Odds are good that if you happen to have VH1 Classic, and weren’t busy last night with an all new Deal or No Deal, you still didn’t tune into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductions live from New York City. Digging through the wire photos from the festivities might tell you something about the show itself, with photos of Ed Burns, Christy Turlington, Chevy Chase and Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers among the various inductees and presenters, and largely no one recognizable as a working musician. I made it through John Mellencamp’s performance and Tom Hanks nearly convincing me to appreciate the Dave Clark 5 before Joan Jett came out to pay tribute to the DC5 and I gave up. So, to catch us all up, here are selections from the web’s various recaps, so you also can pretend you watched it.
Rolling Stone: “As Iggy Pop and the Stooges pounded through punked-up reinventions of inductee Madonna’s “Burning Up” and “Ray of Light” Monday night at the 23rd annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it was only the most extreme example of what the show did all night long: find unexpected common ground between disparate genres and eras of music.”
ABC News: “Madonna recalled key moments of her career, from playing her demo tape for record company president Seymour Stein when he was in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV, to her shock at looking out from the stage at thousands of girls dressed like her. “It freaked me out,” she said. She fondly remembered a teacher who encouraged her to follow her dreams when she was only 14, and said she’s lucky to have people around her that are still doing that.”
Boston Globe: “Fellow Hall of Fame member Billy Joel, who inducted Mellencamp, said, “You scared us a couple of times when we thought we might have lost you a couple of times, even though it might have been a good career move.” The world needed Mellencamp’s voice, he said. “They need to hear somebody out there feels like they do, in the small towns or the big cities,” Joel said. “And it doesn’t matter if they hear it on a jukebox in a gin mill or on a … truck commercial.”
The Glasgow Daily Record: “Soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, literate songwriter Leonard Cohen, and surf instrumentalists the Ventures were among the other inductees into the Cleveland hall.”
To wrap things up, the Boston Globe mentioned one interesting component of the gift bag: a box of thirty blank CD’s.
Iggy ruled-the high-def feed was the way to go…
I feel cheated that Madonna got 45 minutes, and Leonard Cohen got Damian Rice covering Jeff Buckley covering John Cale. Little Walter’s montage, and Billy Joel’s speech, were the only things that didn’t piss me off. And I refuse to acknowledge bone-throw appearances by Iggy, when that man deserves to be in there more than almost any musician of the last hundred years.
Jim Osterberg, the Susan Lucci of rock’n'roll.
OK, YouTube of Stooges pleases. This may be the best thing the RnRHOF has produced as far as live performances, since that one Prince “While My Guitar” cameo, in the past decade.
I caught a few minutes of it last night on TV. I’m an abashed Mellencamp hater. But Billy Joel’s induction speech was great. Mellencamp’s speech was a bit long, but it made me kind of like him a little bit more.
I was also glad he chose not to play ‘Our Country’ last night.
[i]As Iggy Pop and the Stooges pounded through punked-up reinventions of inductee Madonna’s “Burning Up”[/i]
but did Watt sing lead!?
Jeebus, the speeches were endless. They need some of that Oscar “wind-it-up” music.
So was Madonna’s choice of the Stooges to represent her a way of critiquing the Hall for not inducting them yet?
Seriously, Iggy & The Stooges were incredible. However, most of the audience just looked confused as to why these old grizzled dudes were playing Madonna hits, loudly, as glammed up garage anthems. Brillant. Also, HOW ADORABLE IS MIKE WATT?
I wandered off during Tom Hanks’ speech (I hate that he kind of yells when being ‘enthusiastic’) after making it through the grumpy middle aged Joel/Mellencamp windbaggery.
Oh, and? Also awesome: Lou Reed’s flip-up reading glasses.
The Stooges were not incredible. They were fucking horrible. Iggy’s schtick looked ridiculous, and Madonna appeared remarkably uncomfortable. I’d love to know why they chose those songs — Ray of Light is a fine Madonna song, but turned punk, it was two chords and Iggy yelling and prancing. Considering Madonna’s massive catalogue, you’d think they could find something more interesting than a song most notable for the production.
It was almost worth watching for Timberlake’s constant O-face while he was watching the Stooges.
Did anyone catch Iggy and the Stooges meeting Madonna after their performance? Iggy LITERALLY skipped across the room to hug her, while Watt did a full bow to shake her hand. Madonna, on her part, looked as if she was getting some sort of invasive procedure.
Watt’s well-documented fanboyness aside, one could still hear a very definite rip in the space-time continuum when their hands met.
Thanks go Iggy’s enunciation skills, I now know that the “Ray of Light” lyric I’ve heard for 10 years as “She’s goddess of the universe” is actually “She’s got herself a universe.”
@clevername: Oh, fine. Be that way. I enjoyed it, at any rate. And, dude, Madonna totally suffers from Unintentional Bitch Face most of the time. I think she was just sort of flustered by the whole experience.
@joshservo: Watt’s bow was totally the best part. Srsly. Totally magical.
If you think this audience lacked star power, remember: next year’s induction ceremony will be in Cleveland for the first time ever.