Star Wars' "Andor" is the Best Show About Politics on TV Right Now
PLUS: Twenty female artists who belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
As someone who follows and studies politics, I have a hard time watching TV shows about politics. I’m sure lawyers feel the same way about courtroom dramas and doctors and nurses the same way about hospital dramas. For me at least, political dramas struggle to represent the complexity of the political world; often imply that nearly every character follows either corrupt notions or noble ideals rather than more down-to-earth political incentives; and rely too much on epic showdowns, rousing speeches, and clever stratagems that definitively resolve conflict. That all may make for a straightforward and compelling plot, but for someone who finds politics pretty compelling as it is, shows like The West Wing and House of Cards feel cartoonish. (To be honest, the best show I’ve ever watched about politics is the comedy Veep, which captures how mundane, petty, and absurd day-to-day politics can be.)
That said, there is an excellent political drama on TV right now. It’s called Andor, and you’ll find it in an unexpected place—the streaming network Disney+—and produced by an unexpected source—the people behind Star Wars.
Diego Luna stars as the show’s eponymous main character. Cassian Andor is not new to the Star Wars universe. Audiences were introduced to him in the 2016 film Rogue One, the first live-action theatrical Star Wars film that was not part of the nine-episode “Skywalker Saga.” If you have not seen Rogue One, you should, as one can reasonably argue it’s the best Star Wars movie ever made.
Rogue One isn’t space opera, and for the most part, its characters don’t wield lightsabers or use the Force; in fact, most of its characters are new to the Star Wars universe. Instead, Rogue One is a war film set immediately before the events of the original 1977 Star Wars film and tells the story of how the Rebels acquired the top-secret plans to the Death Star. The film is grittier and more bleak than other Star Wars films (although, having first watched it weeks after Donald Trump was elected president, it did fill me with some measure of hope) and features characters who aren’t archetypal heroes and villains. Andor is one of these characters, a jaded intelligence officer not above killing for the Rebel cause.
Andor doubles down on the tone of its source material. The series is set five years prior to the events of Rogue One/Star Wars and follows Andor, a scruffy thief on the planet Ferrix, as he is reluctantly drawn into the nascent rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Rather than focus exclusively on Andor, however, the show also spends a lot of time developing the social and political backdrop of the Star Wars universe. We see what life is like for ordinary citizens living under the thumb of the Empire, the inner workings of the Imperial security state’s bureaucracy, and the delicate maneuverings of elite dissidents.
Star Wars has always been broadly political. The wickedly evil and cruel Empire comes across as the apotheosis of twentieth-century totalitarianism. The rebels are plucky freedom fighters whom viewers could associate with liberal 60s-era protestors, the small government/anti-communist crusaders of the Reagan Era, or (perhaps most accurately) the Viet Cong. The prequel trilogy touched on other political themes, such as the destabilizing effects of domestic political strife, sclerotic political orders, and how liberty dies (“with thunderous applause”) when concerns about security override commitments to democracy. That last theme in particular resonated with audiences during the George W. Bush era, but that idea wasn’t developed in a tremendous amount of depth. If there is a single, poignant political idea running through the Star Wars trilogy of trilogies, it is to beware the military-industrial complex and to find one’s strength not in technology but in one’s soul.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy—who has worked as either writer, director, or both on the Jason Bourne franchise, Michael Clayton (2007), Duplicity (2009), State of Play (2009), and Rogue One—has brought the nuance typically absent in Star Wars to Andor. The main character, for instance, isn’t a noble freedom fighter (or a charming Solo-esque rogue with a heart of gold, for that matter); he’s a member of the underclass who’s just trying to survive by stealing Imperial technology. One gets the sense he’d be robbing the old Republic if they were still running the galaxy. He’s also untroubled by the moral implications of his actions, as a deadly encounter with two security guards early in the first episode demonstrates. Andor is an unpolitical person who keeps finding himself entangled in his moment’s politics.
