LITTLE WALTER Makes Rock Hall Of Fame
Blues legend Little Walter was inducted finally this year to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in the sideman category for his seminal harmonica work in the late 1950s with Muddy Waters.
Little Walter was inducted by Ben Harper: “To pass through life you must pass through the blues and to pass through the blues you must pass through Little Walter.”
Harper and James Cotton performed some of Little Walter’s music, including “My Baby.”
THE 2008 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
MADONNA
Madonna is one of rock and roll’s most recognized icons. Through her acrobatic dance-oriented live shows and string of hits singles beginning in the early 1980s, Madonna came to redefine the role and span of the female pop singer. Along with Michael Jackson, Prince, among others, Madonna’s music, choreography and image have come to embody the 1980s MTV generation.
Madonna was inducted by Justin Timberlake.
Justin Timberlake reads some of Madonna’s old negative reviews: “‘Madonna, Madonna will be out of the music business in six months.’ Just let me finish. ‘Her voice is like Minnie Mouse on helium.’ ‘Comparing Marilynn Monroe to Madonna is like comparing Raquel Welch to the back of a bus.’ That’s what they were saying about Madonna 25 years ago. I don’t think any of them are around to say it tonight.”
He says the induction ceremony becomes sexier when Madonna is involved. “You become aware that any single word you can possibly imagine saying about Madonna suddenly sounds much hotter. Much dirtier. And a whole hell of a lot more fun. (deep voice) Induct her. (normal voice) Why yes I’d love to. (deep voice) Enter the hall. (normal voice) Every chance I get. With all due respect to the fine city of Cleveland, even that place sounds slightly erotic knowing that Madonna is going to be (deep voice) Entering the hall.”
He tells the story of Madonna giving him a B12 shot while they were in the studio: “I showed up at the studio and it’s probably because of the freakin’ schedule she had us under but I was feeling a little ill, I was feeling under the weather, and she could tell, she said ‘you’re not feeling too well today,’ and I said no I’m not (mumbles)… And she said, ‘well, would you like a B-12 shot, we can get a B-12 shot,’ and I was like, ‘yeah I’d love a B-12 shot, that’s the first thing I thought of,’ and so I’m thinking that we’re gonna call a doctor, and he’s gonna make a house call, here’s a B-12 shot. And so then she proceeds to reach insider her designer handbag, and pull a ziploc bag of B-12 syringes out. And then she looks at me with that face that she looks at people with, and she says to me, ‘drop ‘em.’ I don’t know what you say to that, so I immediately dropped my pants. This is a true story, by the way, I swear I’m not making this up. So she gives me the B-12 shot in my ass and then she looks at me and she says ‘Nice top shelf.’ And that was one of the greatest days of my life.”
Timberlake then explains Madonna is like a shot in the ass: “I guess in my own cheesy way I got to thinking I would tell this story because I figured that’s exactly how Madonna is and continues to be for all of us, the shot in the ass when we really needed it.”
In her acceptance speech, Madonna reads a saying from the Talmud: “There’s a saying in the Talmud that for every blade of glass there’s an angel that watches over it and whispers grow, grow. And I could still hear those angels whispering. And even the naysayers, the ones that said I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn’t sing, that I was a one hit wonder, they helped me too.”
Madonna remembers the A&R man who discovered her: “And then there’s Michael Rosenblatt, I wish he was here tonight. He’s the person who more or less discovered me in a nightclub in Manhattan. He told me he was an A&R guy at Sire Records, I had no idea what an A&R guy was, but it sounded important. So I jammed my demo tape into his hand, we both did a tab of ecstasy, and then we danced the night away.”
She remembers her famous appearance rolling around onstage at the MTV Music Video Awards: “And then suddenly I got signed to Sire Records, and then suddenly I was rolling around on the floor at the MTV Awards with my ass hanging out. (applause) What nobody knows is that I lost one of my high heels and I dove to the ground to find it, and suddenly it was a dance move, yikes. And then I had to go backstage and look at my manager who’s white as a ghost, freaking out and telling me I just ruined my career. What did he know.”
Her fellow Detroiters the Stooges, featuring Iggy Pop, performed her songs “Burnin’ Up” and “Ray of Light.”
JOHN MELLENCAMP
Since launching his career over 35 years ago, John Mellencamp has brought a voice to the Midwest working man. Since his breakout as a singles artist in the late 1970s, Mellencamp was among the few “heartland rockers” to consistently crossover onto the Top Ten charts. His grassroots brand of rock and roll has come to embrace the various social and political issues that continue to confront Americans of his generation and those that have followed. In 1985 Mellencamp helped organize Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and Neil Young.
Billy Joel inducted Mellencamp into the Hall. In his speech he said that people still need to hear the message of Mellencamp: “They need to know that somebody out there feels the way they do, in the small towns and the big cities, they need to hear it. And it doesn’t matter if they hear it on a juke box in the local gin mill or in a (censored) truck commercial…because they ain’t gonna hear it on the radio anymore! They don’t care how they hear it a long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you’ve always been saying it all long. You’re right John, this is still our country, and someone’s gotta tell ‘em, don’t take any (censored) and John you do that very well.”
