Although I greatly admire King Crimson I would be very surprised if they ever got in the Rock Hall of Fame for these reasons. None of them have anything to do with the quality of their music which is considerable.
1.) They are hard to categorize. Do they play art rock, prog, free jazz, avant garde classical, heavy metal, world music, new music, post rock, Gamelan music or new wave? Sometimes they seem to be occupying several genres in one track. The hybrid nature of their music pleases their fans it makes them hard to digest. Their album, Red would fit in no existing corporate radio format. To me this makes them more interesting but it makes them hard to market. Maybe in this area they are the anti-Kiss. For me this makes them more interesting and helps elevate them far above the Moody Blues, Yes, Rush and Genesis (but not Pink Floyd).
2.) They are somewhat responsible for Asia.
3.) They don’t often display any sense of humor or much warmth, and they sometimes look and talk more like PHD candidates in music theory more than traditional rock stars. I am speaking more about Robert Fripp than the others, but as the only permanent member of the group for good and band he is the face of the band. Larks Tongue in Aspic Part 1 may be my favorite song by them, but every time I hear it I can almost physically feel the warmth and humanity leave my body. Actually in a weird way this is a kind of great musical achievement.
4.) I have never heard them on the radio except for college stations. Not even WXRT will touch them.
5.) They are very avant garde and the drastic musical changes often within the same song would throw and completely bewilder most casual listeners. They have more in common with the Art Ensemble of Chicago then Chuck Berry. Even their first album which I think is fairly accessible has parts that many people would not even consider music. King Crimson has limited popularity for the same reason experimental jazz does. People think it is too much trouble to “get” them.
6.) They don’t have many female fans. Most women just don’t seem to like them much. When I went to bathroom during their recent show (which was I’ll admit was wonderful) there were about 100 men in line for the men’s room and 9 women in line for the lady’s room. Some of the women that were there looked they had been dragged there by their boyfriends or husbands. I never saw this kind of gender proportions when I saw the Clash, Dylan, Patti Smith or The Who.
7.) They have long instrumental passages with multiple false endings in their songs plus the vocals are often treated like just another instrument.
8.) They have too many members. By last count twenty two members have passed through the band. As far as I know they never did two LPs with the same lineup and their best lineup was together for less than a year. Who would you put in? I guess you could go with the original lineup minus Lake but the current lineup is very good too. I think that this is part of the reason that it took forever for Yes to get in. There are actually two bands named King Crimson that don’t overlap or repeat that much.
9.) They have no hits in America. If Jethro Tull who penetrated American radio can’t get in Crimson certainly don’t have a prayer. The vast majority of Americans never heard of them. Most of the people that I know who like them are hardcore musical aficionados, technocrats, musicians or rock critics. Tool who are heavily influenced by them probably have a better shot at getting in.
10.) Their songs are long, and they are even longer when they are played live.
11.) The hall does not seem to fully appreciate certain specialized genres such as heavy metal and its off shoots, (although this year’s nominees have a few choices in this genre), what they used to call kraut rock (which often overlaps with prog), any post 1970s music played by African Americans, disco, MTV era new wave, post punk and above all prog rock. I am not the biggest prog rock fan, but if it were up to me I would definitely put in Procol Harum, Hawkwind, Neu and Can and of course King Crimson. (I have to admit I have certain genre biases and I despise most of what they called hair metal.)
