Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces Inductees, Rejects Others, Raffles Tickets

The 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. Passing muster with the voters: Black Sabbath (on their 8th nomination), Blondie (1st), Lynyrd Skynyrd (7th), Miles Davis (1st), and The Sex Pistols (5th). All will be inducted into "the Hall" during an induction ceremony, the details of which are shrouded in mystery but rumoured to involve each inductee lying in a coffin and reciting their sexual history in a roomful of snickering record label executives. Or possibly it will occur on March 13 in New York and be quite public and showy. And even include a Lifetime Achievement Award, in this case for Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, co-founders of A&M Records.

For the first time, tickets to the ceremony are being made available to the public. The catch is that you can only buy the chance at a ticket to the ceremony. The charity raffle will give away four pairs of tickets, along with $1,000 for each raffle winner (to offset travel expenses). Each raffle ticket is $100. Funds raised go to educational programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Fifteen artists were nominated this year. Among those not making the cut: Dave Clark Five, Grandmaster Flash, J Geils Band, John Mellencamp, the Patti Smith Group, and the Stooges.

Songs by the inductees... except Black Sabbath... below. Eight tries? Once it takes eight nominations to get inducted, can we, the music-loving public, feel confident that the voters didn't just feel sorry for an artist? Is this a pity induction? How can we be sure?

Miles Davis - Mystery (from Doo-Bop)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Three Steps (from Smokes, The Collection, etc.)

Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone (from Parallel Lines, Greatest Hits, etc.)

The Sex Pistols - Submission (from Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols)