Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501170036
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IRA ROBBINS/NEWSDAY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Move to Cleveland and wait for it to be built.
It took baseball years to grant Phil Rizzuto the recognition he deserved, but at least there was a wall to hang his plaque on when sportswriters finally came to their senses. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation began electing and inducting groups of fabled greats in 1986, but all the winners got was bragging rights. Groundbreaking for the hall's long-delayed home didn't take place until June '93.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 10th annual induction dinner Thursday in New York City added the Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha and the Vandellas, Neil Young, Frank Zappa and (as an early influence) the Orioles to its list of greats already consecrated to posterity.
There was one big change this year: a roof to cover the legends of rock. Even if it is located in Cleveland.
According to Hall of Fame Director of Communications Tim Moore, the building overlooking Lake Erie is 70 percent complete; installation of exhibits will begin next month. By Labor Day, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum - a $92 million, six-story I.M. Pei-designed shrine to what was once considered a passing teen-age fad - will be open to the public.
When the doors open in September, the Hall of Fame will have 72 residents (not counting lifetime achievement honorees or those inducted in non-performer and early influence categories). But they won't be commemorated with bronze busts or plaques on the wall. In keeping with its field, this Hall of Fame is taking a consciously modern approach.
``It's not Cooperstown,'' says Jim Henke, the museum's chief curator and a former editor of Rolling Stone magazine. ``It's a darkened room. There's pieces of glass, illuminated from behind, etched with the artists' autographs, and video monitors scattered around.'' In the interests of conserving space for the annual additions, each screen will cycle through photos and information for several honorees.
Below those two top floors, the rest of the 50,000 square feet of exhibition space will be devoted to the history of rock, using a combination of films, multimedia technology and the many one-of-a-kind historical artifacts being donated to the museum.
A circular theater with facing screens will counterpose classic musical performances and their contemporaneous historical events, while one series of exhibits will explore local music scenes that became national: Memphis in the '40s and '50s, New Orleans in the '50s, San Francisco in the '60s, Motown-era Detroit, '70s punk in New York and London, rap in New York, Seattle in the '90s.
A number of individual artists - Henke reckons 10 to 20, including the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Who and Neil Young - will be featured in individual exhibits. A separate display will focus on the Rolling Stones as a touring band over the years; Mick Jagger is providing examples of his stage clothes.
Henke is especially proud of the John Lennon exhibit, much of which came to the museum in October on loan from Yoko Ono, a very public gesture of confidence that proved pivotal to the acquisition efforts. ``It's a key collection,'' he says. ``Even the casual fan is going to respond to his `Sgt. Pepper' uniform.''
by CNB