Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inspires Trite Headline
By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 9, 2007 3:40PM
How long have the world’s entertainment editors been waiting to use the headline “Van Halen ‘Jumps’ Into Rock Hall?” Probably forever.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its latest group of inductees yesterday, with Van Halen, Patti Smith, The Ronettes, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five making the cut.
The annual announcement of inductees into the Hall is one of the few accolades that is both important and almost meaningless. It’s not rare to find a tubthumping bar-room philosopher going on about how the Hall is patently ridiculous, while in the same breath saying that their favorite band is deserving of its own spot (94% of the time, this band will be Yes). In fact, bands themselves often engage in this practice. Mark Caro points out that Michael Stipe once said he’d refuse membership until The Monkees made it in.
As Caro also mentions, this is one of the most fractious groups of inductees ever. At this rate, we’re thinking that Alex will be the only member of Van Halen who shows up to accept anything unless Dave decides at the last minute to arrive via parachute dressed as Genghis Khan, with two porn stars dressed as Mata Hari and Madame Curie serving as his attendants. Anyone willing to drop the F-bomb at a kids concert the way Patti Smith did at this summer’s Lollapalooza is probably not going to be hemmed in by tables of tuxes. Phil Spector’s murder trial doesn't start for two months, so expect to hear about his plans to try and attend to see his ex-wife/former target of domestic violence Ronnie Spector inducted. And if Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five can’t out-posse Parliament Funkadelic then we’ll be sorely disappointed.
Therefore, it’s probably going to be the most "rock and roll induction" ceremony ever, so we’re looking forward to seeing the poorly-edited broadcast when VH1 gets around to airing it several months after it occurs (which is probably the only statement on the Hall’s relevancy that you need).