Van Halen, R.E.M. lead Rock Hall class

By JOE MILICIA, Associated Press Writer


CLEVELAND - Van Halen made a "jump" into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, along with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — the first rap act to be inducted into the hall — and R.E.M., the Ronettes and Patti Smith.

A panel of 600 industry figures selected the five acts to be inducted at the annual ceremony, to be held March 12 in New York. To be eligible, artists must have issued a first single or album at least 25 years before nomination.

"R.E.M. and myself in particular are really terrible of looking backward," R.E.M.'s lead singer, Michael Stipe, told The Associated Press via phone from London. "I'm just really honored that they thought of us."

Van Halen was the 1980s hard rock quartet led by guitarist Eddie Van Halen, outrageous lead vocalist David Lee Roth, and later, rocker Sammy Hagar, that put out hits such as "Jump" and "Dreams."

Eddie Van Halen stood out with his blistering guitar solos; his feud with Roth led to Hagar's run with the band, which produced hits into the 1990s.

R.E.M. (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Stipe) was the quintessential indie rock band until breaking through to mass success in the early 1990s with songs like "Losing My Religion."

The unique sound of their first album, 1983's "Murmur," was the beginning of the multiplatinum band's emergence as leader of the U.S. alternative scene of the '80s and '90s.

Punk rock poet Smith, known as the Godmother of Punk, came out of lower Manhattan in the early 1970s to create a blend of cerebral, raggedly emotional music.

Stipe said got a congratulatory call from Smith, a good friend, on Monday. He noted that when he first heard her music in the 1970s, "I decided that I wanted to make music and be in a band ... now she and I are great friends.

"It was great to be able to congratulate her back."

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Kid Creole, Cowboy, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Mr. Ness, Raheim) led the most innovative act in hip-hop's formative era in the late 1970s, and the song "The Message" was like a letter from urban America. Grandmaster Flash was considered a pioneer in many DJ techniques.

With beehive hairdos and dark eyeliner, the 1960s girl group the Ronettes (Estelle Bennett, Ronnie Spector, Nedra Talley) achieved their greatest success with producer Phil Spector and his "wall of sound" style. Spector, who is awaiting a March 5 murder trial in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, co-wrote the trio's biggest hit, "Be My Baby," and was married to its lead singer, Ronnie Spector.

The Rock Hall will also honor Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, who was a crucial figure in the careers of artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones and one of the leading figures to help create the rock hall.

Very cool for R.E.M. One of my all-time favorite bands.

Ditto with Van Halen, one of my faves for sure. I wonder if they're gonna get their act together and receive the award together (DLR and the rest of the band, fine with Sammy too).

YAY!!!!!!! Patti Smith...FINALLY!!!!!

NOW...The New York Dolls and Roxy Music, please!!!

Hmm...

Do they have a certain number of people they HAVE to induce each year, because the further you get (1981 - a classic year for rock it was not)...

What about The Stooges?

Still hard to see that place without Iggy.

jamesfdouglas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hmm...
>
> Do they have a certain number of people they HAVE
> to induce each year, because the further you get
> (1981 - a classic year for rock it was not)...


Actually I think 1981 was a pretty good yr for RnR.

And good for VH--Eddie was an unbelievably innovative guitar player---great sense of melody and chops to burn.

That said, their induction has the potential to be a real freak show given how they all feel about each other.........

From the reports I've read on line, it looks like VH will reunite this year with DLR, although now it seems that Ed's son Wolf will be playing bass and Mike Anthony is out! Not sure who'll appear onstage for the Hall of Fame inductions.
It has been reported that Ed is pissed off with Mike and Sammy for touring as the "Other half of Van Halen", to which Ed says "Alex is the other half of Van Halen". I do hope that if there is a reunion tour, that Mike is part of it because his harmony vocals are a big part of the VH sound.

DGA35 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the reports I've read on line, it looks like
> VH will reunite this year with DLR, although now
> it seems that Ed's son Wolf will be playing bass
> and Mike Anthony is out! Not sure who'll appear
> onstage for the Hall of Fame inductions.
> It has been reported that Ed is pissed off with
> Mike and Sammy for touring as the "Other half of
> Van Halen", to which Ed says "Alex is the other
> half of Van Halen". I do hope that if there is a
> reunion tour, that Mike is part of it because his
> harmony vocals are a big part of the VH sound.


I have heard that as well. Always thought MA was a very underrated part of the band. Ed seems to have gotten vindictive over the past couple of yrs. Back in '96 (and even 2000--remember Tabla Rosa--that was supposed to be the title of the record.) I was really fired up for a reunion--now........and if he replaces MA with his 15 yr old son, forget it........

