Steppenwolf – "Rock Me" (1969)

 

Rock me, baby

Rock me, baby

All night long

I’m sure you’re familiar with all of the following recording artists, who have collectively sold many millions of records:

– ABBA

– Joan Baez

– Bee Gees

– Whitney Houston

– Janet Jackson

– The Notorious B.I.G.

– Nina Simone

– Steppenwolf

– Cat Stevens

– Donna Summer

Nine of those ten artists have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while the tenth has not.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland

Can you guess which is the one who has not yet been honored by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

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Believe it or not, the one artist on that list that most deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the one that is still waiting to be inducted.

I’m talking about Steppenwolf, who were nominated in 2017 but failed to be voted in.

But while Steppenwolf has a song in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – “Born to Be Wild” was included in the first group of individual songs to be inducted into the Hall in 2018 – Steppenwolf as a group is still on the outside looking in.

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Don’t get me wrong.

I can’t get enough of “Dancing Queen” and “Stayin’ Alive,” and I’m second to no man when it comes to my love of rap music.  (In addition to the Notorious B.I.G., the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has inducted several other hip-hop superstars – Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, Tupac Shakur, and N.W.A. among them.)

But if you’re going to put disco and rap performers in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, why not throw in some country-western artists and an opera singer or two while you’re at it?

The last time I checked, the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t include any rugby players, and there were no fast-pitch softball players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

So why are Whitney Houston and Cat Stevens and Donna Summer in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while Steppenwolf isn’t?

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“Rock Me” was the first single from Steppenwolf’s third album, At Your Birthday Party, which was released in 1969:

I bought the album when I was a high-school senior, and purt near played it to death.  Many times I put it on and listened to it straight through – it’s a good album.

Click here to listen to “Rock Me.”

Click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon: