The votes are counted, and the inductees have been named. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomes R.E.M., Van Halen, Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash, and The Ronettes in 2007.

R.E.M. and Van Halen are pretty obvious, the real story here is Patti Smith. When she was nominated back in October, I put in my (worthless) vote by writing, "If they gave music blog writers a vote, which I can assure you they don't, I'd have to give the nod to punk rock's own poet laureate."

Smith is a part of the fabric that makes up early punk history. She's the thing that connects the dots between punk rock and art, validating the place early punk holds as a brash and uncompromising unifier between the bifurcated worlds of avant garde music and its physical art counterpart. Smith's welcome into Rock's vaunted hall of fame is, in small part, like Rock and Roll finally opening its arms and hugging its edgy, artsy and dark little brother Punk after so many years of misunderstanding. We'll never be close, but at least we don't argue so much anymore.