Oddball Ohio rockers Devo join other Rock Hall nominees

SANDUSKY — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced 15 nominees for the Class of 2019, and the public get to find out if one of Ohio's weirdest — and most successful — bands, Devo, will be one of the inductees.The 15 nominees are Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, John Prine, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Roxy Music, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Stevie Nicks, The Cure, The Zombies and Todd Rundgren.Depending on how the votes come in, five to seven acts likely will be inducted, said museum spokeswoman Shauna Wilson. The winners will be announced in December.The Rock Hall said six acts were nominated for the first time: Def Leppard, Devo, John Prine, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, and Todd Rundgren.Devo, formed in Akron in 1972 or 1973, accounts vary, still occasionally performs live and had a pop hit with "Whip It." It also was known for songs such as "Mongoloid" and for an oddball cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," the Rolling Stones tune.Robert Christgau, the self-proclaimed "dean" of rock critics, awarded an A- to Devo's "Greatest Hits" album and wrote, in part, "So OK, they were an Important Band, fabricating a minimalist funk of blatant entertainment value and covert sexuality … its peaks prove higher and more numerous than I'd have figured."As in past years, music fans are being invited to vote online at rockhall.com, matching wits, or at least opinions, with the more than 1,000 alleged experts around the world who will cast the ballots that count. The Rock Hall says the votes will be cast by "more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry."The induction ceremony will be March 29 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will be broadcast on HBO and Sirius XM.Members of Devo, wearing the band's characteristic yellow outfits and headgear, perform in Australia in 2008.