Glass Slide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DGA35 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > From the reports I've read on line, it looks
> like
> > VH will reunite this year with DLR, although
> now
> > it seems that Ed's son Wolf will be playing
> bass
> > and Mike Anthony is out! Not sure who'll
> appear
> > onstage for the Hall of Fame inductions.
> > It has been reported that Ed is pissed off with
> > Mike and Sammy for touring as the "Other half
> of
> > Van Halen", to which Ed says "Alex is the other
> > half of Van Halen". I do hope that if there is
> a
> > reunion tour, that Mike is part of it because
> his
> > harmony vocals are a big part of the VH sound.
>
>
> I have heard that as well. Always thought MA was a
> very underrated part of the band. Ed seems to have
> gotten vindictive over the past couple of yrs.
> Back in '96 (and even 2000--remember Tabla
> Rosa--that was supposed to be the title of the
> record.) I was really fired up for a
> reunion--now........and if he replaces MA with his
> 15 yr old son, forget it........

I agree, Anthony's background/harmony vocals were a critical part of VH's sound. The songs would sound weird without them. Eddie Van Halen has pretty much lost his mind these days, I think.

Still glad to see them inducted into the RNR Hall of Fame. But no Iggy? No Black Sabbath? Bah!

And what is Grandmaster Flash doing in there? Rap hall of fame, sure, even music hall of fame, ok. But rock hall of fame? What did they ever have to do with rock?

Black Sabbath was inducted last year.

rap act? Why even call it the f-ing rock and roll hall of fame!

Hell, these dudes created a new style from
existing forms almost thirty years ago.
Rock is windin' along in mysterious ways.

stonesfan70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Black Sabbath was inducted last year.

oh, yeah, you're right. they were excluded for so many years bitching about it became a reflex.

The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame was a great idea 20 years ago, when "oldies" like the Stones and Eric Clapton were among the few nominees; when 30 years in the business was considered a truly admirable achievement. Today the "classic rock" scene with its middle-aged "legends" and "innovators" is so crowded that they all have to fight for their spot in the Hall, and people generally seen as important to the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll (like Iggy Pop) are overlooked, ignored or don't give a hoot. And who gives a hoot in the end, when the place is starting to look like MySpace...

About Van Halen ... I was real excited about the seemingly serious talk about a DLR + VH renuion, but was totally bummed by the exclusion of Michael Anthony. I certainly don't blame him for hooking up with Sammy Hagar instead of his original band mates, but I have now lost a lot of the interest I had in any possible -- and truly probable -- upcoming events with VH. Hopefully Dave can steer that half-sunk ship in the right direction, at least for a little while.

I'm psyched about VH and R.E.M., for a bunch of reasons.

- Dave's acceptance speech
- Eddie's acceptance speech
- Sammy's acceptance speech
- Alex's acceptance speech
- Michael Anthony's acceptance speech

If you thought the '96 MTV Awards reunion was awkward, this is going to be even better! Plus, we'll get pitches for tequila and hot sauce - it's win/win!

As for R.E.M., any occasion that results in a reunion gig with Bill Berry justifies the whole thing for me. I'm psyched they're in, because Berry-era R.E.M. could be my favorite catalogue behind the Stones', and R.E.M. has basically just flat-out sucked since he left the band.

It will be great to see the mono-browed one behind the drums one more time.

JuanTCB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm psyched about VH and R.E.M., for a bunch of
> reasons.
>
> - Dave's acceptance speech
> - Eddie's acceptance speech
> - Sammy's acceptance speech
> - Alex's acceptance speech
> - Michael Anthony's acceptance speech
>
> If you thought the '96 MTV Awards reunion was
> awkward, this is going to be even better! Plus,
> we'll get pitches for tequila and hot sauce - it's
> win/win!


I TOTALLY agree--it will be a circus up on that stage!! Must see TV for sure.
And I am with you Lie--the exclusion of MA totally ruins the "reunion". And replacing him with your son is nepotism run amuck.

REM must be the most boring band inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame yet

i like van halen but their contributions seem a bit slight....

patti smith is a grandslam....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-09 00:49 by stoned_in_dc.

I just watched the channel 7 6pm news here in New York and they announced the R&R hall of fame musicians. They showed a video clip of Van Halen with Gary Sharone ?!?!? Who's their rock expert ?

I am so glad I did not see that. I am a big VH fan and have worked very hard to remove the whole Cherrone debacle from my memory bank. Not to mention I have had dinner yet......


Btw, that decision, which was really engineered by their then mgr, was the first sign that Eddie was becoming slightly unglued.

Glass Slide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am so glad I did not see that. I am a big VH fan
> and have worked very hard to remove the whole
> Cherrone debacle from my memory bank. Not to
> mention I have had dinner yet......
>
>
> Btw, that decision, which was really engineered by
> their then mgr, was the first sign that Eddie was
> becoming slightly unglued.

I kept hoping for a cover version of "My Cherrone - Uh!" but it never happened.

Of all the artists nominated, the most deserving one of the bunch

was Mr. Joe Tex.

Passed over again.


Small Faces: never nominated.

And I could list about 20 more....

It's crap. A programmed TV show. And they won't even air it unedited.

