At a Hall of Fame Induction, Chords, and a Little Discord

Last night, for the 21st year in a row, a roomful of rock ‘n’ roll movers and shakers morphed into rock ‘n’ roll sitters and eaters. They gathered at the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria, to induct a new group of honorees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This year’s inductees are Blondie, the Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Miles Davis, along with the record executives Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. The ceremony is to be shown on VH1 at 9 p.m. on next Tuesday.

Shirley Manson (pics here), lead singer of Garbage, introduced Blondie, calling the group “one of the coolest, most glamorous, most stylish bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Blondie’s guitarist Chris Stein said Ms. Manson’s introduction “put dents in my cynicism.”

But it wasn’t all sweet. When Frank Infante, who was not a founding member of Blondie, asked its lead singer, Debbie Harry, if he could play with the group, she kissed him sweetly and said, “Can’t you see my band is up there?” He replied: “Your band? I thought Blondie was being inducted.” He did not perform.

The notion of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame used to inspire skepticism, but these days the ceremony hardly seems like an anomaly: it is a star-driven, ready-for-VH1 awards ceremony in an era full of them.

Still, there is something amusing about watching rock ‘n’ roll being celebrated during dinner at a fancy hotel. With all those tables and all that catered food and all those tuxedos, the ceremony almost seemed like a wedding. But there was one small but telling difference. A wedding has a dance floor.

by The New York Times