The 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be announced by next month, and in anticipation the Cleveland Plain Dealer has conducted its sixth annual reader poll. By a landslide Lynryd Skynyrd was voted as the most deserving band (it has been nominated seven times but has yet to be inducted).

Others atop the reders' picks were Black Sabbath, John Mellencamp, Cat Stevens, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols.

The list of 2006 nominations include Stevens, Black Sabbath, Mellencamp, Davis, Sex Pistols, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the Patti Smith Group, Joe Tex, J. Geils Band, the Paul Butterfield Band, Dave Clark Five and the Sir Douglas Quintet.

Many bands are waiting for their first nomination, like Van Halen, Def Leppard, Yes, Genesis, Deep Purple, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Rush, ELO and Alice Cooper.

The Rock Hall website has information on the induction process.

"Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artist’s contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.

The Foundation’s nominating committee, composed of rock and roll historians, selects nominees each year in the Performer category. Ballots are then sent to an international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts. Those performers who receive the highest number of votes, and more than 50 percent of the vote, are inducted. The Foundation generally inducts five to seven performers each year."

Non-performers (DJs, producers), early influencers and side men can also receive nominations.