Andor’s exploits draw the attention of Luthen Rael (the always excellent Stellan Skarsgård) who sees in the thief a set of skills that would be useful in a plot against the Empire. Without revealing too much about him, Luthen carries on a kind of double life, and, like Andor, is a morally ambiguous character who at one point dons the sort of robe we might expect the Sith to wear. No longer resigned to Imperial rule, Luthen has grown more desperate in his advanced age to undermine the Empire and organize a resistance. His assistant worries this has led him to get sloppy. He’s also embraced violence as a means to achieving his goals and is not afraid to use it to tie up loose ends. Like every other character on Andor, he is operating under extreme stress, and try as he might to hide it, it shows. The stakes are simply too high for him to treat his mission as an adventure the way Luke, Leia, and Han do.
Luthen is in contact with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) a pro-democracy senator whose condemnations of the Imperial regime are ignored by a legislature that has all but ceded its powers to the dictatorial Emperor Palpatine. (Mon is a character briefly seen addressing Rebel forces prior to their attack on the second Death Star in 1983’s Return of the Jedi.) It has dawned on Mon that legislative attempts to check the power of the Empire are becoming increasingly futile with each passing day, but she’s also unsettled by Luthen’s turn to violence. Mon remains a member of high society, hosting posh parties and using her connections with the wealthy to bankroll the rebellion. Yet she also has a bratty daughter as well as a husband who has grown accustomed to the privileges that come with being a member of the political elite. Her home life may be fraying, but she has much to lose in terms of both status and family if her connections to the rebellion are exposed.
Meanwhile, Andor is pursued by two individuals affiliated with the Empire. The first is the loathsome Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), a mid-level officer working for a private firm hired by the Empire to provide security for the industrial planet of Morlana One. Seizing an opportunity to prove his mettle and earn a promotion, Syril takes it upon himself to investigate the deaths of the two security guards Andor encountered even though his boss wants to sweep the deaths under the rug so as not to disappoint his supervisors. Syril’s ambitions don’t work out, leaving him filled with resentment and desperate to earn his way back into the good graces of anyone willing to provide him with employment and the chance to rise through the ranks of management. You may wonder where Syril’s motivation comes from, but wait until you meet his mother.
The other character on Andor’s trail is Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), also a mid-level officer but this time with the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). Meero’s work leads her to suspect someone is organizing a rebellion against the Empire, but her peers and supervisor accuse her of sounding the alarm to broaden her work portfolio and order her to stick to her assigned duties. She does not relent, however, and is eventually proven right, earning her the lead on the case. Meero, like Syril, is a bureaucrat striving to do her job well. That’s a respectable motivation, but it’s also one informed by professional ambition and the unsettling fact that they’ve decided the occupational field they hope to advance in involves the use of coercive authority. They’re just bureaucrats “doing their job,” not inherently evil villains like Darth Vader, but one might still ask why they chose this particular job field to begin with.
One of the main strengths of the show is the way it sets its action and characters against a fully developed political/sociological backdrop. It’s almost as though the show is aspiring to be The Wire in space. We see, for example, how the Empire is organized around the production and security of its war machine and how it exploits the working class to achieve its militaristic ends. We also see how the working class, without risking an all-out confrontation that might bring ruin upon their communities, responds with small acts of resistance and ad hoc systems of support. The Empire’s disregard for the environment and their annoyance with the indigenous people of occupied planets is also on display, as is its casual deployment of terror.
But more than anything else, Andor shows how political motivations are never as straightforward as good vs. evil, the light vs. the dark, Luke vs. Vader. Set up a totalitarian security state and you’re bound to attract sadists to your ranks, as well as those seeking nothing more than stable employment. At the same time, organize a rebellion and you’re bound to attract (or even need) quite a few people willing to bend and break the rules or deal with the sadists on their own terms. (What do you do when the Imperial officer you need to take hostage has brought his family to work? What’s his kid’s life worth in the cosmic scheme of things?)
