UPDATE - 12/22@9:35AM: After listening to more of the show, VH1 executive and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nomination Committee member Rick Krim called in at one point and spoke about how he has been pushing for Rush's induction for the last 3 years to no avail.

UPDATE - 12/22@9:10AM: The entire (very long) interview was posted to YouTube (thanks RushFanForever).

UPDATE - 12/19@8:15PM: By a strange quirk of fate, I had to take my car into the shop today and was given a rental that has satellite radio. So I've been sitting out in the car since 6:30 (my neighbors must think I'm nuts) listening to the interview. They are taking a short break and are then going to take some calls from listeners. The bulk of the first hour was spent on explaining the ins and outs of the nomination/induction process - which I was already familiar with but I think was helpful and educational for the general public who were unfamiliar and may have had some questions about how it all works. But whenever Eddie delved into specifics, Peresman weaved and dodged, saying that it wasn't up to him who got in and his stock answer when asked about band X was that they didn't get enough votes. Once they did get into specifics, Eddie mentioned Deep Purple, Rush and KISS as the 3 most egregious omissions from the Hall that he could think of. Peresman agreed that all 3 bands were worthy, but didn't get enough votes. Eddie brought up the point that if - after being eligible for nearly 15 years in many cases - these bands hadn't yet even been nominated (with the exception of KISS- who was nominated once), that there must be some reason for it; that something else was going on behind the scenes to prevent them from getting in. Peresman denied there was anything like that going on, but couldn't/wouldn't explain things beyond that. And when asked whether something needed to change regarding the process, Peresman said no; nothing needed to change. They talked a bit about Guns and Roses being inducted on the first ballot on the strength of essentially one album - Appetite for Destruction. Eddie pointed out how ridiculous that was given all the other eligible bands that influenced G-n-R that have been ignored. Eddie also touched on how outrageous it was that it took so long for a band like Alice Cooper to get inducted (they were finally inducted last year). All in all it was a good conversation from an educational standpoint, in that the nomination/induction process was explained in detail. But nothing was resolved and the fact that Peresman couldn't even bring himself to admit that there was a problem with the process was a bit disheartening.

Radio DJ and That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk will be interviewing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation CEO Joel Peresman for his Sirius XM radio show this evening. From Eddie Trunk's blog:

... Yes it is true! The President of the R&R Hall Of Fame Foundation is coming to Eddie Trunk Live to discuss the Hall and my feelings about it! Joel Peresman from the Hall will be in studio 12/19 at 6:30PM ET for a discussion about one of my favorite targets, how it works, why it works that way, your calls, and more. Joel does NOT make the decisions on who goes in exclusively, but he is the top guy for the R&R Hall Foundation and hopefully we can make some progress and figure out why these injustices for so many great legendary rock bands have taken place for decades! I appreciate Joel stepping up in response to my years of rants on TV and Radio. Nice to know they are paying attention and he is at least willing to hear us out. ...

Knowing how huge of a Rush fan Eddie is, it's pretty much a given that Rush will get discussed. It should be very interesting. Note that Peresman is the CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation - as opposed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. While the two are affiliated, the Foundation is the entity responsible for selecting inductees to the Rock Hall, and the Museum itself is just that - a Rock and Roll museum and has nothing to do with who gets selected. The CEO of the Museum is Terry Stewart. If those of you subscribed to Sirius XM radio can listen in and give a report, it would be much appreciated.

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