The Script (ft. will.i.am) – "Hall of Fame" (2012)

’Cause you burn with the brightest flame

And the world's gonna know your name

And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame!

Announcing . . . (drum roll) . . . the 2 OR 3 LINES HALL OF FAME!

There are thousands of great pop/rock/soul/metal/hip-hop/punk records out there.  Sooner or later, 2 or 3 lines is going to feature each and every one of them.

But there are some songs that stand head and shoulders above the rest.  These songs deserve special recognition, and thanks to 2 or 3 lines, they are going to get it.

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The 2 OR 3 LINES HALL OF FAME is actually going to be several halls of fame rolled up into one.  I plan to have an album hall of fame, a one-hit wonder hall of fame, and several others.  We’re talking hall of fame mishegas, boys and girls.

Today I’m announcing the first ten inductees into a hall of fame that will include the best top 40 hits from the golden decade of rock/pop music: 1964 to 1973.  

It’s no accident that this ten-year period begins when I was in 6th-grade – watch out, bub, here comes puberty! – and ends when I was a senior in college.

It’s also no accident that the first ten songs I’ve selected for this hall of fame were hits between 1964 and 1970.  The quality of top 40 music took a major nosedive after I graduated from high school in 1970.

To be eligible for the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME, a song not only has to have been released between 1964 and 1973, but also must have achieved a high ranking on the Billboard “Hot 100” charts.  A good number of the songs in this hall of fame will be #1 or #2 hits, and the vast majority will have been top ten singles.

The other criteria for inclusion in this hall of fame are more subjective.  For example, I’ll give additional points to songs that were unique and broke new musical ground.

The first ten songs inducted will be by ten different artists.  So will the next ten inductees, which I will announce next year.  Eventually, I will start to induct songs by artists who already have a song in the hall of fame.  

Finally, the songs that make it into this hall of fame will be songs that sound just as good today as they did when they were released – which was roughly a half-century ago.  

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I believe that it will be impossible for anyone to argue that any of those first ten songs I’ve chosen don’t belong – each is clearly hall of fame material.  (We’re talking Homer/Shakespeare/Dickens-level songs, boys or girls – or, if you prefer, Babe Ruth/Michael Jordan/Tom Brady-level songs.)

I’m not saying that my first ten picks are the best ten “Golden Decade” singles ever – although they might be.  But I don’t see how anyone can say these ten songs aren’t in the top 100. 

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You’ll probably be surprised to see that there are no Beatles or Rolling Stones songs in my initial hall of fame group of ten singles.  (It surprised me, too.)

Sooner or later – probably sooner – there will be Beatles and Stones songs in this hall of fame.  But the very best songs recorded by those groups didn’t crack the top 40.  So they aren’t eligible to be selected.

There will be Beatles and Stones songs in my next hall of fame, which will feature the best classic rock tracks that never made the top 40 – songs that were often the centerpieces of the albums you listened to in your dorm room, and that were staples on album-oriented rock radio stations.

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Enough yakety-yak.  It’s time to announce the first ten inductees into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  

Here they are, in chronological order of release – oldest to newest:

1.  Animals – “House of the Rising Sun” (1965)

2.  Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)

3.  Who – “I Can See for Miles” (1966)

4.  Association – “Along Comes Mary” (1966)

5.  Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations” (1966)

6.  Byrds – “Eight Miles High” (1966)

7.  Steppenwolf – “Born to Be Wild” (1968)

8.  Grass Roots – “Midnight Confessions” (1968)

9.  Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)

10. Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son” (1969)

July’s 2 or 3 lines posts will take a look at each one of the fabulous singles.

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“Hall of Fame” was released in 2012 by The Script, an Irish band that formed in 2007 in Dublin.  The song features will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

Click here to listen to “Hall of Fame.”

And click below to buy the song from Amazon: