Rock And Roll Hall Of Lame

What a silly fucking concept. The concept itself is as self-aggrandizing as it is self-negating. "Ooh, look at all those paunchy, graying fools on stage trying to play 'Gloria' or some other golden oldie they all know. I'm so glad we paid $500 to see this. And I'm even more glad I can sit down and eat while the rocking and the rolling is going on."

Having said that (wink to all you CYE people), the 25th Anniversary concert (in NYC, not Cleveland, where the actual museum is) on HBO looks and sounds phenomenal in in HD. Having said that, this glittering, glow-basking- and back-patting-fest was kicked off by a speech from Tom Hanks--'cause nothing says rock and roll like Tom Motherfucking Hanks!!!

I'm sure the list of performers who, over those 25 years, have said "fuck off" to showing up for induction is short, but good for them. That list certainly doesn't contain Iggy Pop.  He might have rolled around in broken glass and shot prodigious amounts of heroin, but that wasn't gonna stop him from kickin' it with Madge and JT.

Finally, please note that it's the Rock AND Roll Hall of Fame. Not Rock 'n' Roll. Because--even more than Tom Hanks--nothing says rock AND roll like completely spelling things out. Because there's no way I could have enjoyed Art Garfunkel belting out "Bridge Over Troubled Water" without a very large image of a bridge.   There's no way I could understand Jimi Hendrix's awesomeness without some grizzled beef jerky-looking s.o.b. telling me they'd never heard anybody play like that cat, man.

Oh, before I combust, Jeff Beck sucks.