LieB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame was a great idea 20
> years ago, when "oldies" like the Stones and Eric
> Clapton were among the few nominees; when 30 years
> in the business was considered a truly admirable
> achievement. Today the "classic rock" scene with
> its middle-aged "legends" and "innovators" is so
> crowded that they all have to fight for their spot
> in the Hall, and people generally seen as
> important to the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll (like
> Iggy Pop) are overlooked, ignored or don't give a
> hoot. And who gives a hoot in the end, when the
> place is starting to look like MySpace...

I agree........I don't give a damn about the Hall..not with all the clowns they've inducted the last few years......

interesting article from boston; writer complains w/o inducting stooges, dolls, mc5, and others etc...the 'hall of fame' has little credibility:
[theedge.bostonherald.com]

JuanTCB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm psyched about VH and R.E.M., for a bunch of
> reasons.
>
> - Dave's acceptance speech
> - Eddie's acceptance speech
> - Sammy's acceptance speech
> - Alex's acceptance speech
> - Michael Anthony's acceptance speech

Don't forget Gary's acceptance speech!

If I was Gary Cherone, I would hog the microphone and ramble on for about 20 minutes, thanking everyone in the world except for Eddie. Then I would invite DLR and Sammy to join me in a World Tour spotlighting the "stellar vocals of the Van Halen Band".

Screw Eddie Van Halen. What a waste!

Look at it this way. In about 15 more years anybody that put out a record in the 60's and 70's will be in no matter who they are. They should of limited the inductees to about 4 artists in thee first years of induction. Some years 8 artists were inducted. Anyway the Museum in Cleveland is a great place. I would recomend it to anyone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-09 19:18 by GShelter.

Yeah R.E.M. is really boring.

Document didn't rock at all. Neither did Lifes Rich Pagent. Or Monster. Green was very slow with lots of harps and choirs. Certainly not Reckoning. Or Fables of the Reconstruction. Murmur barely had any guitars. New Adventures In Hi-Fi was like a lullaby. Chronic Town was super lame.

Lay off the pipe stoned in dc. You're doing yourself a great disservice by not listening to one of the most influential and significant American bands of the last 25 years. And you sound ridiculous to anyone who knows anything about music.




stoned_in_dc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> REM must be the most boring band inducted into the
> rock and roll hall of fame yet
>
> i like van halen but their contributions seem a
> bit slight....
>
> patti smith is a grandslam....

[www.nydailynews.com]
there will be a special award and recognition for ahmet...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-09 19:12 by Beelyboy.

according to wiki; these were the inductees the years the stones were deemed worthy:
"1989
Dion (1939 - )
Otis Redding (1941 - 1967)
The Rolling Stones (formed 1962)
The Temptations
Stevie Wonder (1950 - ) "

dion put out such a deeply excellent and satisfying acoustic blues solo album about a year or so ago, 2005 i guess, same as abb...
he has his own signature Martin guitar now...excellent player...still totally vital singer...
covering robert johnson and many others...very deep down stuff...brilliantly and naturally played and performed live...it rock seriously.
stevie still goin' great guns...don't know when his last serious good studio album was...
abb certainly has it's grand moments.

i can't buy into too much of this hall of fame stuff...
it's like the 'list' thing...
even here, the real innovators are left out for cleaner more manageably commercialized images...
stooges and mc5 and dolls and cheap trick and so very many others...
i mean, did larry williams ever get in?

it's "ROCK AND ROLL" how could it's prestigious official museum miss mc5, how could they miss so many...it's very shallow, but tries hard...it's middle america's flat sanitized accepted version of a very dirty bloody hard revolutionary type of music...

at the same time trying to be 'hip politically correct'
a reporter made the point that michael nesmith of the monkees started country rock as much as gram...
the museum tries to have it both ways and ends up just being another shallow self promotion tool for itself and the players...

it's a matter of taste and perceived hipness i guess...
for patti to get it and her late husband, a founding member of the mc5 to NOT be there is ridiculous...really, the monkees are no more a melodramatic showbiz offering than patti's careful image and tuneless screeching...
Shadows Of Knight should have been inducted before Patti; MUCH better version of "Gloria" and probably a fasinating story behind those guys, if you could dig it up and out...
if mott the hoople isn't in there they know NOTHING about rock and roll.
i still maintain the two best things ever about that whole cleveland thing was #1 iggy performing at the original founding concert...blowing every single other huge star and band totally away, (at least in their mid 80's manifestations) by going deep into the blues, and staying totally iggy, whipping himself up some very deep extraordinary voodoo amongst a very star studded and truly deeply embarrassing and boring event.
#2 van morrison winning induction and not bothering to show up for the award,
years before the pistols brilliant response last year.

which reminds meeeehhhhh,
OT:
saw van morrison on austin city limits this past weekend (pbs--public broadcasting performance show of long standing) and he was just heavenly...
in his current band, the woman on steel guitar was amazing.
at one point (it's a fairly intimate setting with room to dance as well as sit)
van actually asked the crowd for 'requests'...
i could not believe it...shocked. he was real relaxed; blowing great tenor sax...the whole thing was so cool.

this might mean a smile from the stage sometime before the end of his career, but i'm not betting on it...
the show was heavenly, heavenly.