Billy Joel describes a football game against Mellencamp’s team: “I’m doing a concert out in Indianapolis and I get a message that John wants to invite us out to his neck of the woods to play flag football… (tells story) ‘Jackie gonna be a football star, my ass!’
Joel jokes that Mellencamp outlasted the music business: “And nowadays, you don’t have to worry about being called a ‘pop singer’ or a ‘pop star,’ because let’s face it, nobody’s selling records anymore. The record industry died before you did, congratulations John, you outlived the music business. now what do you know, now they induct you into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Mellencamp and his band, including his son Speck Mellencamp on guitar, performed “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” and “Authority Song.”
In his acceptance speech, Mellencamp say he thinks there’s still hope: “As long as I can hear a song that puts a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I know there’s still hope, and I got a job that’s unfinished. There’s still work to be done. You know, the sword is a mighty weapon but it ain’t nothin’ compared to the songs and the words in the songs that we sing, so thanks a lot. ”
Mellencamp explains how he was born lucky: “I was born very lucky, and this might sound obtuse but I was born with a disease called spina bifida…. (tells story) When they heard this prognosis it was grim.”
Mellencamp explains that his son Hud is a boxer and is going to help him settle some scores: “My son Hud is 13 years old and he’s getting ready to compete in the midwestern golden gloves champ fight, and the reason I bring that up is because Hud’s bigger than me now, and he’s 13 and we think he’s gonna get to be about 6′1″ and about 235, and in about four year’s I’m gonna be about 60 years old, and I’m gonna treat myself to bringin’ him back to New York to whip some asses of people who I didn’t get along with in the music business. So, you guys know who you are. You know who. So if you’re sittin’ in your office, if you still got an office, and you hear Hud’s at the door, that’s your ass.”
DAVE CLARK FIVE
The Dave Clark Five were the second British invasion act to infiltrate the U.S. shores, after the Beatles. The group was best known for their string of 1960s hits including “Glad All Over,” “Bits And Pieces,” “Because,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Catch Us If You Can,” “Over And Over,” and “Having A Wild Weekend.” Their sound differed from many of their British counterparts, with the organ and saxophone, rather than the guitar, forming the primary sound of their records. All told, the group racked up a total of 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than any other musical act.
Dave Clark Five lead singer, keyboardist and main songwriter Mike Smith died on February 28th of pneumonia, Smith’s illness stemmed from a complication from a spinal cord injury he suffered in September 2003 when he fell from his roof in Spain. The accident left him paralyzed below the ribs. Smith had been hospitalized since the fall and was just released this past December. Prior to his recent illness had been planning to make the trip to the induction ceremony.
Tom Hanks inducted the band into the Hall. In his speech, he explains a few things that were different about the band: “The Dave Clark Five were sensations in particular ways, not the least of which was their eschewing of animals or minerals in their choice of name. The Dave Clark Five were one of the few British bands of the day that never replaced their drummer.”
Joan Jett perform the Dave Clark Five’s “Bits And Pieces,” backed by the all star Beatles cover band, the Fab Faux, featuring musicians from The Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O’Brien. After that, the traditional all-star jam lasted one song, with John Fogerty and John Mellencamp performing the DC5’s “Glad All Over” with Billy Joel on organ.
Prior to the induction ceremony, Dave Clark Five survivors Dave Clark, Rick Huxley, and Lenny Davidson met with the press backstage. Dave Clark said that the band being honored by America was fitting as American artists were the reason the band began making music: “Well, I think it’s the pinnacle, really. It’s wonderful. I mean, America’s always been our second home. And we were inspired by American music. That’s what got us started, so to actually be inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a great honor. America is like my second home. I love America, and that’s not because you’re all Americans — it’s always has been my second home.”
Clark shed some light as to how he came to produce and own the band’s music in an era when artists had little or no control over their work: “We were initially a live band in England and very successful, but record companies in those days didn’t look for longevity, they wanted to make you into whoever was the flavor of the month. So that was the reason that I produced the first record and owned my own masters — to control one’s own destiny. If it wasn’t successful, you followed your dreams.”
THE VENTURES
The 1960s surf-instrumental legends the Ventures scored a Top Ten hit twice with their song “Walk, Don’t Run,” in 1960 and again in 1964. In 1969 the band went on to hit the Top Ten again with their version of “Hawaii Five-O.” The group, who were among the first to professionally endorse both Fender and Mosrite guitars, influenced literally hundreds of thousands of aspiring guitar players with their unique brand of West Coast rock. Throughout the years guitarists such as George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, and Stephen Stills, among many others, have name checked the Ventures as among their early influences.
The Ventures were inducted by longtime fan John Fogerty.
