The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its inductees for the year 2000 yesterday, and the list looked a lot like vintage AM radio. The artists slated to spend eternity in the Cleveland landmark are Eric Clapton, Earth Wind & Fire, Lovin'
Spoonful, the Moonglows, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor.
In the "Early Influences" category, the Hall will honor Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday. Holiday was recently named No. 6 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock. Each year the Hall also selects a non-performer inductee. This year it's record exec Clive Davis.
The Hall has also chosen the new millennium to launch a new category for inductees. As well as superstar bandleaders like Clapton and Raitt, the Hall will celebrate often-overlooked sidemen.
Among these inaugural honorees will be saxophonist King Curtis, who played with everyone from Ray Charles to John Lennon. Also part of the fold are the legendary Motown bass player James Jamerson, New Orleans blues drummer Earl Palmer, "Wrecking Crew" drummer Hal Blaine and Scotty Moore, the Elvis Presley guitarist who helped draft the blueprint for rock 'n' roll.
In order to be eligible for induction, you have to have had an album released more than twenty-five years ago. That meant that the Hall of Fame had a wide range of artists to choose from. Those passed up include KISS, AC/DC, Hot Chocolate, KC and the Sunshine Band, Robert Palmer and the Residents.
Another band that didn't make the final cut was Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath was eligible for induction, but in October vocalist Ozzy Osbourne demanded that the metal group be removed from the list because the industry and not the fans select it.
Osbourne felt the nomination was meaningless. In a statement he said, "It's voted on by the industry and the media, who've never bought an album or concert ticket in their lives, so their vote is totally irrelevant to me." This now makes it four times that the band have been passed up for induction.
The induction ceremony will take place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City on March 6. The show, which includes an all-star jam by the new inductees, will be broadcast sometime in March by VH1.
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