The Gist

Chaka Khan vs. Deep Purple vs. The Smiths

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the only time we’ll ever have to compare the merits of Steve Miller and Janet Jackson. No contest, right?

Go ahead and vote for your favorite acts for the Rock Hall, just don’t expect it to count.

Screenshot from the Rock Hall website.

Listen to Episode 373 of Slate’s The Gist:

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On The Gist, music writer Chris Molanphy explains why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is often frustratingly arbitrary. For example, the millions of fan votes from their website count as much toward the impact on the final selection process as the vote of Geddy Lee from Rush. Molanphy writes Slate’s Why Is That Song No. 1 column, and recently complied his picks in an article Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2016: The Only System We’ve Got.” For the Spiel, Mike investigates the controversy around Quentin Tarantino’s comments on MSNBC.

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*Correction, Nov. 7, 2015: This post originally misspelled Chaka Khan’s last name

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