AC/DC, The Clash, The Police And Others Inducted Into Hall Of Fame

03/11/2003 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Billy Johnson Jr

(3/11/03, 3 p.m. ET) -- AC/DC, the Clash, the Police, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, and the Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on Monday (March 10). Also inducted were record executive Mo Ostin and sidemen Benny Benjamin, Floyd Cramer, and Steve Douglas. The 18th annual ceremony took place at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.

AC/DC

Australia's best-loved hard rock export, AC/DC is characterized by bluesy guitar and screeching vocals, and they have nurtured at least three generations of heavy metal boogie fans.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith inducted AC/DC. "AC/DC became the litmus test of what rock does," Tyler said. "Does it make you clench your fist when you sing along? Does it scare your parents to hell, and piss of the neighbors? Does it make you dance so close to the fire that you burn your feet--and still don't give a rat's ass? Does it make you want to stand up and scream for something that you're not even sure of yet? Does it make you want to boil your sneakers, and make soup outta your girlfriend's panties? (audience laughter) If it doesn't, then it ain't AC/DC."

In AC/DC's acceptance, current lead singer Brian Johnson quoted the band's 1977 song "Let There Be Rock," written by the late lead singer Bon Scott. "'In the beginning, back in 1955, man didn't know about the rock 'n roll show and all that jive. The white man had the schmaltz, the black man had the blues, but no one knew what they was gonna do, but Tchaikovsky had the news, he said, let there be rock,'" Johnson said. "Bon Scott wrote that. And it's a real privilege to accept these awards tonight."

AC/DC performed "Highway To Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long."

The Clash

At the dawn of British punk, the overtly political Clash railed out against war, racism, a dead-end economy, and true romance to earn the title of "the only band that really mattered, and the last great British rock 'n' roll band." The Clash imparted a conscience to punk and a jolly wink at rock's corporate bluster in those first heady days of MTV.

Tom Morello, guitarist for Audioslave and Rage Against The Machine, gave an induction speech that praised the Clash's integrity and commitment. "They combined revolutionary sounds with revolutionary ideas," Morello said about the Clash. "Their music launched thousands of bands, and moved millions of fans, and I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without them. During their heyday they were known as the only band that matters, and 25 years later that seems just about right to me."

The Edge, guitarist for U2, also gave an induction speech for the Clash, describing how the Clash kept the spirit of rock and roll alive. "The Clash's contribution to the story of rock and roll is immense," the Edge said. "Their contribution to the survival of rock and roll I think is unique. When punk was starting to wane mainstream rock had become hopelessly and awfully redundant. The Stones had gone to disco, by the way where most of the smart money was going at the time. The Clash, along with one or two other bands alone carried the torch."

The Edge went on to give them credit for inspiring his own group. "They broke through barriers of perception and genre and left behind them a thousand bands from garage land who caught a glimpse of what they saw and strove for, including one from Ireland called U2," the Edge added.

Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Terry Chimes, and the widow of lead singer Joe Strummer accepted for the Clash. Simonon summed up the band's history with a simple statement. "By a chance meeting with Mick Jones and Bernie Rhodes, I was suddenly in the group that became the Clash," Simonon said. "From 1976, the next eight years were exciting and explosive, both on and off stage. Mick Joe and me were like the Three Musketeers, brothers in arms fighting to get our message across. After achieving international recognition, we disbanded, and went our separate ways."

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Elvis Costello emerged as part of the new wave of next-generation singer-songwriters with the raw energy of punk rock, and his impact as one of New Music's emblematic figureheads was writ large on memorable tours with the Attractions.

Elton John inducted Elvis Costello, and made fun of the name Costello (born Declan McManus) had taken for himself. "Elvis had Costello from his mother's maiden name, but he had to choose a name to go with it and the cheeky f--ker chose Elvis. I mean, really....," John said.

Elton John also joked about a suspicious coincidence. "As a porno fanatic myself, not the straight variety I have to say... There was a series of porno films made in the 1970s by a guy called William Higgins, and the music was really good which makes a change you know, and the guy who wrote it's name was Costello Presley," John said. "And I have a feeling that Elvis is hiding something..."

