But I Like It

Jann Wenner has retired from his job as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Board member John Sykes will take over as Chairman, while Jann will sink back into the relative obscurity of being just a board member. Why is this chair-shift of any concern to anyone outside the custodial services of the Hall or the person who paints the name on the door outside their offices?
It's rock and roll, baby. 
Fifty-two years ago, Jann Wenner borrowed some money and put together a little magazine called Rolling Stone. This occurred shortly after he dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley. Writers such as Cameron Crowe and Hunter S. Thompson have Jann to thank for putting their words out into the world. Tom Wolfe, on the advent of the release of his novel Bonfire of the Vanities stated, "I was absolutely frozen with fright about getting it done and I decided to serialize it and the only editor crazy enough to do that was Jann."
But what about the rock and roll? Some might say that dropping out of college to start a magazine about rock and roll was a pretty rock and roll thing to do. Choosing Doctor Thompson to cover the 1972 presidential campaign fits that bill pretty well too. Having the same name as an iconic band who emerged at roughly the same time? Pretty rock and roll. 
But then there's the last fifty years upon which to reflect: At what point did Rolling Stone stop being the voice outside the gate and become the ivory tower locked inside? If you're asking me, since I am tossing out my opinions here, I would point to the moment that the first "Hot" issue came out. As a newly minted voice in "entertainment," Jann allowed his publication to produce an annual report on all things "hot," and we are not talking chili peppers here. This was right about the time that I started my subscription to the magazine, and soon I felt that the number of fragrance ads included in each issue became ridiculous. I could smell Rolling Stone before I pulled it from my mailbox. I could remember, as a youth in the counterculture hotbed of Boulder, Colorado that faint whiff of patchouli that I had always associated with the shops that sold that newsprint tabloid before I was interested in reading what was inside. It was a reminder of the changing times. 
Rollling Stone rolled with that tide. If Jann chose to feature New Wave bands on the cover and promote style over substance, it was because that was the zeitgeist. In 1986, the first Hall of Fame dinner was held as Jann Wenner and Ahmet Ertegun ushered in the first class. A lot of people suggested back then that a Hall of Fame wasn't very rock and roll. A lot of people who were not invited made that suggestion. And as the years passed, some of the people who were invited made this same suggestion. From the stage, while holding their commemorative trophies. Now that may be the most rock and roll thing of all.