In such conditions, trust becomes a major issue. It turns out those angry at the Empire aren’t just one big happy family but represent what James Madison might call factions (separatists, neorepublicans, sectorists, human cultists, etc.) There’s class conflict, with the well-to-do and dirt poor eyeing each other with suspicion, wondering if their motivations are pure and if they really do take each other’s beliefs and interests to heart. You’ll also find a contrast between the philosophers who dream big about abstract concepts like liberty and those whose motives are deeply personal or even petty. And even when the stakes are as big as a Death Star aimed at a planet, there’s still the problem of apathy, of people who would rather lay low in relative peace than do anything that might bring the Empire’s wrath down upon them and their family.
Fans of the Star Wars movies and recent Star Wars TV shows like The Mandalorian may find Andor too slow. That’s a fair criticism; some episodes (which usually run between 40-50 minutes) contain little to no action. Kids in particular will likely find it dull and hard to follow. I’ll take a contrarian view, however, and argue I actually wish the show was slower still and moved at the pace of a prestige TV series like Mad Men, The Americans, or Better Call Saul. I want to spend more time with these characters as the personal and the political and all their doubts and misgivings pull them in all sorts of directions.
Andor works as a political drama not because it is determined to make a political point or because it operates as a morality play but because its story is set against a fully developed sociological backdrop that shapes the psychology and motivations of its characters. This in turn makes it a convincing account of the choices people make when dealing with entrenched institutional power and as they build political relationships. Its understanding of politics is more realistic, nuanced, and complex than many D.C.-based dramas, which is quite the achievement for a work of science fiction set in a galaxy far, far away.
Andor is currently streaming on Disney+. New episodes debut every Wednesday. Nine of twelve first-season episodes are currently available to view. A planned second season is in the works.
Signals and Noise
In the second-least surprising development of the 2022 election, Kanye West has endorsed Herschel Walker.
Antisemitism is on the rise in the United States.
If you want to follow Tuesday’s election results, consult these two guides published by FiveThirtyEight.
Following on from last week’s article: In the least surprising development of the 2022 election, Republicans continue to spread baseless claims about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Of course they would lie about it. Of course they would jump to ridiculous conclusions. Of course they would suggest it’s part of some broader conspiracy. Of course they would make it about other issues. Of course they would gloss over their own complicity in the attack. Of course they would use it to mock Nancy Pelosi.
Continuing from the previous point, here’s Annie Karni of the New York Times: “The reaction to the assault on Mr. Pelosi among Republicans — who have circulated conspiracy theories about it, dismissed it as an act of random violence and made the Pelosis the punchline of a dark joke — underscores how thoroughly the G.O.P. has internalized his example. It suggested that Republicans have come to conclude that, like Mr. Trump, they will pay no political price for attacks on their opponents, however meanspirited, inflammatory or false. If anything, some Republicans seem to believe they will be rewarded by their right-wing base for such coarseness — or even suffer political consequences if they do not join in and show that they are in on the joke.”
Michael Luciano of Mediaite looks at how Tucker Carlson has completely misled his viewers on the Pelosi attack. Don Trump is following Carlson’s lead.
Stay classy, Iowa:
Here’s former Republican David Frum, for The Atlantic: “One might think that it would be easy for America, as one nation, to condemn an attempt to kidnap the woman second in line to the presidency that resulted in the beating of her husband with a hammer. As Ernest Hemingway would say: Pretty to think so. Instead, we have seen the dark heart of the Republican Party, with a reaction so callous, so flippantly sadistic, so hateful, that it all feels irredeemable.”
Here’s Rep. Adam Kinzinger discussing his fellow Republicans’ reaction to the assault on Paul Pelosi:
By Doug Heye for the Washington Post: “I Helped Run the ‘Fire Pelosi’ Effort. Our Toxic Politics Goes Too Far”.
