World of Weird Al Yankovic

Okay, Patti, I'm sure you're right. I'm probably thinking of something else....

The Dells were a 1970s SOUL Group. You can see what they look like in the music section at http://www.amazon.com.

I found their site, and even listened to an mp3, but they still don't ring a bell. They are actually called the Mighty Dells, and have been around since 1954! Wow! Well, even though I've never heard of them, congrats to them. I take back my comment from earlier.

Patti

Looking into getting Al into the RNRHOF a while back, I remember receiving the impression that the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame people can be impressed by large numbers of fans.

Petitions seem to work well for Al projects. If someone (Catra?) found out what might be needed for a printed petition (name and city/state of residence?), one idea is to use a concert tracker and organize volunteers attending concerts to collect signatures from all over the country. Literally thousands of people attend every Al concert. Signatures could be gathered while in line, at the entrances/exits, forms passed up and down rows of seats, etc. (Not during a concert, only before and after). Then those lists could all be mailed to the person in charge (Catra?) or mailed directly to the RNRHOF people, whichever would make the greatest impact on them (possibly the latter since they could be continously receiving mail?).

If that's too complicated, perhaps just flyers could be distributed giving the name and address and an example of a letter to write?

There are also fans here from other countries who might be willing to gather signatures or send in letters as well, so conceivably they could be received from all over the world

Anyway, that's one idea to consider.

That sounds like a great idea, Cinnamon! You know, fliers would be really great to hand out at the OC Fair! I hope you can figure out what to put on them!

Patti

New smilies! Yay!

Sounds like a good idea, but I wonder if we would take away from the Star Campaign? It's not a sure thing that petitions would help get Al inducted to the RNRHOF, but if we raise the needed funds for the Star, I think we have a good shot of getting Al that Star.

On the other hand, maybe the RNRHOF would mean more to Al?

Why can't we do both? From the sounds of it for the RNRHOF no money needs to be donated and people are always willing to sign a petition if it is for a good cause. But would the concert places allow some people to do that? And you will probably get more people sign a petition then to sit down a write a letter themselves because it is one of those you can easily put off to the next day.


Trixie

scottidog @ Mar 22 2004, 02:55 PM wrote: On the other hand, maybe the RNRHOF would mean more to Al?

I think he'd appreciate the Star more, seeing that it was a fan project.

weirdstef @ Mar 22 2004, 06:43 PM wrote: Why can't we do both? From the sounds of it for the RNRHOF no money needs to be donated and people are always willing to sign a petition if it is for a good cause

Well, as I said, I'd be afraid it would take away from the Star effort. Which I am pretty invested in. I suppose both could be done, but I found in trying to talk to people they had a pretty short attention span (get out of my face, strange lady! I'm waiting for AL!!) and trying to do both I think would be not only confusing, but counterproductive to both.

That's just my opinion though. Your mileage may vary.

Cinnamon @ Mar 22 2004, 12:01 PM wrote: Petitions seem to work well for Al projects.     If someone (Catra?) found out what might be needed for a printed petition (name and city/state of residence?), one idea is to use a concert tracker and organize volunteers attending concerts to collect signatures from all over the country. Literally thousands of people attend every Al concert. Signatures could be gathered while in line, at the entrances/exits, forms passed up and down rows of seats, etc. (Not during a concert, only before and after). Then those lists could all be mailed to the person in charge (Catra?) or mailed directly to the RNRHOF people, whichever would make the greatest impact on them (possibly the latter since they could be continously receiving mail?).

Why do I have the feeling I should weigh in on this?

I've been trying to find out whatever I can for such a campaign for the last half a year or so. I had written to Jay last January asking for his advice, but have yet to receive a response. I'm kinda crossing my fingers that he'll be at the Akron show since it's the first concert of this year's tour. But if not, then I'll try writing to him again next week.

In a similar vein, this past January I wrote to the Hall of Fame Foundation one of those naive, geeky "I think it would be cool to see Weird Al in the Rock Hall because..." kinda letters, just to see if I even get a response. I'm sure they get hundreds of those kind of letters for various artists a month, but still it was worth trying.

Just look at the "Plain Dealer" poll that a lot of us jumped on a couple of months ago. Our efforts got a brief mention in the paper, which at least made it known that a number of people want Al in, and that obviously there is an interest among fans.

I'm open to any suggestions or ideas on this, as I would like to either help launch such a campaign or contribute significantly to it.

It is important, as Bobbi has brought up, to not intend to piggyback on or steal any thunder away from the Star Fund. I definitely understand this concern, and in fact it's been a big reason why I haven't really done anything more aggressive so far. I do imagine a world in which both a Star Fund and RRHOF campaign can co-exist, as they are both important goals (especially considering this year is Al's 25th anniversary). But time is now becoming a factor and the fact of the matter is, as Trixie mentioned, fans won't be in the position to choose one or the other since a RRHOF campaign wouldn't require any monetary donation (maybe outside of a stamp). I hope that when something is done for the RRHOF that some fans won't get confused or distracted or whatever. Hopefully if they are Al fans, they would want to do everything they can for Al on all sides and not just pick one specific honor to support.

And of course, questions do arise. Does the RRHOF frown upon such initiatives? Would an actual petition work? Does one petition with, say, 100,000 signatures carry more weight than 50,000 individual letters? I would love to be able to jump right into the deep end and do whatever feels right, but at the same time I don't think any of us want to somehow hurt Al's chances. If I may quote a certain movie about witches and slippers, "These things must be done delicately..."

So yeah, I'm all for ideas and will gladly do my part. What shall we do, folks?