2005 R&R Hall of Fame Inductees

[LS]

Been quiet as a graveyard around here lately...so just doin' some catch up.

Skynyrd & The Stooges (and a few others) get skunked again ...but seriously can't complain about a single inductee this year.
__________________________________

U2 to Enter Rock Hall
The Pretenders, O'Jays, Guy, Sledge Also To Be Enshrined

Their cross-promotional campaign with iPod has reestablished U2 as the planet's biggest rock band. Now, capping an already huge commercial season for the anthemic Irish foursome, Bono and his bandmates will join the all-time greats in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Also scheduled for induction at the institution's twentieth anniversary gala on March 14th are the 1970s soul group the O'Jays, U.K.-based New Wave group the Pretenders, blues guitarist Buddy Guy and R&B veteran Percy Sledge.

From their earliest days in post-punk Dublin, U2 -- whose latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, debuted last month at Number One -- have been a rock band with a purpose. Beginning with the 1987 blockbuster The Joshua Tree, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year, the band became one of the first alternative acts to achieve classic-rock status, building a following that spans generations. Guitarist Dave "The Edge" Evans' frantic, chiming style has influenced countless successors, and singer Paul "Bono" Hewson has created a larger-than-life celebrity persona for himself, singing with Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti and making international news for his activism on behalf of reducing third-world debt.

The Pretenders, contemporaries of U2, were formed during the punk movement in England in 1978 by the American-born former rock critic Chrissie Hynde, who once worked in Malcolm McLaren's infamous boutique, Sex. Despite the drug overdoses of two of the group's founding members, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon, the group went on to log six Top Forty hits, including "Back on the Chain Gang" and "I'll Stand By You."

The O'Jays, the long-running soul group formed in Canton, Ohio, in 1958, had a Number One hit in 1972 with "Love Train." Favorites of the Philadelphia production team Gamble and Huff, the group had a total of nine Top Forty hits through 1980, including "Back Stabbers" and "I Love Music."

Buddy Guy is the torchbearer of the electric blues style epitomized by his mentor, Muddy Waters. Guy, an acknowledged inspiration to such rock legends as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, runs a popular nightclub on Chicago's South Side.

Alabama-born Percy Sledge, sometimes called "The Golden Voice of Soul," is best known for his enduring 1966 classic "When a Man Loves a Woman."

Set to be inducted in the non-performer category are Frank Barsalona, a pioneer in rock & roll promotion, and Seymour Stein, the astute Sire Records founder who signed Madonna, the Ramones and Talking Heads.

Approximately 700 music-industry figures vote each year on eligible nominees. Among the list of first-time candidates who did not receive enough votes for induction were Randy Newman, the J. Geils Band, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Past nominees who were again passed over this year include the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Stooges. Artists are eligible for induction to the Rock Hall twenty-five years after the release of their first album.

[DRL]

Part 1

The Associated Press
Updated: 9:51 a.m. ET March 15, 2005

NEW YORK - Minutes after U2 was officially bumped up to legendary status after a raucous, sentimental induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Irish quartet headed to the media room to answer questions about their momentous honor.
But perhaps only a rock band fronted by Bono would first be asked about everything but music.

“Bono! ... What about the Nobel Peace Prize?” one reporter called out, querying as to whether Bono’s mission to eradicate third-world debt would get him the honor.

“Rock star is already having the cream of the cake,” Bono replied.

Another wondered whether Bono assume the presidency of the World Bank, as the latest Bono-leading-the-free-world rumor would suggest.
A wholly subjective list of the Irish band's top five albums, and its biggest dud.Over U2’s 30-year journey from the streets of Dublin to becoming the world’s most important rock band, there have often been times when Bono’s charisma, his charitable efforts (and more recently a fashion line) have eclipsed his collaborators and lifelong friends: U2’s other members, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr.

But on Monday evening, if not always clear to others, their rock peers recognized the collaborative achievements of perhaps the most groundbreaking rock group in the past two decades.

“Uno, dos, tres, catorce,” said Bruce Springsteen, quoting the Spanish countdown in U2’s recent hit “Vertigo,” as he inducted the band into the rock hall with a loving, humorous tribute.

“The translation is one, two, three, fourteen. That is the correct math for rock ’n’ roll. The whole had better equal a lot more than the sum of its parts — or else you’re just rubbing two sticks together.”<br>
The star attraction
On a night when The Pretenders, The O’Jays, Percy Sledge and blues legend Buddy Guy received key to rock’s exclusive club, U2 was clearly the evening’s star attraction.

“They are the keepers of some of the most beautiful sonic orchestration in rock and roll,” Springsteen said of the band.



