Down with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

There is footage on the internet of Robert Smith, lead singer in the Cure, being interviewed on the occasion of his band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. At high pitch and tremendous volume, the host yells up a storm about the incredible honour being bestowed upon the group, while Smith claws at his face, grimaces, and rolls his eyes. ‘Are you as excited as I am?’ she shouts. ‘By the sounds of it, no,’ Smith mutters – speaking, surely, for all of us.

Of all the many reasons to dislike the RRHOF – some of which we’ll get to shortly; and yes, the acronym is one of them – it is the jarring mix of shrieking self-love and august earnestness which rankles most.

Founded in 1983 by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, located in the blue collar heartlands of Cleveland, Ohio, the Hall of Fame is overseen by the grandees of US rock culture, among them Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone magazine and Seymour Stein of Sire.