Peter O'Toole Rocks the Hall of Fame

Krup slogged through all four hours of the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (so you didn't have to) and he, I mean I am sad to report that I can whittle it down to a few measly highlights, one of which was taped in 2004.

First up, we've got Keith Richards (channeling Johnny Depp channeling the not-quite-dead-yet Peter O'Toole) inducting The Ronettes into the 'Fame:



(Click to watch)

Next, we've got that sweet little girl from Pitman, New Jersey, Patti (Tricia) Smith, with a great story about her and her late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, and an even better story about her Mom followed by a blistering performance of "Rock N Roll Nigger":



(Click to watch)

I wasn't crazy about R.E.M.'s performance, especially "Man on the Moon" with Eddie Vedder -- Stipe and Eddie simply don't blend well (although Eddie's induction speech for the band was pretty funny, albeit WAY too long). However, it was great to see Bill Berry pounding away on the drums again and "Gardening at Night" is one of my all-time favorite R.E.M. songs, so here goes:



(Click to watch)

I just couldn't bring myself to include the final "All-Star" jam of Smith's "People Have the Power" -- it was just way too embarrassing for words, what with Sammy Hagar getting to sing a couple of verses and that fat fuck Stephen Stills playing a remarkably bad guitar solo. No, wait, on second thought, I have to show you just a little of it. Michael Stipe staring at Sammy Hagar expresses what I couldn't put into words:



(Click to watch)

Finally, here's what I thought was the hands-down musical highlight of the evening: Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Prince performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from George Harrison's posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame in 2004. The expression on George's son Dhani's face while watching Prince (in the red hat) perform says it all:



(Click to watch)

I do want to say it was good to see Grandmaster Flash get inducted into the Hall -- the first ever rap act to get inducted -- but I wasn't crazy about the performance so he doesn't get a highlight clip (I would've preferred a little more "wheels of steel").

Now the question remains: Is this bloated, black tie affair still valid? Was it ever? Ah, it doesn't matter: Jann Wenner's ego will keep this thing alive for as long as it takes. And, if we're lucky, we'll get at least 10 minutes of decent televised music out of the deal each year. Next year, I'm hoping for a little Dave Clark Five...