Though they weren’t inducted until after midnight, the ballroom was still packed. And when they performed some of their biggest hits, including “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” with an assist from Springsteen — everyone, from celebrities such as Catherine Zeta-Jones to grizzled industry folk, jumped out of their seats to cheer them on.But they were hardly the evening’s only highlight.The O’Jays are best know for their work with Philly soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, but the gospel-styled singers are actually from Canton, Ohio. “Back Stabbers” was a big hit in 1972, with “Love Train” and “For the Love of Money” other well-known songs.After film clips showed them in wild tuxes during the 1970s, the quartet wore simple black suits to perform a medley including each of those songs. They were inducted by singer Justin Timberlake.“Anyone who’s ever written, produced or performed something soulful stands in the shadows of these giants,” Timberlake said.If nothing else, Sledge’s voice has been the backdrop to countless romantic encounters. The Southern soul singer is best known for “When a Man Loves a Woman.”Rod Stewart called it “one of the best performances I’ve ever heard and I’m sure you’ve ever heard.”The Pretenders came from the same rock generation as U2. Ohio native Chrissie Hynde was a tough but tender role model for women, singing “Brass in Pocket,” “Precious” and “Back on the Chain Gang.”<br>

[DRL]

Part 2

The band formed after Hynde moved to London to be part of its fertile music scene. She’s soldiered on, with drummer Martin Chambers, after guitarists James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon died as drug casualties.


“They went through all the heartache that rock ’n’ roll is built on — they lost two band members and they never gave up,” said Neil Young, who inducted the band and sat in for a ferocious performance of “My City Was Gone.”<br>
Hynde told the audience she knows the Pretenders have sounded like a tribute band for the past 20 years. “We are a tribute band,” she said. “We’re paying tribute to James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, without whom we would not have been here.”<br>
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of rock ’n’ roll, the hall — also celebrating its 20th induction dinner — brought Bo Diddley in to perform the Bo Diddley beat with fellow guitarists Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson.

Now a stooped old man, Jerry Lee Lewis moved slowly to the stage to perform “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” But he still managed to kick over his stool and sit on the piano keys.

Still singing the blues
Guy dominated the Chicago blues guitar scene, and he was ushered into the hall by some pretty decent guitar players themselves — Eric Clapton and B.B. King. Later, both joined Guy onstage for a rollicking rendition of “Let Me Love You Baby.”<br>
Backstage, Guy noted that few black blues musicians have not been able to enjoy the success he has had in their lifetimes.

“My mother told me before she died ... if you’ve got any flowers, give ’em to me now, so I can smell ’em. So y’all give this to me tonight, I can smell this, man!”<br>
The dinner offered a clash of celebrity cultures: Mariah Carey breezing in, offering a brief kiss to ex-husband Tommy Mottola, Richard Gere sharing a laugh with King, The Edge checking his Blackberry during the O’Jays’ performance.

Highlights of the induction ceremony will be televised Saturday on VH1.

Frank Barsalona, credited with creating the first big rock ’n’ roll booking agency, and Sire Records founder Seymour Stein were inducted in the nonperformer category.

Musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote on the inductees. Hall of fame members are permanently enshrined in Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[LS]

Rock Superstars Honor Inductees At Waldorf Bash - And Worry About The Music Industry's Future
BY RAFER GUZMÁN
STAFF WRITER
March 15, 2005

The inductees at the 20th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel last night came from various phases in rock's 50-year development.

The evening began with '70s Philadelphia R&B icons The O'Jays, then moved on to soul singer Percy Sledge. Bluesman Buddy Guy came next, introduced by '60s rocker Eric Clapton. Also slated for induction were the post-punk group The Pretenders and '80s arena-rockers U2.

If anything tied this diverse group together, it was that all seemed to share concerns over rock's future and the struggles of the music industry. Honorees and presenters alike spoke about the standardization of radio, the lack of artist development and the money-hungry nature of the music business.

Steven Van Zandt, speaking to reporters backstage, noted that one of the night's honorees, rock promoter Frank Barsalona, once said MTV was "the beginning of the end." "Even though it was a quicker way to sell records, it burned people out quicker," Van Zandt said. "When our generation goes, there's nobody behind us, unfortunately. We used to stand in line to play the Garden. These days, there's not five bands that can play an arena."

So maybe it was fitting that one of the evening's high points came from 68-year-old Buddy Guy, whose guitar playing has been cited as an influence on Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and countless other artists from the '60s, a decade when the blues could still be clearly heard in rock and roll.

"Buddy personified all the modern bluesman needed to be," Clapton said in his speech inducting the Guy into the Hall of Fame, as B.B. King stood nearby. "I remember in '65 when he first came to England and played at the Marquis Club," Clapton added. "Musically, Buddy was a star. He was for me what Elvis probably is for other people."

Flanked by Clapton and King, Guy played a searing version of "Let Me Love You, Baby," his highly wrought voice just as powerful as his razor-sharp guitar. That was followed by another trip down memory lane as Jerry Lee Lewis made a surprise appearance to sing his classic "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" with Clapton and another guest, The Band's Robbie Robertson, on guitars. The O'Jays, including original members Eddie Levert and Bobby Massey, sang a medley of some of their best-known tunes - "Backstabbers," "For The Love Of Money" and "Love Train." Pop singer Justin Timberlake, who presented the group their awards, was deferential. "How can you top that?"

"After 44 years in this extremely mean business, finally we're here," O'Jays Walter Williams told the crowd. Backstage, Levert pointed out that the band is touring and recording, but said that radio is reluctant to play music by older bands. "Radio is really the big problem now," he said. "If radio would play our records that we're doing now, we'd still be on the charts."