Carmine Appice is without question, one of the most legendary and influential names in American drumming and rock and roll. The acclaimed musician has not only played with such established musicians and acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Paul Stanley, Pink Floyd, and many others but Appice has influenced countless musicians – including a ‘whose who’ of names that many look up to today such as Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, Queen’s Roger Taylor, Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer, and many more.
Ozzy Osbourne was booed for this performance. In a new interview conducted exclusively with Alternative Nation, Appice discussed a wide variety of topics. Here, the former Ozzy Osbourne bandmate discussed if he believed that his widely popular rock group, Vanilla Fudge will ever be inducted into the hallowed halls of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Appice would state, as only he can, about his apathy towards The Hall of Fame and how he believes it’s not about the genre it’s named after anymore. Using the acclaimed girl group, ‘The Go-Gos’ as an example, Appice would lament their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inclusion, stating that they didn’t belong amongst previous inductees because the famed ‘Vacation’ singers haven’t, in the mind of Appice, “influenced” anyone. Alternative Nation transcribed the following comments.
AN: So my first question for you – Vanilla Fudge has been eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame since 1992. They haven’t been nominated yet. How does it feel to see bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, etc, accepted on their first year of eligibility? Do you guys feel like you will get inducted soon?
Carmine: “I don’t feel like we will ever get in to tell you the truth, and I don’t give a s***. I don’t care. I think it’s bogus, anyway because it’s not The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anymore. They are putting in all kinds of people who have nothing to do with Rock and Roll. So, I know what we’ve done, we have influenced many bands.
First of all, I thought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was about “influence”. When you see groups like The Go-Gos getting in there? Come on, give me a break. They’re a good girl group, nice, good players for what they do but who did they “influence?”
Appice would further continue, revealing in detail why it doesn’t matter to him one way or the other if he’s in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and would go on to mention several previous Halls that he has been inducted in and awards that he has won that, in his opinion, mean much more because they ‘mean something’ whereas, to Appice, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does not in his eyes. Ozzy Osbourne would get angry at this bank payment not too long ago.
Carmine: I don’t really care [about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame], you know? Most people that are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – it hasn’t changed their career. All it is is a letter or an award on the wall. I got plenty of those. It doesn’t much difference to me if I’m in or not in the Hall of Fame other than saying ‘I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’. Well, you can say I’m in the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame, the Guitar Center Gods awards – legendary awards. Those are ones to me, that make more sense because they actually mean something.”