By Matthew Dallek for the New York Times: “The Fading Line Between Rhetorical Extremism and Political Violence” (“The Reagan-era ‘government is the problem’ language and ideology has been transformed into a philosophy that casts the government as not just a problem but as evil, a threat to the values MAGA supporters hold dear. Under Mr. Trump’s leadership, groups on the right have felt increasingly comfortable incubating, encouraging and carrying out violence.”)
By Jacob Heilbrunn, in a review of Robert Draper’s Weapons of Mass Delusion: How the Republican Party Lost Its Mind for The Washington Monthly: “How the Republican Fringe Became the Mainstream”
Graydon Young, the first Oath Keeper to plead guilty stemming from charges related to 1/6, during his sentencing hearing: “I felt sort of a sense of desperation and hopelessness. At the time I thought that there had been fraud committed. I listened to what Trump’s attorneys were saying, and I didn’t think there was anything that wasn’t going to keep it from going on course….I thought maybe an organization like [the Oath Keepers]…might be an effective way to get involved….
[Now, looking back,] I guess I was acting like a traitor against my own government.”
By Ally Mutnick, for Politico: “John Gibbs is a Harvard- and Stanford-educated computer scientist and Christian missionary. He is also a pro-Trump conservative [running for a congressional seat in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area] who years ago suggested that women should not have the right to vote, referenced conspiracy theories that a prominent Democrat participated in Satanic rituals, and mused that the lost city of Atlantis might be buried beneath the North Pole. Whether Gibbs, a Republican congressional candidate, can sell the first version to swing voters will determine whether his party holds onto this hotly contested battleground district — and how big a potential Republican House majority could be. He is part of a slate of controversial GOP House nominees testing what voters are willing to stomach as they vent backlash over the economy against Democratic majorities in Congress. Swing-seat matchups in several states include GOP candidates who have appeared to endorse fringe conspiracy theories, deny the validity of the 2020 election or have a pattern of questionable statements or internet postings.”
And the problem of crazy Republicans is compounded but so-called “sane” Republicans, as William Saletan of The Bulwark points out: “Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, is one of the saner people in today’s Republican party. He concedes that the 2020 election was free and fair. He acknowledges climate change. He has criticized Republican leaders for ostracizing Rep. Liz Cheney and other principled dissidents while protecting the party’s worst extremists. That’s why Sununu’s decision in the final weeks of the 2022 campaign to embrace election deniers is a particularly bad sign. Like other Republican officials, he has decided that sabotage of public faith in democracy doesn’t matter, as long as the saboteurs are Republicans. And he’s defending their reckless behavior with pernicious excuses.”
Saletan makes another great point in the above article: Voters need to realize the difference between the parties on the issue of inflation is pretty marginal (in fact, I would argue most voters have no idea what the difference is in terms of actual policy even though it’s voters #1 issue) but the difference between the parties on the issue of election integrity is massive. David Frum echoes Saletan’s argument in The Atlantic: “The lesson for the 2022 cycle is that the issues that seemed most salient as voters went to the polls will probably be long-forgotten in a few years’ time—but their choice will have had a huge bearing on what becomes of the United States. Voters can’t be expected to apprehend the longer-term consequences of the votes they cast. But their votes have consequences.”
How conservative Christian voters in Georgia are dealing with the accusations against Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker:
My favorite quote from the article: “Who are we to judge?”
“Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.”—Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels
Takes a real arrogant SOB to approve an ad like this:
“And on the ninth day, God wanted a leader who would trick a bunch of refugees into boarding a plane so he could fly them to an island off the coast of Massachusetts just to own the libs.”
Republican Michigan Secretary of State nominee Kristina Karamo is a full-on child sacrifice/blood drinking/baby organ harvesting QAnon kook.
