It’s not a surprise, but Pat Benatar has knocked down a peg in the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dave Matthews Band has pulled out in front with over 503,000 votes. Benatar is runner up with 451,000 fans.

Each of them will wind up being inducted and deservedly so. Benatar was over looked for far too long. Matthews’ influence and his whole life in the music world make him a perfect candidate.

The Doobie Brothers, who should also get in without trouble, are at number three.

But numbers four and five, I think, should be chosen by the Rock Hall voters. The fans have Judas Priest and Soundgarden in those positions. But it’s high time the MC5 got in. This is getting ridiculous. And Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, or rather Chaka Khan featuring Rufus, have waited way too long.

Additionally, the RRHOF would be smart to finally name Billy Preston in the Side Man category. The Fifth Beatle, the only artist ever to join the Beatles as a credited artist on a record (“Get Back”), Preston has to be included this year. After all, this year’s ceremony in Cleveland will coincide with the 50th anniversary of “Let it Be.”

In that regard, it would be swell to see a special award this year to a producer. I’m thinking Richard Perry, who was the most successful producer of the 70s and 80s, even into the aughts. His recording artists include Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr, Leo Sayer, The Pointer Sisters, and so on. What a resume!

John Sykes, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

EXCLUSIVE

Let’s look at why Taylor Swift is in such a panic about performing at the American Music Awards.

The owners of her records (not her publishing rights) won’t let her play her old songs on the AMAs. They’ve got a year-long kind of non compete clause that prevents her from re-recording her old hits and putting out an album or whatever, DVD, CD. Unfortunately that year includes the AMAs, her Netflix special, and maybe even her four concert dates for next year.

That’s right. The lack of a real “Lover” tour has a lot to do with this. If she performs “Shake it Off” and “Red” et al everyone at those stadiums will record them. So there’s that.

But more concerning is that Taylor cannot perform the new “Lover” songs on the AMAs. That’s because she’s exclusive to the Grammy Awards on January 26th for those songs. Next week she’ll get a raft of Grammy nominations for the “Lover” album. And then she can’t perform that material anywhere before she goes on the Grammys– and likely wins a bunch, too.

CBS and the Grammys are depending on Swift doing one or two numbers on their show. Grammy performers are cut if they do the AMAs.

So this poses a big problem. If you can’t sing the old songs, and you can’t sing the new ones, what do you sing when you win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the AMAs?

And so Taylor is panicking, with good reason. Borchetta and Braun should just let her do it, and move on. But this is where push has come to shove. And Swift can’t agree to their demands.

This much we know: she’s never ever going to go out with them again!

Well, there’s two sides to every story. So here’s the statement from Scott Borchetta and Big Machine regarding Taylor Swift’s massive plea from yesterday. Borchetta disagrees with Taylor’s assessment of the situation. “Lover” is still going to win lots of awards.

from Big Machine:

As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her tumblr statements yesterday based on false information. At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.

The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career. We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.

Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. When that happens, you will see there is nothing but respect, kindness and support waiting for you on the other side. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted. Rumors fester in the absence of communication. Let’s not have that continue here. We share the collective goal of giving your fans the entertainment they both want and deserve.