Fogerty says the Ventures recorded over 250 albums. “The Ventures have gone on to record over 250 albums. Good Lord, think about that, nowadays some of use would be happy to sell 250 albums.”
The band played “Walk Don’t Run,” and then an expanded big-band version of “Hawaii Five-O.”
Don Wilson of the Ventures explained why the band’s hit single of “Hawaii Five-O” wasn’t used as the TV show’s theme song: “Well, the writer had that. He had a 30 second version. We did a lot of source music for it, but we didn’t do the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ that you hear on the TV show. That was the writer Mark Stevens. So what happened and how that happened was that an engineer that we had was doing the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ soundtrack, and he called our drummer Mel Taylor and he said ‘Mark Stevens is not going to release ‘Hawaii Five-O,’ he’s got a 30 second version. I suggest you go in and do a version of it.’ So we did.”
LEONARD COHEN
Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, best known for such classics as “Suzanne,” “Bird On The Wire,” and “Hallelujah,” was inducted by Lou Reed.
Lou Reed says we’re lucky to be alive at the same time as Leonard Cohen: “‘I showed my heart to the doctor. He said I just have to quit. Then he wrote himself a prescription and your name was mentioned in it.’ He could’ve stopped there. He just gets better. We’re so lucky to be alive at the same time as Leonard Cohen.”
Lou Reed makes a crack about New York Governor Elliot Spitzer: “‘Then he locked himself in a library shelf with the details of our honeymoon.’ It’s not our governor. I know, I know, it’s New York right? Do we have free speech or what? Thank you.”
In his acceptance speech Cohen recited the lyrics to his 1988 song “Tower of Song.” He also said he never coveted this distinction: “This is a very unlikely occasion for me. It is not a distinction I coveted or even to dare dream about, so I’m reminded of the prophetic statement of John Landau in the 70s. He said ‘I have seen the future of rock and roll and it’s not Leonard Cohen.’”
Damien Rice came on to sing Cohen’s classic song “Hallelujah.”
KENNY GAMBLE AND LEON HUFF
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff co-founded Philadelphia International Records, and are responsible for writing and/or producing such legendary hits as Lou Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine,” “Groovy People” and “Lady Love”; the O’Jays’ “Love Train,” and “For The Love Of Money”; Billy Paul’s “Me And Mrs. Jones”; Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”; the Jacksons’ “Enjoy Yourself”; and many, many other classics.
Jerry Butler awarded Gamble and Huff the Ahmet Ertegun Award, named for the late co-founder of Atlantic Records.
In his acceptance speech, Kenny Gamble jokes about the meaning of MFBS: “MFSB, a lot of people thought it was a, it meant something else. But it only meant Mother Father Sister Brother. And before I go and turn it over to my partner, I’d just like to say you know we wrote Me and Mrs. Jones and it’s appropriate for today because you know there’s a little Me and Mrs. Jones going on here in New York. Thank you.”
Leon Huff explained he met Kenny Gamble on an elevator: “You know me and Gamble met on an elevator you know. And we didn’t really know each other but we were the only Afro-Americans going in and out of the building so when we were in the elevator we had to speak to each other you know what I’m saying? So he said what do you do? I said I’m a studio musician. I play piano. I said what do you write songs? He said yeah. So he came over my house, we must’ve wrote five or six songs the first time we ever met so I looked at that as a spontaneous moment and from that moment we kept writing and kept writing and kept writing.”
Patti Labelle performed their song “If You Don’t Know Me By Now.”
HISTORY OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME:
Leaders in the music industry joined together in 1983 to establish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. One of the Foundation’s many functions is to recognize the contributions of those who have had a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll by inducting them into the Hall of Fame.
INDUCTION PROCESS FOR PERFORMERS:
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 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.
INDUCTION PROCESS FOR NON PERFORMERS:
Songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists, and other industry professionals who have had a major influence on the development of rock and roll.
EARLY INFLUENCES:
Artists whose music predated rock and roll but had an impact on the evolution of rock and roll and inspired rock’s leading artists.
The special selection committee elects the inductees in the Non-Performer and Early Influences categories. This year there were no inductees in the Early Influences category.
SIDE MEN:
This category was introduced in 2000. It honors those musicians who have spent their career out of the spotlight, performing as backup musicians for major artists on recording sessions and in concert. Though they often play a key role in the creation of memorable music, the public rarely knows them by name. A separate committee, composed primarily of producers, selects the inductees in this category. This year there were no inductees in the Side Men category.
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM IN CLEVELAND:
The building is composed of a 162-foot tower that rises from the waters of the harbor. Two bold, solid geometric shapes containing exhibit spaces explode from the tower as large cantilevered elements. The tower also serves to anchor a monumental, triangular-shaped glass tent supported by immense tubular steel bow trusses. The glass tent is anchored along its wide base at the public plaza to provide a dramatic main entry facade.
Approximately 150,000 square feet of building space houses approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibition area in addition to administrative areas, library/archival areas, large public circulation areas, and support functions.