(For the record, Elvis Costello is not porn soundtrack composer Costello Presley.)

In Costello's acceptance speech he acknowledged all the artists and songwriters who had influenced him. "These are the people that mean a lot to me," Costello said. "Franz Schubert, Lennon & McCartney, Rogers & Hart, Strummer & Jones, Difford & Tilbrook, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Randy Newman, Brian Wilson, Dusty Springfield, Gram Parsons, Georgie Fame, Curtis Mayfield, Dan Penn, Charles Mingus, Tom Waits, Frank Sinatra, George Jones, David Ackles, Sonny Boy Williamson, Van Morrison, Rick Danko, and most of all Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell."

Elvis Costello & The Attractions performed "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," including snippets of the Miracles' "You've Really Got A Hold On Me," followed by "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding?"

The Police

The Police, comprising Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, broke through in the late '70s with some of the most influential music since the advent of punk. The band took a pass on histrionics, and instead forged an understated virtuosity, burying their chops inside reggae grooves and intricate arrangements. Between 1977 and 1983, they released five critically acclaimed albums and had numerous top-10 hits before splitting up.

Gwen Stefani of No Doubt inducted the Police, and described the band's sound as a "fruit salad" of styles. "The Police were so unique, they had such a fresh, special sound," Stefani said. "They were a mix of rock, new wave, punk, reggae, jazz, pop... They were like this fruit salad of sound all coming together, just amazing."

The Police's acceptance was brief, and guitarist Andy Summers made sure he thanked the accountants to whom the band owed so much. "I'd like to thank everybody as well, particularly our accountant who kept charge of all that incredible amount of cash that came flowing through as we worked away at it," Summers said. "I'd like to make it clear that there's absolutely no ego in our band whatsoever."

The Police performed their hits "Roxanne," "Message In A Bottle," and "Every Breath You Take." During the last song, they were joined onstage by Steven Tyler, John Mayer, and Gwen Stefani.

The Righteous Brothers

"Blue eyed soul" was coined to categorize the music of the Righteous Brothers. This duo of Bobby Hatfieldand Bill Medley, whose string of hits began with the Phil Spector-produced "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," one of the most enduring classics of popular music. Their major hits also include their 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody," which hit the charts again in 1990 as the theme to the hit film Ghost.

Billy Joel inducted the Righteous Brothers, and explained how the concept of "Blue Eyed Soul" was liberating to him when he first hear it in the 1960s. "Sometimes people with blue eyes transcend the limitations of what their color and their culture is supposed to be," Joel said. "Sometimes white people can actually be soulful. This was a life-changing idea."

The Righteous Brothers performed "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling."

Backstage, Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley explained how they don't mind the term "Blue Eyed Soul." "Ah, it's kinda goofy, I don't know, we didn't come up with that phrase, the disc jockey came up with that phrase," Hatfield said. "We had a disc jockey, a black disc jockey in Philadelphia, when he found out that we were white he started calling us his blue eyed soul brothers and that's where the term came from, I don't know, it's alright."

Medley added, "It was great that black radio was playing us, and he was just alerting his audience to, these guys were white."

Other Highlights

Neil Young and Paul Simon each offered induction speeches for record label executive Mo Ostin. When Young had the stage, he took a few seconds to voice his opposition to a possible war with Iraq. "War sucks the big--it just sucks," Ostin said. "We're having a good time tonight, but we're gonna kill a lot of people next week. So let's not forget about that. I don't want to ruin this but it's too real to not mention it. And music used to be about this and it still is about this, it's a human thing, and these are humans beings over there and we're making a huge mistake, I feel like I'm in a giant gas-guzzling SUV and the driver's drunk as a f--kin' skunk, he's drunk on power. Okay."

As a tribute to Ostin, Paul Simon also performed his 1976 hit "Still Crazy After All These Years."

This year's show was shorter than previous years, due to the lack of the traditional all-star jam finale. An edited version of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will air Sunday March 16th on VH1.

Artists become eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first record, and among the considerations are the influence and significance of the artist' contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Similar criteria, including the 25-year rule, are used for the non-performer and sideman categories.

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