Wonder and Redding, other artists eligible for the first time include Solomon Burke, the Four Tops and Ike & Tina Turner.

Suzan Evans, executive director of the Hall of Fame Foundation, said no decision has been made on the number of artists to be inducted, but she expects the figure to be between 5 and 10. The number in the past has ranged from 8 to 15.

Though the foundation allows the voters to determine their own guidelines when measuring the nominees, the tendency is to go for artists who helped shape rock music rather than simply accumulated hits.

Here’s my rating of the 1988 nominees--with artists listed alphabetically within categories. Of the top eight choices, everyone except Darin is eligible for the first time. Of the next choices, only those artists eligible for the first time are discussed. The others were commented on in last year’s Hall of Fame handicap.

The Musts

Otis Redding. Stats: 9 Top 40 singles, from “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Respect” in 1965 to the posthumous “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” in 1968.

History: One of countless examples in pop where statistics alone don’t begin to reflect an artist’s greatness. Redding, who rose to fame in the rock world with his dazzling performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, was killed that same year in a plane crash at age 26. A splendid singer with a soulful, affecting touch on ballads and show-stopping power on upbeat numbers.

Rolling Stones. Thirty-nine Top 40 hits, including eight No. 1 tunes. The latter ranged from “Satisfaction” and “Get Off My Cloud” in 1965 to “Miss You” in 1978.

A rebellious and exploitative attitude that has long caused them to be viewed as the “anti-Beatles” has also tended to obscure the true artistry of the Stones. Jagger and Richards weren’t as inventive a songwriting team as Lennon and McCartney, but they showed remarkable instincts and insights in updating their early blues impulses and exploring, among other things, contemporary hedonism. “Exile on Main Street” (from 1972) still stands as an absorbing look at a generation’s crack-up.

Temptations. Thirty-seven Top 40 hits, including four No. 1 singles: “My Girl” (1965), “I Can’t Get Next to You” (1969), “Just My Imagination” (1971) and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (1972).

The group, blessed with a parade of talented lead singers and expert producers (including Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield) was the king of the male Motown groups, thanks to its ability to move from the dreamy romanticism of such early hits as “My Girl” to the funkier, socially conscious tone of such early ‘70s numbers as “Ball of Confusion.”

Stevie Wonder. Forty-five Top 40 singles, a figure exceeded only by Elvis Presley (107) and the Beatles (49). Among the highlights: “Fingertips, Pt. 2” in 1963, when Wonder was just 13; “Superstition” in 1972 and “Sir Duke” in 1977.

Even more than the Temptations, Wonder went through an amazing transformation. After relying on the Motown hit-making machine to guide him during his teen years, Wonder declared his artistic independence when he turned 21 and in the ‘70s began work on a series of albums that established him as arguably the most respected record-maker of the decade. The high point was winning album of the year Grammys for three consecutive releases.

The Near Musts

Bobby Darin. Twenty-one Top 40 hits, starting with the novelty “Splish Splash” in 1958 and moving to “If I Were a Carpenter” in 1966.

One of the most talented and versatile singers of the modern pop era, Darin has long been underappreciated in rock circles because he moved between styles (from Sinatra-like pop to country to protest music) rather than stick with a single approach. In doing so, Darin exhibited a daring and desire that was far truer to the early ideals of rock than hundreds of rock stars who stuck to one musical area without enriching it.

Four Tops. Twenty-two Top 40 hits, stretching from “Baby, I Need Your Loving” in 1964 to “When She Was My Girl” in 1981.

A key and endearing part of the amazing Motown success story in the ‘60s, the Tops--spotlighting the vocals of Levi Stubbs--stand today in the shadow of the Temptations. But the Tops’ best music--much of it shaped by the production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland--retains an innocence and drama as disarming as anything in ‘60s pop.

Wilson Pickett. Sixteen Top 40 hits, including “In the Midnight Hour” (1965), “Land of 1,000 Dances” (1966) and “Funky Broadway” (1967).

Perhaps even more influential than his actual music was Pickett’s brash, sexy attitude--an attitude that, on stage and on record, helped define the aggressive and impassioned image of a male soul singer in the ‘60s.

Ike & Tina Turner. Six Top 40 singles as a team, highlighted by the 1971 remake of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary.”

This wasn’t all Tina’s show. Ike was an experienced band leader and record man who worked in the ‘50s with Sam Phillips (the discoverer of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis). Still, the Turners’ most memorable contribution to rock may have been a simply red-hot stage show, where Ike’s music provided the perfect support for Tina’s dazzling movements. Who can forget her torrid stage shows with Ike?

Next in Line

Impressions. Sixteen Top 40 singles, highlighted by “Keep on Pushing” in 1964 and “People Get Ready” in 1965.

Without the promotional muscle of a Motown behind it, the Chicago-based R & B group, led by Curtis Mayfield, didn’t enjoy the same attention as the Temptations and the Four Tops, but the Impressions made some richly appealing records, including expressions of black pride and social consciousness that almost certainly played a part in shaping Marvin Gaye’s vision when he made “What’s Going On.”

Previously nominated (and evaluated in these pages last year): Hank Ballard, Booker T. and the MG’s, Dion, Frankie Lymon and Jimmy Reed.

Long Shots

Among the first-time eligibles:

Solomon Burke. Five Top 40 singles, including 1961’s “Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms)” and 1965’s “Tonight’s the Night.”

A remarkable singer with strong, often dramatic, gospel instincts, the Philadelphia native has been widely admired by critics and musicians but didn’t dent the rock consciousness the way several of the other great soul singers of the ‘60s did.

Carole King. Thirteen Top 40 singles, most notably “It’s Too Late” in 1971 and “Sweet Seasons” in 1972. She also wrote several other Top 40 hits, including “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “Up on the Roof.” The last two were co-written by Gerry Goffin.

Despite the social impact of the Grammy-winning “Tapestry” album, King’s greatest contribution came as a writer--not as an artist, making her a more likely candidate for the wing of the Hall of Fame reserved for writers, producers and executives.

Gladys Knight. Twenty-four Top 40 hits, including “Every Beat of My Heart” in 1961, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” in 1967 and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” in 1974.

An appealing singer with an especially warm and intimate delivery. Knight made some classic singles, but there wasn’t enough of an original stamp on her work with the Pips for her to be rated higher.

Martha & the Vandellas. Twelve Top 40 singles, including “Heat Wave,” “Quicksand” and “Dancing in the Street” in the early ‘60s.

Like Knight, Martha Reeves made enough extraordinary records--with the help of the Motown producers and writers--to someday earn a place in the Hall of Fame, but the competition is too strong in this year’s field for the vocal group to be seriously considered.

The Holdovers:

La Vern Baker, Bobby (Blue) Bland, Ruth Brown, King Curtis, Duane Eddy, the Four Seasons, Little Willie John, the Platters, Lloyd Price, Del Shannon, Gene Vincent and Chuck Willis.