"Welcome to one of the greatest nights in music history," said co-host Jared Cotter at the beginning of Fuse’s TV broadcast of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, demonstrating exactly the sort of grasp of music history you would expect from a former American Idol contestant. It wasn’t. In fact, much of the night felt a little B-list: Ron Wood instead of Mick or Keith, Max Weinberg and Garry Tallent instead of Bruce, Rosanne Cash instead of just about anybody else (nothing against Cash, but surely they could have found a bigger name to induct rockabilly pioneer Wanda Jackson). Poor Spooner Oldham, the quietly dignified classic-soul keyboard legend, had to endure a hammy induction speech from Hall of Fame-perennial Paul Shaffer.
That’s not to say this wasn’t a worthy bunch of inductees. Little Anthony and the Imperials, Wanda Jackson (how was she not in the HoF already?), Spooner Oldham, Bobby Womack, Elvis sidemen D.J. Fontana and Bill Black, Jeff Beck, Run-DMC, and Metallica all deserve their slots. But the ceremony itself was often tough to sit through. With no apparent time limit on speeches and EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of each act getting to talk, the night dragged on endlessly.
Things finally seemed like they might pick up when Eminem hit the stage to induct Run-DMC. It was a rare public appearance for the rapper, who’s gearing up for a comeback album that’s due this summer. Gaunt and a little subdued, he paid heartfelt tribute with a speech based on a recurring "two turntables and a microphone" theme that didn’t quite make sense (like no other artist in hip-hop history, Run-DMC’s sound was based on having TWO mics). It was a decent-enough set-up for a performance that sadly never came. Earlier they had announced they wouldn’t be performing out of respect for the late Jam Master Jay, a decision that was both admirable and a little disappointing.
It was up to Metallica to wake things up, which, of course, they did. Playing as a five-piece with former bassist Jason Newsted, they tore through "Enter Sandman" (something less predictable might have been nice, guys…) and the entire eight minutes of "Master of Puppets." The night ended with the obligatory "jam session," in this case a megawatt version of the Yardbirds’ "Train Kept a Rollin," featuring Metallica along with former Yardbirds Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and Ron Wood. It was a fun cap to a mostly slow night, but as usual with these things, all that heavy artillery proved overwhelming. As Paul Shaffer pointed out earlier in the night, sometimes what musicians leave out is more important than what they put in. In this case, they didn’t leave out a single thing.
But what did you think of the ceremony? Is the Hall of Fame still a big deal, or is it getting a little tired?
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Eminem and Run DMC at the HoF??! gotta love them samples, drum machines and profanity…that’s REAL musicianship.
No Kiss and Rush? Those guys have huge followings and made Big Money for the record industry. Shame on the Hall of Farts. I hope they boycot this. Come on, Maddona? RunDMC? Where is Weird Al? He should be in there too!!
It must have integrity to be recognized as credible, not simply a board of private members who vote on inductees “they” think are worthy. Ask any musician (James Hatfield) how they feel about Alice Cooper not being inducted? enough said about integrity……..
It is shameful that Rush and Alice Cooper are not in the hall of fame as they are pioneers in there genre which THEY CREATED!!!
This article sucked, the person who wrote this has the intellect of a 9th grader
The whole purpose of the event is to honor the entire career span of the artists inducted. They are not there to entertain the writer of this article because he/she can’t take 5-10 minutes out of their life to listen to the artists speech and their personal feelings on their journey and honor of being inducted. Worrying about a or b list persons introducing them is entirely missing the point.
Run-DMC? I have lost all respect for the hall of fame. Don’t get me wrong…Run-DMC is a great “RAP” group, but don’t you think the the “Jonas Brothers” deserve it more?
BillSmith I hope you are kidding!?!? Or you are 13 years old and don’t understand what the Hall of Fame is. The Jonas Brothers have been around for 5 minutes. The Hall of Fame honors artists who have been around and made an impact on music. Run DMC did for rap and hip hop what Nirvana did for alternative rock.
Bill Smith: seriously the Jonas Brothers have no talent they are just huge because of disney. They lack the talent needed to be inducted
Look at MTV today. Nothing what it used to be like in the day. The Hall of Fame is following in their footsteps. Notice I left out “Rock and Roll”?!
So how come no Iggy and the Stooges in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame? How come no New York Dolls? MC5? 13th Floor Elevators? Radio Birdman? Television? Is it only the mediocre groups that last forever that get in, or are the bands that truly blazed the trails ever going to get their due? No disrespect to the folks who were inducted, especially Wanda Jackson, D.J. Fontana, Bill Black and Spooner Oldham, all great musicians who deserve their laurels, but c’mon … couldn’t Jeff Beck have waited a year or two for his SECOND induction into the R’nR HoF?
>>>Run DMC did for rap and hip hop
And rap and hip hop AIN’T ROCK! Run DMC doesn’t deserve to be inducted!
