Today in Questionable Decisions: It has just been announced that The Doobie Brothers are being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. Now, before you get your shit all tied up in a clove hitch defending the immortal brilliance and manifold glories of The Captain and Me, allow me to explain: I dig The Doobie Brothers every bit as much as the next numbnuts who had the misfortune to grow up in the ’70s. I owned (and more or less memorized) all their classic albums. I learned how to play China Grove on the geetar. I will happily debate the relative merits and missteps of the Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald eras. And of course, I saw them live more than once — including this 1981 show with Red Ryder at the old Winnipeg Arena, from whence I acquired this lovely poster. Having said all that, I have to wonder about the logic of inducting them ahead of other contenders like Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, The MC5, Motörhead, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, and Thin Lizzy. (That’s right: Lemmy and Phil Lynott are not in the hall, but Donna Summer and Janet Jackson are. And they wonder why people go on killing sprees.) On the plus side, the Doobies probably won’t have to bear the brunt of the outrage, given that the list of 2020 inductees also includes decidedly less-rocking individuals like Whitney Houston, Depeche Mode and Notorious B.I.G. In fact, aside from the Doobies, the only so-called rock acts getting the nod this year are Nine Inch Nails and T. Rex. And I would argue only one of those deserves it. I’ll let you decide which. I’ll just say that if you’d like to celebrate The Doobie Brothers’ ascent to rock glory by buying this old poster, email me and we’ll make it happen, captain.
UPDATE: This poster has been sold.
