Musical Excellence Award: Rock Hall Honors Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, MC5 And Norman Whitfield

Jimmy Buffett: From ‘Margaritaville’ To The Hall Of Fame

Jimmy Buffett, whose “Gulf & Western” style of music combined Caribbean rhythms and instrumentation with the Texas troubadour songwriting influence embodied by friend Jerry Jeff Walker, wasn’t just a musician – he was a culture creator, an entrepreneur and an author, among other things.

Since 1973, his songs reflected his pleasures as a world traveler, pilot, and sailor and were often based on real events: “Jamaica Mistaica,” “Buffet Hotel,” “A Pirate Looks at 40.” But his biggest hits struck chords and made new fans with every release: “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” “Come Monday,” “Margaritaville,” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” may not have been deeply profound, but they sure were fun.

And his fans, known as Parrotheads – a term coined by former Coral Reefer Band member Timothy B. Schmidt – came out to see him in droves when he set out on summer amphitheater tours. By 1985, Buffett began to grow his Parrothead lifestyle empire, which eventually included restaurant chains, bars, hotels, casinos, retirement communities, beverages, home goods, apparel, accessories, books and even a musical.

The 2000s brought Buffett much acclaim. “Margaritaville” was included in the “Songs of the Century,” a list of 365 songs of historical significance selected by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. He won the Country Music Association Awards’ Vocal Event of the Year for his 2003 duet with Alan Jackson, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” and in 2010, he was named the tenth biggest touring artist of the decade, with 4.5 million ticket sales over the previous 10 years.

Buffett’s influence can be heard in the mischievous humor and tropical vibes of hits from some of today’s country greats, including Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Zac Brown, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley.

Dionne Warwick: Desegregating Pop Music And Saving The World

Dionne Warwick has been one of the giant vocalists of pop music since her solo debut in 1962. But her first, and possibly greatest, love is gospel.

“Gospel music has always been my favorite music to sing and the first thing I learned, from my aunts and uncles, and my mom and the Drinkard Singers were, and still are, the premiere singing group,” Warwick says.

That early training paved the way for Warwick’s massive pop success as a sublime interpreter of songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, with whom she had a long string of hits in the 1960s. Songs like “Walk On By,” “I Say a Little Prayer for You” and “Don’t Make Me Over” are standards in the pop canon.

But she didn’t stop there. In the 1970s, Warwick teamed up with the Spinners on the No. 1 hit “Then Came You,” followed in 1979 with the Barry Manilow-produced “I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” earning Warwick her third Best Female Pop Performance Grammy. In the 1980s and 1990s, she sang duets with Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, and Johnny Mathis, among others.

In 1985, she contributed vocals to “We Are The World,” written and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson as a benefit for USA For Africa, which would be followed by another benefit single – “That’s What Friends Are For,” alongside Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder in 1985. Credited to “Dionne and Friends,” the single raised more than $3 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).

But for Warwick, it all goes back to gospel. In a recent interview with the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, she says, “Gospel music is where I learned the presence and the enormous effect that words have on people. It’s where I learned to be able to give positive and reflective meaning to words. It’s about love, joy, happiness and inspiration.”

MC5: Kickin’ Out The Punk Rock Jams In Detroit

The Motor City Five – better known as the MC5 – burst out of Detroit with an explosive brand of garage rock that not only flipped a finger at popular culture and music of the late 1960s, but spawned a punk rock phenomenon that endures.

No, Virginia: punk rock did not begin in the grimy storefront nightclubs of New York, no matter how storied CBGB, Max’s Kansas City or Mercer’s Art Center may be. It was birthed with MC5’s first known concert at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit, though it more accurately might have been conceived in the basement of guitarist Wayne Kramer’s mother’s home.

Unapologetically political, loud and hard rocking, MC5 was invited by Abbie Hoffman to perform at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, representing a cultural tipping point of what protest music could be. Guitarists Kramer, Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis, drummer Dennis Thompson, and face-melting lead singer Rob Tyner influenced rockers from Detroit to NYC and far beyond.

The MC5 prefigured much of American punk rock and even influenced heavy metal. After releasing Kick Out the Jams, the band broke new ground with their second album, Back in the USA, produced by then-rock critic Jon Landau. The record combined Chuck Berry riffs with lyrics that remain prophetic to this day. The Motor City 5 kicked out the jams and politicized every bystander in sight. They were an unapologetic garage band that influenced countless punk and heavy metal artists, including Smith’s wife, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth and Metallica.

Norman Whitfield: Motown Producer Shaped The Sound Of Young America

Norman Whitfield caught his first big break at Motown in 1963 as the songwriter of
Marvin Gaye’s Top 5 hit “Pride & Jay” in 1963 after beginning his career in the fledgling label’s quality control department.

He wrote more hits for the Marvelettes (“Too Many Fish in the Sea”) and the Velvelettes (“Needle in a Haystack”) but scored his biggest break when he became the main producer for The Temptations in 1966.

From there, his collaboration with The Temps produced some of the vocal group’s biggest hits, including “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and “Just My Imagination.” He expanded their sound, and Motown’s image, with a foray into social justice issues and what became known as “psychedelic soul” with songs like “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack” and Edwin Starr’s “War” simultaneously reflecting and affecting rampant societal change during a turbulent era.

Whitfield’s use of innovative, extended instrumental arrangements – most notably heard on the Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” defied expectations of what popular music could be and sound like.

Whitfield single-handedly expanded the Motown sound, inspiring countless future generations of musicians and producers. He died in 2008 but has since been honored by the Grammy Awards and Songwriters Hall of Fame for his massive contribution to rock ‘n’ roll.