The HOF is a joke. I can understand letting early blues artists in, as it helped shape rock and roll, but come on, Run DMC? They are great for their genre, but certainly not rock. Don’t even get me started on Metallica. Any real rock and roller would have embraced Napster- instead, they took it down. BOO!
Vkole….Yes I was kidding, sarcastic, and very mad at the HOF.
Jeff Beck certainly deserved getting in (long before now), and while I’m not a headbanger I’ll give Metallica their props too. They deserve it, as do pioneers like Womack and Jackson. But Run-DMC? I gotta agree with the others who have stated that, in spite of working with Aerosmith, they simplyaren’t rock. Meanwhile, artists like Peter Gabriel and Stevie Ray Vaughan still aren’t in? Sad.
i like metallica
No Roxy Music, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Moody Blues? These bands were much of what was exciting in Rock in the 70s. Instead we have Rap bands? Wtf? Even if Punk was supposed to have erased all memory of intellegent Rock, it didn’t. In fact one could argue that without Roxy Music there would not have been punk let alone the wave of “art” Rock that followed.
But no Kiss says it all. I’m not a Kiss fan but anyone who followed Rock the last three decades has to admit they kept the fans in the game.
On the other hand, I don’t trust art that wins awards. Modigliani never sold a painting and Van Gough hustled paintings for soup.
c(rap) and the wonderful word MUSIC should never be said in the same sentence. Come on HALL of Fame!!! Get a backbone and get back to REAL MUSIC. This hiphop crap and rap junk needs to go. NOW!!!!!
Am I smoking crack, or is James’ last name Hetfield (not hatfield)?
Takes a true Metallica fan to post that.
I totally agree cajunkiss!!..It is HETFIELD..I am a 36yr old female and i have worshipped them since i was little…Total Tallica fan knows all of them even Cliff..rip..So I also won tickets in ohio from a radio station to see tallica in sept…already seen them last year in nov!!Metallica YOU DESERVE THIS INDUCTION!
when it took until the last year of elicibility for Black Sabbath AND Lynyrd Skynyrd to be inducted, the hall lost all credibility with me.
Rap should NOT be in the Hall Of fame! What about Paul Revere & The Raiders? Tommy James and The Shondells? The Sir Douglas Quintet? Clarence White? Tom Jones? All influential and important, but all left out of this bullshit Hall Of Fame. It should be called the Music Hall of Political Correctness!
This was the worst article I’ve ever read. Fire this guy and get someone less boring and depressing to write your stories.
The hall of fame has two major problems:
1. Defining what rock and roll is in terms of who they induct.
2. The fact that they have always inducted too many people per year, leading to the b-list situtation.
x
Three inductions per year is more than enough. At this point, the distinctions are becoming meaningless, especially when there are many truly worthy artists who have yet to be recognized.
Metallica? Really? They used to be all right, before they stopped caring about their fans and caring more for about money. R&RHoF has no credibility. Hopefully not even Fuse will broadcast any more shows. Stooges, Kiss, wtf?
I am glad that Metallica is in but what does it say about the credibility when they induct a rap group also? You must be kidding. How in the world did Run DMC impact the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll? A tune with Aerosmith of an Aerosmith song? pffft!!!
Hetfield’s opening to his speech brought tears to my eyes. Finally someone who didn’t lose their nerve at the podium and called out “The Hall” (Wenner and co.) and asked about the absence of Deep Purple, Lizzy, Rush, Maiden etc. Brilliant!! Thank you James!! Side note: Jeff, forget about the Clapton tour; get Page. You guys go out and jam Y-Birds, and instrumental versions of Zeppelin. I don’t know if it would sell out the Garden (probably though), but anyone who stayed up last night and heard that rendition of “Beck’s Bolero/Immigrant Song” and enjoys good rock guitar; they would see this. I know I would.
I find it amusing that you bash Paul Shaffer’s speech as hammy, yet. close your article with a quote from Paul Shaffer.
Get a DVR. You can skip over all the commercials and parts you don’t want to watch.
Anybody ever notice that Metallica sounds like a really bad imitation of Jethro Tull?
No Alice Cooper, Johnny Rivers, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Tommy James, Kiss, Rush, or Doug Sahm, yet the RRHOF has the likes of RUN-DMC, Madonna, and Leonard Cohen—-YUCK!
Um, Hello! Run DMC! in the HOF…I actually had no idea about them bc I do not have the FUSE channel…but I am floored that they were even considered in the first place. Now Metallica, on the other hand, they should have been in years ago! These guys have been rockin’ & been thru some major S%*T for alotta years. Obviously, this guy has NO IDEA at all what he is talking about. And Sandman is a classic; I think a bunch of us fans would have been shocked if they had not played it. Way to go guys! I am proud of ya! :O)