Rock Hall 2010 Inductees Announced

Stooges, ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, Hollies and... David Geffen?!?

By Fred Mills

That's right - David friggin' Geffen, record industry mogul, artist manager, label president, and at various points in time the most hated/feared man in the biz. Geffen (pictured above with a pair of fans) is among the non-performers getting nods at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony next year. Songwriters Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, plus Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell are also to be honored as recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

But the big names, of course, are the artists, and after several previous nominations between them, both the Stooges and ABBA are finally getting in - deservedly so.

The bones of contention, and there are always plenty of those each year, are the other inductees: British Invasion alumni the Hollies, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff and prog-rock mooks Genesis. But overall, the field was considerably stronger this year than usual, so we won't complain much.

"We are very happy to present this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they represent a great cross-section of artists that define the broad spectrum and history of rock and roll and people that have contributed immeasurably to our business" said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President & CEO Joel Peresman, in a statement posted at the Rock Hall website.

The ceremony: March 15 at NYC's Waldorf Astoria in New York City. This year it will air live on the Fuse network, which is probably better than airing it on MTV or VH1, but not by much.

Meanwhile, let's revisit what we know about the Rock Hall, shall we? Go here to read Chris Parker's expose published in the fall issue of BLURT...