Justin Amash is a former libertarian member of Congress from Michigan. He was asked the difference between himself and “libertarian” Arizona senate candidate Blake Masters:
I’m a libertarian, and Masters is an authoritarian grifting as hard as he can to convince both libertarians and nationalists he’s one of them. We disagree on immigration, policing, war, economics, free speech, and more. In all those areas, he wants less liberty and more tyranny. https://t.co/iCcDieNcUR@justinamash What are the differences between you and Masters policy wise?Keith @KeithKNolanThe Republican candidate for Secretary of State in Indiana is a “Stop the Steal” devotee who called the 2020 election a “scam that was perpetrated upon the citizens of Indiana” and promised to “make Indiana a model of election sanctity for all America.” The Indianapolis Star reported last week it appears he has violated state election law by twice voting in a county he does not live in. (He has a pretty shady past to boot.)
Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post writes Democratic candidates are emphasizing a new issue in their campaigns: Preserving Medicare and Social Security. Here’s what Republicans have in store for entitlements if they take control of Congress.
Don Trump’s TruthSocial network is just like the ex-president: It’s under two federal investigations and its finances are shaky, but it’s slowly but surely establishing itself as a gathering place for right-wingers.
Elon Musk wants to start charging people $8 a month to have their Twitter accounts verified. Currently, Twitter does this for free. But requiring people to pay for a verified account sounds like a disaster waiting to happen and quite possibly the easiest way for Musk to destroy his new acquisition.
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia ran for governor last year promising to stand up to “woke” liberals “indoctrinating” students in public schools. A few days after being inaugurated, he set up a tip line so parents could report such instances. Virginia Public Radio reported this week the tip line was shut down in September as no one was using it. Hardly seems like the crisis Youngkin suggested it was on the stump.
According to a recent poll, 44% of Americans believe the government is run by a secret cabal. I’d love to see how many Americans also believe the government is incompetent. I bet it’s a high number, and I bet a lot of Americans hold both beliefs at the same time, which would be odd, since I would think an incompetent secret cabal would not be very good at keeping its existence secret.
By Emily Stewart, for Vox: “What Aren’t We Doing to Fix Inflation?: Seven experts weigh in on how to tackle inflation beyond interest rate hikes from the Fed”
The leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated the autocratic right-wing incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential run-off election last Sunday.
Yet in Israel, from Haaretz: “Israel's longest serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to return to power after a short stint in opposition, as his bloc of right-wing extremists and ultra-Orthodox Jews tallied a slender majority in Tuesday's election with the majority of the votes counted.” Netanyahu remains under investigation for corruption.
By Masha Gessen, for The New Yorker: “Why Vladimir Putin Would Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine” (“When we say that someone isn’t acting rationally, what we mean is that we do not understand the world in which the person’s actions are rational. The problem is not so much that Putin is irrational; the problem is that there is a world in which it is rational for him to move ever closer to a nuclear strike, and most Western analysts cannot comprehend the logic of that world.” I would add everyone thought it was not rational for Putin to invade Ukraine—which, as it turns out, was probably true—yet here we are.)
Top 5 Records Music Review: 20 Female Artists Who Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHoF) held its annual induction ceremony on Saturday, and for the second year in a row the list of honorees is distinguished by the number of female acts entering the Hall. Last year, the Go-Go’s, Carole King, and Tina Turner made the cut; joining them this year are Pat Benatar, Dolly Parton, and Carly Simon, plus Eurythmics, a duo fronted by Annie Lennox.
That’s significant because women are not well-represented in the RRHoF. In years past, a banner year for women would be when two acts out of the five to seven acts inducted were female. Some years, women were passed over all together.
The numbers get even more distorted once you realize that a number of inducted bands fronted by and identified in the public mind with women (i.e., Blondie, Pretenders, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Heart) actually contain more male members than female members. That didn’t happen this year, but two of the aforementioned acts—Eurythmics and Pat Benatar—are being inducted as female-male duos. That’s not surprising when it comes to Eurythmics, but it is when it comes to Benatar, whose husband and long-time backing-band member Pat Giraldo is getting the award with her. (That decision really makes me wonder if long-time backing-band members of other inductees’ like Billy Joel or Elton John should receive similar treatment, or why it took fifteen years after Bruce Springsteen’s induction for the Hall to honor the E Street Band.)
