Prince leads stars into Rock Hall of Fame


BY RAFER GUZMÁN
STAFF WRITER

March 16, 2004


This year's induction ceremony for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was much like the music industry itself: fragmented, seemingly random and only occasionally exciting.

Last year's ceremony's paid tribute to the power of British new wave with inductees such as Elvis Costello and The Police, but this year's lineup was a grab-bag of genres and decades. Along with visionaries such as Prince, Traffic and the late George Harrison, the hall also inducted working-class rocker Bob Seger, sensitive pop singer Jackson Browne, gimmicky bluesmen ZZ Top and the classy doo-wop quintet The Dells. Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner also was inducted.

Prince kicked off the ceremony at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria hotel last night with "Let's Go Crazy" and briefly turned the ballroom into a sweaty nightclub with swirling lights, rock guitar and blasting brass horns. Dressed in a natty white suit and his trademark high-heeled boots, he ran through a three-song set that paid tribute to past soul-funk artists, with a bit of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" preceding his hit "Kiss."

Warm horns, seemingly borrowed from Curtis Mayfield, graced "Sign O' The Times." And Prince didn't fail to raise eyebrows: At one point, he sang into a microphone shaped like a pistol, with the barrel pointing at his mouth.

After Prince, though, it was all downhill. What should have been inspiring speeches about Prince from colorful artists Andre Benjamin and Big Boi (of OutKast) and Alicia Keys turned out to be mundane in OutKast's case and embarrassingly gushy in Keys' case.

Tying tortured metaphors together and giggling at weird moments, Keys appeared in a sort of stupor as she slathered Prince with praise.

"He's the only man I've ever seen who lights the stage on fire," she said, "and leaves you to burn in a frenzy of movement."

Traffic, the group led by Steve Winwood that dabbled in lighthearted folk-pop and psychedelic rock, played "Dear Mr. Fantasy" after being inducted by presenter Dave Matthews. But the set was marred by the absence of guitarist Dave Mason, who accepted his award and then disappeared.

In one of the evening's most moving moments, Bruce Spring.steen delivered a heartfelt speech, depicting Browne as a masterful songwriter who embodied the zeitgeist of the post- Vietnam era. "There was no better longing, yearning music made in America at the time."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

Okay, this is not a repeat thread... my bad.

- June7..... un - - ed

But, of course!

I find this a little sad: "What should have been inspiring speeches about Prince from colorful artists Andre Benjamin and Big Boi (of OutKast) and Alicia Keys turned out to be mundane in OutKast's case and embarrassingly gushy in Keys' case."

It would have been really nice if somebody more renowned, another legend in fact, had given a speech for Prince. Somebody who could sum up Prince's career well, without that awful gushing that Prince attracts from some artists and the media.

[i can't speel edet]
[This message was edited Mon Mar 15 23:24:11 2004 by sabaisabai]

sabaisabai said:

Who did you have in mind... to present?

Who presented MJ? I forget.

June7 said:

I don't have anybody in particular in mind. How about somebody like Eric Clapton, whose favourite song happens to be Purple Rain? Somebody who is 'up there' as a legend and able to talk about Prince on the level. It's too late now though..

sabaisabai said:

sad 2 say, i would have rather saw d'angelo up there than keys or 'kast..

sabaisabai said:

Got to agree with you here. This is the first thing I thought about when I heard these two were going to induct Prince.

What the h*ll; couldn't they get someone better. On HIS level at least.

I wonder who made this choice though. Is it the RRHOF; or does the inductee choose who is going to induct them?