As usual there were plenty of uplifting moments at the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night. Surprisingly there wasn't really any emphasis placed on the fact that this was the 25th class, but there were some incredible moments.
1. Honoring 2010 inductee Genesis, Phish opens the ceremony with an incredbile version of "Watcher of the Skies", one of the landmark songs of progressive rock music. Afterwards Phil Collins says it was "better than anytime we played it". Later the crowd probably wished Collins had joined Phish during "No Reply At All". Lets just say nobody sings that song like Collins.
2. As The Stooges are inducted, lead singer Iggy Pop reaches the podium and promptly gives the middle finger gesture from both hands to the crowd along with a sarcastic smile. After eight nominations (the most in Rock Hall History) the Stooges were finally inducted. At the end of his speech, Iggy gets emotional in remembering founding member Ron Asheton who died last year.
3. During The Stooges performance of "I Wanna Be Your Dog", the band is joined on stage by members of Green Day in a total impromptu moment. That opens the floodgates for other musicians to jump on stage along with people in the audience.
4. Allan Clarke, lead singer of the Hollies, who was not expected to perform, not only sings on all three songs the band performs, but straps on a guitar for "Long Cool Woman". While he can't hit the notes he used to, nobody was more elated to be on stage than Clarke. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day is caught by the cameras singing along to "Carrie-Ann"
5. Jimmy Cliff gives the best performances of the night, singing his three biggest hits "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "Many Rivers To Cross" and "The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall". His voice is still amazing.
6. ABBA founding member Benny Andersson talks about the "Swedish Blues"-- a sharp contrast to the upbeat songs they are famous for and yet it makes sense. Afterwards, Andersson takes the stage on piano and is joined by five time Grammy award winner Faith Hill who does a fantastic version of "The Winner Takes It All" --a melancholy ending to the ABBA induction. Merryl Streep, star of the ABBA movie musical "Mamma Mia" is in the audience.
7. Robin Gibb and Barry Gibb of the BeeGees induct ABBA with possibly the oddest induction speech as they attempt to trade lines and humor but end up getting lost and talking over each other. They wind up upstaging one another with odd body language and facial expressions that detracts from whatever message they were trying to say about ABBA.
8. Graham Nash of the Hollies thanks his agent who is on the Rock Hall Foundation Committee for voting for the band! Would that be a conflict of interest? You have to admire Nash's honesty.
9. Rob Thomas' soulful version of "Save The Last Dance For Me" on acoustic guitar during the tribute to the songwriters who were inducted that night.
10. The jam session at the end "Shake, Rattle and Roll" includes Peter Wolf, Eric Burdon, Ronnie Spector but surprisingly Bruce Springsteen, who was in the audience, does not get on stage to join them.
Comments
Thanks for the coverage Mike. Phish opening things up with that Genisis song must have been pretty cool. And Jimmy Cliff was always one of my favorites.
On a totally unrelated note, do you think Tom Waits will ever get in the Rock Hall? He's had a pretty amazing career, although he'd probably skip the induction!
I caught only the end of the show on TV, and I must say it was embarrassing. Faith Hill proved that she really doesn't have the vocal chops, even on an ABBA song. Now I know where Taylor Swift got the guts to perform on national TV. She modeled herself after Hill, who's off-key warble was excruciating.
Then I guess they had time to kill at the end and Paul Schaeffer decided it would be uber-cool to strike up a chorus of Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Bill Haley, Elvis, and Big Joe Turner were surely shaking, rattling, and rolling over in their graves at the horrible version put out by the likes of Rob Thomas, Ronnie Spector, Eric Burdon, and several somebodies I couldn't even recognize. I never heard that classic done in different keys... all at once.
I guess you had to be there.
Thanks for the comments. Bobby, I think you have to understand that "Shake Rattle and Roll" was done to honor Otis Blackwell, one of the songwriters inducted into the Hall that night...Peter Wolf of the J. Geils band was among the singers on stage but they certainly could have attracted better known stars..Overall this event didnt seem to be as well-represented as past induction ceremonies in terms of who was in the audience. Cory, Tom Waits has alot of supporters...I'd be surprised if he's not nominated soon.
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