The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anybody know when/if the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction will be aired on tv? The Induction already took place, but I didn't see or hear any mention of it. I read a couple months ago that it was going to be on HBO, but I can't find anything about it.

HBO, May 5th.

Cool, thanks a bunch!  ;D I've seen a few low quality audience videos on YouTube, but that was it. I thought I had missed it. I've been waiting to see Guns N Roses get inducted. Although, when it came down to the proverbial 11th hour, Axl Rose pussied out. Surprise, surprise.  ::)

The two people I most wanted to see up on stage declined the invitation to appear: Izzy Stradlin and John Frusciante. Those two musicians meant so much to their respective bands, I can't get past the fact that they were not with them. Axl Rose was almost an obvious outcome, the guy just does what he does and that's all there is to the story. I can almost see Izzy's decision as having something to do with Axl, because those two were close with GnR and they were probably the two most prominent members with the songwriting: I still think the band lost a lot of soul when Izzy left. It would have been great to see 4 of the 5 original members playing on stage. Not taking away from what happened, but with the exception of Adler who apparently was very good on drums at the show, it would feel more like one of Slash's solo projects.

John Frusciante is another story: He's a personal favorite, a big influence musically, and it's really hard to see the Peppers playing without him: He was such a musical force in that band. Having two original drummers there was neat, but I understand where John was coming from but still would have liked to see him up there. The band often feels empty without him.

Billy Joe Armstrong's induction speech for GnR hit on a lot of great points about the Appetite album. I remember that time very well and it coincided with when I first got into playing guitar, so it was kind of neat to remember hearing various guitar-slingers in the music stores riffing on Sweet Child so often and me wanting to learn it too. It was a kind of sound that was really different from the other popular songs and styles of the day, and it made an impression on me. The pure rock and roll element of those guitars from Izzy and Slash had an X-Factor appeal that made them stand out from a guitar perspective. I'll go out on a limb and say Guns N Roses could have been inducted based on the years 88-89 alone, and maybe that's exactly what happened... :)

BTW, Chris Rock had a great line in his speech for the Chili Peppers: “If George Clinton and Brian Wilson had a kid, he’d be ugly — but he’d be Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

And Rock's story about walking into a place in Philly looking for a Grandmaster Flash concert but finding the Peppers wearing socks on their cocks was classic...

This is airing now.

Naturally, the beginning reel of RnR Hall of Fame highlights features Mike's famous chickenshit line.

Gun's N Roses stole the show. Even with two members not there, they still kicked major ass. Even though Slash hit a really sour note during the first solo in Sweet Child O' Mine. Billy Joe Armstrong was great with his induction speech. I loved his sly dig at Dizzy Reed!  ;D But the best moment was when he said "Let's see, who am I missing?", and somebody in the audience yelled out "Bill Bailey!!!!".  :lol

I'm boycotting them until they let in Chubby Checker.