And to distort the numbers even further, one needs to realize that female RRHoF inductees tend to be solo acts. In the past ten years—with the exception of the Go-Go’s, the Wilson sisters in Heart and Joan Jett in Joan Jett and the Blackhearts—the only women inducted were solo acts: King, Turner, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Nina Simone, Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Laura Nyro, and Darlene Love. Meanwhile, men tend to be inducted as both solo performers and as members of all-male groups or bands. So looking strictly at the fourteen members of the acts who were voted into the RRHoF by voters this year (which includes Duran Duran, Eminem, and Lionel Richie) four are women and ten are men. (That’s excluding the seven male members of Judas Priest who were given the Musical Excellence Award by the RRHoF’s higher-ups.) That’s potentially a big deal, because once you’re inducted into the RRHoF, you also become part of the pool of voters who select future honorees.
What all that means is that as of 2020, only 8% of the total number of people inducted into the RRHoF were women.
It is probably true that if you are going to have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that well over 50% of the inductees are going to be men simply because more men than women have recorded the sort of music honored by the RRHoF. But it should also be acknowledged that historically the recording industry treated male performers differently than female performers, who were often dismissed by talent scouts; given less time, money, and independence to develop as artists; written off as pop or novelty acts; and subjected to chauvinistic public perceptions of what made rock musicians good. All that needs to be taken into account when evaluating the careers and legacies of female artists. I would also note that the RRHoF’s tendency to honor mediocre all-male acts like the Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller, Bon Jovi, Chicago, and Journey at the expense of more influential female acts only perpetuates the male-centric rock and roll narrative.
While it’s good the RRHoF now seems to be making it a priority to nominate and induct more female artists, they need to do a better job honoring the truly significant female musicians who have contributed to rock and roll’s development. I’ve written about this year’s group of inductees before: In my opinion, Carly Simon and Pat Benatar are borderline cases and Dolly Parton doesn’t qualify as a rock and roll performer. They are certainly recognizable—even iconic—names, and I respect the arguments people make on their behalf, but the RRHoF would do better if they honored more historically significant and artistically accomplished acts. In doing so, the Hall would open its doors to styles of music it has yet to reckon with and acknowledge the role women have played in shaping genres associated in the popular mind with men.
Below is a list of female artists from the 1970s through the 1990s who, if inducted, would accomplish exactly that. As it turns out, they’re mostly solo artists, so their induction wouldn’t increase the raw number of female inductees by much. Additionally, a few of the acts qualify as female-fronted groups with male members, but I think these acts are important to include because their frontwoman gives their band a decidedly female edge. I have included a few all-female groups, however, that deserve the Hall’s recognition. Don’t consider this an exhaustive list; instead, consider it a start, one that brings other potentially deserving artists into the conversation.
