If for some reason I ever were offered tickets to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I can safely say I'd hope it would be for a year other than 2008.

The nominees for the March 2008 induction into the Hall were announced Thursday, and they are Madonna, the Beastie Boys, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer, Leonard Cohen, hip-hop DJ Afrika Bambaataa, the Dave Clark Five, the Ventures and Chic. Five will be chosen.

Madonna and the Beastie Boys would appear to be shoo-ins, but ... I dunno ... the prospect of speeches about their importance doesn't get me jazzed.

Madonna, the Beasties and Bambaataa are on the ballot in their first eligible year (25 years after the release of an artist's first single), and Cohen, Summer and the Ventures are also first-time nominees. Mellencamp was previously on the 2004 and 2006 ballots, but maybe those Chevy Truck ads will give him that extra corporate rock credibility so he can make the cut this time.

Chic and the Dave Clark Five were on last year's ballot — and Fox News' Roger Friedman reported that the Dave Clark Five actually outpolled Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five only to have foundation chairman Jann Wenner rule in favor of the hip-hoppers on a technicality. Maybe the '60s Brits who gave us "Glad All Over" will get inducted this time as a make-up.

Not on this year's ballot is the band that the Web site Future Rock Hall considered the heaviest favorite to be inducted in 2008: Metallica.

Metallica? They play loud guitars, don't they? Why would the New York-based nominating committee want to consider a group like that?

Other first-time eligible groups this year (Future Rock Hall offers an extensive list) that didn't make the ballot include Sonic Youth, Violent Femmes, Janet Jackson, Sting (whew), Marshall Crenshaw and, it must be noted, Wham!

You can bet Kiss fans will be pulling out the face paint to stage another protest after this latest snub. But really, getting upset at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rejection is silly. Rock 'n' roll is about inclusion, not exclusion, and if a club doesn't accept the cool kids, then why would you want to be a part of it anyway?

If I were a band, I'd rather be in the club that included these non-Hall of Famers: XTC, Television, the Zombies, Buddy Guy, Tom Waits, Love, the Hollies, the Stooges, Fairport Convention/Richard Thompson, Squeeze, the Specials, the Mekons, Nick Lowe, Nick Drake, Graham Parker, Irma Thomas, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis/Peter Gabriel, the Buzzcocks, Randy Newman, Roxy Music, Procol Harum, ABBA, Big Star, Yes, Rush, the Spinners, Gram Parsons, War, Jethro Tull, Styx and the Monkees.

I'm not a huge fan of every one of those acts (especially some of the proggers), but they each had a distinct impact on rock 'n' roll. Mellencamp had some strong radio songs and has done good work with Farm Aid, but has he really broken more stylistic ground than, say, Peter Gabriel?