Rock Hall of Fame to Induct Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Tom Waits

http://www.billboard.com/news/rock-hall-of-fame-to-induct-alice-cooper-1004134661.story

Rock Hall of Fame to Induct Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Tom Waits
Gary Graff, Detroit
December 14, 2010

It's official -- Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love and Tom Waits will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. The class of 2011 will be formally feted on Mar. 14 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

All but Waits were first-time nominees to the Hall. Acts who did not make the cut this year included first-time nominee Bon Jovi, as well as multiple nominees LL Cool J, Donna Summer, the Beastie Boys, J. Geils Band, Chuck Willis, Chic and Joe Tex.

The nonination of shock rock icon Cooper and his original band seemed a long time coming given their commercial success -- four platinum albums and five Top 40 hits between 1971-73 -- and stature as theatrical pioneers.

Cooper figures it's about time the band got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But he wasn't worried about it."I've always felt the same way about this whole thing," he tells Billboard.com. "I kind of sat back and said, 'It will happen eventually.' "

"It did get to be kind of a joke, not being nominated," Cooper (born Vincent Furnier) adds. "I got to the point where I was saying, 'OK, I'm the Pete Rose of rock 'n' roll!' So now that it's a reality, it's a different take on it. Now I sit there and go, 'Wow. Wow! We've got to really get up and play, and assume the position of being in the Hall of Fame.' It'll be great."

Cooper says the only time he was upset about not being on the ballot was in 2009, when Kiss, who he considers proteges of a sort, were nominated before him. "That one stung a little bit," he acknowledges. "I sat there and went, 'Now, wait a minute...Really? Are we invisible here, or what?' "

The original Cooper band -- guitarists Michael Bruce and the late Glen Buxton, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith -- splintered in 1974, after the "Muscle of Love" album. But Cooper, who's continued as a solo act ever since, says he would not have accepted induction if it wasn't for the entire band.

"The original band was cutting edge," he explains. "It was the original band that had all the iconic records from 'Love it to Death' on to 'Billion Dollar Babies' and 'Muscle of Love.' What I did after that was an aftermath. The original band were the guys that had to cut through that big, thick ice in order to become an entity out there. I can't see how I could just go up there as an individual."

The four surviving Alice Cooper members are currently together in Arizona rehearsing for a performance at Cooper's 10th Annual Christmas Pudding at Phoenix's Comerica Theater, benefiting his Solid Rock Foundation for children. (Rob Zombie, former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Night Ranger, Glen Campbell, Cheech Marin and Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers are also performing). The group will perform at the induction ceremony, with Steve Hunter, who played in Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" band, filling in for Buxton.

Major theatrics -- such as the guillotine or gallows -- are unlikely for the Hall of Fame ceremony, Cooper says, but it will hardly be a bare-bones performance.

"We'll play 'I'm Eighteen' and 'School's Out,' probably," he says, "but I'm sure there'll be weather balloons of confetti thrown into the audience and stuff like that. They'll know it's us."

(Additional reporting by Monica Herrera)

Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Bon Jovi Nominated For Rock Hall Of Fame

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1648859/20100928/beastie_boys.jhtml
Sep 28 2010
Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Bon Jovi Nominated For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Tom Waits, Neil Diamond and Alice Cooper also on the list for 2011 induction.
Gil Kaufman

The list of 15 nominees for the 2011 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is one of the most eclectic yet, encompassing everyone from punk-inspired rap trio the Beastie Boys to one of rap's most enduring icons, LL Cool J, New Jersey rock warhorses Bon Jovi, original shock-rocker Alice Cooper and gravel-voiced troubadour Tom Waits.

Joining that group are such luminaries as crooner Neil Diamond, folk legends Donovan and Laura Nyro, New Orleans "Night Tripper" Dr. John, funky bar-band rockers the J. Geils Band, disco queen Donna Summer, funk act Chic, girl-group graduate Darlene Love, soul singer Joe Tex, and R&B singer and "King of the Stroll" Chuck Willis.

The nods are the first for Bon Jovi, Donovan, Cooper, Dr. John and Diamond, though Chic, Beastie Boys, Cool J, Summer and Love have lodged a number of previous nods without making it to the musical promised land. The final list of a handful of inductees will be announced in December, and the 26th annual induction ceremony will take place on March 14 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York.

Artists become eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first album or single and more than 500 music professionals and industry members vote on the nominees. Among the 2010 inductees were Iggy and the Stooges, ABBA and Genesis.

Diamond reveals `Caroline' inspiration

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/32627863

Diamond reveals `Caroline' inspiration
11/20/2007
AP

Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit "Sweet Caroline."

"I've never discussed it with anybody before — intentionally," the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told The Associated Press on Monday during a break from recording. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday."

He got his chance last week when he performed the song via satellite at Caroline Kennedy's 50th birthday party.

Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in a news magazine caught his eye.

"It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony," Diamond recalled. "It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there."

Years later, holed up in a hotel in Memphis, Tenn., he would write the words and music in less an hour.

"It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration," he said. "I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."

The enduring hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox. "Sweet Caroline" is played at every home game.

"I think they consider it good luck," Diamond said, adding that the Red Sox have become his favorite baseball team.

The tune's return to the charts leaves Diamond "speechless," he said. "That song was written 40 years ago, so I am just overwhelmed by the fact that it has returned and that, more importantly, people have taken it into their hearts for so many years."

Diamond is now at work on a new album, his second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin.

"We're both very excited about it," Diamond said. "I think it's going to be one of my best ever."
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