Tori Amos: By applying an indie/alternative approach to her songwriting in the early 1990s, Amos pulled the singer-songwriter genre beyond its 70s-era folk roots and set the stage for the Lilith Fair movement that would blossom mid-decade. Artists like Liz Phair, Alanis Morissettee, Sarah McLachlan, and even Sheryl Crow—each of whom can make their own case for induction—would follow her lead. One could argue McLachlan, who founded Lilith Fair, would open more doors as a nominee, but Amos is more highly regarded as a trail blazing artist. Listen: “Crucify” (1992)
Fiona Apple: Speaking of Lilith Fair, Apple was among the last of the major 1990s singer-songwriters to appear on the national scene but has had the most enduring and critically-acclaimed career. Her idiosyncratic music, filled with both anger and fragility, hurt and small joys, is the work of a vulnerable but confident artist. She has only released five albums since her 1996 debut Tidal, but every one is hailed as a masterpiece. Listen: “Fast as You Can” (1999)
Erykah Badu: The Queen of Neo-Soul, Badu cut against the grain of 90s R&B by infusing her music with a jazzy vocal style reminiscent of Billie Holiday. Her later albums made her debt to funk and hip-hop more explicit and revealed her command of the Black American musical tradition. Badu’s induction would compel the RRHoF to consider other neo-soul and alternative rap artists like Meshell Ndegeocello, D’Angelo, and the Roots, a recognition that would be long overdue given those musicians’ influence on the current music scene. Listen: “On and On” (1997)
Bikini Kill: The alternative bands Hole and Sleater-Kinney are often mentioned as potential inductees, but the RRHoF should move heaven and earth to honor their predecessor, Bikini Kill, a band as politically righteous as the Clash. Emerging from the same northwest rock scene that produced Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, Bikini Kill became the main band associated with the feminist punk riot grrrl movement. Led by feminist icon Kathleen Hanna, the band recorded assertively political music, created safe spaces at their concerts for female fans, and gave voice to victims of sexual misconduct. If the RRHoF is supposed to honor “rock,” they’re not so long as Bikini Kill remains on the outside looking in. Listen: “Rebel Girl” (1993)
Björk: Virtually impossible to categorize, Iceland’s biggest music star combines pop, electronica, and the avant-garde on albums that are delightfully weird and adventurous. One part Yoko Ono, one part David Bowie, Björk is adored by those who follow the beat of their own drum. Listen: “Hyperballad” (1995)
Mary J. Blige: The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Blige recorded soul music set to rap beats that became an instant sensation in the early 1990s. In the process, she became an archetype: The hardened survivor of the streets owed a real love and no more drama, the down-to-earth diva every woman could relate to. Blige’s strength, resilience, and dignity resonates through the work of Beyoncé and Rihanna. Listen: “Real Love” (1992)
Kate Bush: Prior to this summer, when “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” featured prominently in the latest season of Stranger Things, few in the United States were familiar with Bush, whose embrace of fantasy and Romanticism created a new form of expression for female singer-songwriters in the late 1970s/early 1980s. No longer bound to autobiographical confessionals, the female artists who followed Bush were empowered to follow their muse in whatever artistic direction it took them. Bush’s legacy is one of creative liberation. Listen: “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” (1985)
Mariah Carey: I wrote about Carey’s significance a few weeks ago: The biggest pop star of the 1990s with an amazing vocal instrument and a vocal style that’s been imitated by nearly every female pop vocalist since her debut. Her chart achievements are simply too big to ignore. Listen: “Fantasy” (1995)
Betty Davis: Not only did she encourage Miles Davis, her husband at the time, to incorporate elements of rock music into his jazz recordings (giving birth to Bitches Brew and the jazz fusion genre), but Davis was a mean musician in her own right, creating some of the hardest funk records of the 1970s. Too frank and assertive for even the 70s, Davis never earned the respect she deserved in her lifetime. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could correct that error by inducting her. Listen: “They Say I’m Different”
Fugees/Lauryn Hill: This one’s kind of tricky. The Fugees, a rap trio that included Lauryn Hill, only released one notable album (The Score). The same is true of Hill during her solo career (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill). But those two albums are monumental 1990s alternative rap and neo-soul records that artists still mine for inspiration. I’d honor the achievements of both acts at the same time. Listen: “Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill (1998)
