Cleveland is mecca for music gurus

by Tiffany Royal
The Post

Only at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland can one find Elvis' rainbow suit from the 1970s, see Britney Spears' cat-suit from her "Oops!...I did it again!" video and read John Lennon's original "Imagine" lyrics.

"The mecca of rock 'n' roll," as it is sometimes dubbed, recently inducted its 2001 class, which includes Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and Queen, to name a few.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, whose nominating committee is comprised of rock 'n' roll historians, has been inducting members since 1986. The committee members choose 15 nominees each year in the Performer category. Then ballots are sent to an international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts. The performers that receive the highest number and more than 50 percent of the votes are inducted into the Hall of Fame, according to the museum's Web site (http://www.rockhall.com). Usually five to seven artists are inducted annually, but this year accepted 11 inductees.

Other members of the music industry are recognized in three categories: Non-Performers, Early Influences and the Side-men. There also is a Lifetime Achievement Award occasionally given from the foundation.

The Non-Performers category include songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists and other industry professionals that play a major part in the industry, according to the Web site. The Early Influences include nominees whose music pre-dated rock and roll but impacted the development of the music.

The Side-men category recently was added, and its nominees are chosen by a separate group, mainly comprised of producers. This group honors those who were out of the spotlight but were backup musicians for recording sessions or in concerts. They also often helped the development of notable music.

The concept of a museum of rock 'n' roll memorabilia started in the early 1980s, said Kelly McGlumphy, media relations coordinator at the museum. Several heads of the music industry in New York City, including Jenn Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone magazine and Ahmet Erterun, CEO of Atlantic Records, decided to rent a brownstone in the city. They were going to set up a small museum to honor the people they felt were instrumental in making rock 'n' roll happen.

After hiring an entertainment lawyer, Suzan Evans, now head of the Foundation, developed something that outgrew what was originally envisioned, McGlumphy said. They sent out notifications to several large cities, including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Memphis and New Orleans; Cleveland came back with the best proposal, McGlumphy said. Cleveland was also the home of Alan Freed.

The architect I. M. Pei of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners developed and built the museum in the mid-'90s, breaking ground in 1993 and finishing the new museum in 1995, according to the museum's Web site.

A recent addition to the museum is the exhibit, Lennon: His Life and Work, about John Lennon. Open through September 2001, the exhibit occupies the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, McGlumphy said. It is the only place in the United States where the exhibit is open to the public. Done in full collaboration with Yoko Ono, it is a full exploration of Lennon as an artist and a musician. Some of the pieces are a piano from his New York home, articles of his clothing and 30 hand-written lyrics, including "Happy Christmas" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

So start a band now, and maybe after 25 years of influencing the development of rock 'n' roll it will be inducted into halls of rock fame.