We all have to make a living which means we all have to decide on our own what makes sense for us. In my youth I was no different than any other know-it-all morally superior punk rock fan but these days I'm far less inclined to judge musicians for doing whatever they need to in order to earn a living. Whether it's Coca-Cola commericals or the soundtrack for American Pie 5: The Key Lime Cooter, I don't care.
What bugs me about stuff like the Hall of Fame and the Grammys is that nobody needs to do it. It doesn't sell one extra record for anybody. It's all about ego. These awards and honors are nothing more than grotesque orgies of self-gratification set up for people who have already sold millions of records and made millions of dollars yet are still so insecure that they need something to make them feel just a little more terrific about themselves. Just once, I used to think, I'd like one of these yahoos to show a little backbone and integrity and tell the awards people to go fuck themselves. Like the Sex Pistols just did.
Playing in a band is itself nothing more than a convoluted way to stroke your own ego. How much is enough? What does it take for a multi-millionaire rock star to say to himself, gee, maybe it's a bit silly for me to accept the award for the best album of the year considering that I'm the beneficiary of a rigged system that isn't even vaguely interested in the existence of the hundreds and hundreds of amazing albums that were released in the same year just because they committed the sin of existing outside the magic circle of the Big 4?
Think about the unmitigated hubris it takes to stand up on national television and shake your own hand for ostensibly having made a better record than everybody else that year (according to the people who need to sell the idea that your record is brilliant in order to make more money). Now consider that most of the great records released that year never got a chance to be heard solely because the people who made them weren't as good at being businessmen as the guys mugging for the cameras at the podium. Doesn't it kind of make you want to puke?
As for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, imagine the same scenario as above, only instead of being honored for a record, you're getting a lifetime achievement award for having done well at your job and having always played by the rules.
Where is the Hall of Fame for construction workers, or airline pilots, or grocery store clerks? They don't get one. They just get to come home from work and turn on the TV and watch some overpaid, overfed, over-adored dingbat get showered with more attention because the musician's fragile ego can't stand going more than a few minutes without somebody telling him how fantastic he is.
Rock musicians really are a pathetic lot.