PJ Harvey: A raw, visceral performer, PJ Harvey is one of the best and most underrated alternative rock acts of the 1990s. (I’d rank her right alongside Nirvana, Radiohead, and Beck.) Harvey’s music is a kind of punk blues channeling the female id that is finely attuned to the sexual politics that often shape male-female relationships. Listen: “Down By the Water” (1995)
Indigo Girls: A number of female artists like Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega emerged in the late 1980s to revitalize the folk-based singer-songwriter genre with works that were both deeply personal and socially conscious. A solid case can be made for their inductions, but why not begin with the lesbian duo Indigo Girls, who kept the flame of that movement burning for decades? They seem to best represent the political conscience of the era. Listen: “Closer to Fine” (1989)
Chaka Khan: One of the RRHoF’s biggest oversights, Khan is a major talent whose influence crosses genres. She recorded hard funk (“Tell Me Something Good”) with Rufus (a band that could be inducted with her), disco (“I’m Every Woman”), post-disco (“Ain’t Nobody”), soul (“Through the Wire”), and, on “I Feel For You,” a song that combined the sound of Prince, Stevie Wonder, and hip-hop, contemporary soul. All that, and she can hold her own as a jazz singer. Listen: “I Feel For You” (1984)
No Doubt: Just as alternative rock bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam brought the spirit of punk rock to the mainstream, No Doubt brought the sounds of new wave and ska back to the radio in the mid-1990s. Beach blonde lead singer Gwen Stefani became one of the decade’s icons with her coquettish riot grrrl persona and knack for pop songwriting. Listen: “Just a Girl” (1995)
The Pointer Sisters: Suddenly and unexpectedly peaking with a string of irresistible post-disco hits in the early- to mid-1980s when they were on the verge of turning forty, the Pointer Sisters were always treated as an anomaly in a pop music world obsessed with youth. But the group had a varied career that even included success on the country charts in the 1970s. Their musical versatility and virtuosity ought to be recognized by the RRHoF. Listen: “Jump (For My Love)” (1983)
Diana Ross: Ross is already in with the Supremes, which may explain why she hasn’t been inducted as a solo artist. Yet if the RRHoF has made room for the solo careers of Tina Turner and Stevie Nicks when they were already in with Ike and Tina Turner and Fleetwood Mac respectively, then honoring Ross should be a no-brainer. Ross was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s, beginning the decade with her mesmerizing cover of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, turning to disco with “Love Hangover” mid-decade, and capping it off with the comeback album diana and “Endless Love”. Listen: “I’m Coming Out” (1980)
Sade: In the years following their debut, Sade (a quartet of three men and Nigerian-British lead singer Sade Adu) was often maligned as too soft and too smooth, an easy listening act relegated to Quiet Storm playlists. As the decades have passed, however, critics and musicians have developed a deeper appreciation for this group’s brand of jazz-inflected sophisti-pop. Sade records music that crosses borders and blurs genres, that speaks to millions who glide between cultures and find their homes in the in-between spaces. It’s hard to imagine neo-soul without the contributions of this group. Listen: “No Ordinary Love” (1992)
Salt-N-Pepa: There are no female rap acts in the RRHoF. That may change next year when Missy Elliott becomes eligible. Why not take that opportunity to consider other female rap acts from rap’s golden age as well, like Queen Latifah or (my preference) Salt-N-Pepa, who recorded some of the late 80s/early 90s most memorable rap tracks. Just as rap was going pop, Salt-N-Pepa was there to lead the way. Listen: “Shoop” (1993)
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Morphing from post-punk to goth rock to alternative over the course of their career, Siouxsie and the Banshees never hit it big in the States but established a devoted cult following in the UK. Their influence on bands like Joy Division, U2, Depeche Mode, and Radiohead is nearly unparalleled. They are long overdue for recognition by the musical establishment. If the Cure are in the RRHoF, then Siouxsie belongs there too. Listen: “Spellbound” (1981)
TLC: One of the biggest pop groups of the 1990s, TLC’s blend of hip-hop and R&B updated the girl group sound for the rap era. In many ways, their music defined the sound of pop music in the 1990s and for much of the 2000s. TLC also helped put Atlanta on the map as a creative force in the music industry. Listen (in Exit Music): “Creep” (1994)
Honorable Mention: The Bangles, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Crow, En Vogue, Melissa Etheridge, Hole, Garbage, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sinead O’Connor, Liz Phair, the Runaways, Sleater-Kinney, and Lucinda Williams, as well as multigender groups the B-52s, Chic, and the Human League.