Dee Dee Sharp, of "Mashed Potatoes Time" fame, feels like she should have already been inducted into the Rock Hall:

Metro Times: You have so many awards and accolades. Why aren't you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Sharp: [laughs] That's a good question! I got a Rhythm & Blues award in 2001. But I don't know. I can't answer that. Maybe I'm just not blessed enough; I don't know.

MT: Well, you should be.

Sharp: Well, I appreciate that. But I found that sometimes tooting your own horn just doesn't work. But I really can't answer why I'm not in. I do know that I was the first woman to do a lot of things. I was the first African-American woman to ever be placed on the cover of 16 Magazine. So I don't understand. I have no idea as to why I'm not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's ridiculous as well that I don't have a star on the Walk of Fame in Philadelphia.

Sharp's former husband, Kenny Gamble was inducted in 2008 in the Non-Performer category.

Future Rock Hall currently gives Dee Dee Sharp a 3% chance at future induction.

Back in 1997 when Cleveland first hosted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it was held in a ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel. For the 2009 ceremony, Cleveland is moving up to the historic Public Hall, (aka Public Auditorium). Capacity is 11,500, but that will likely be reduced to under 10,000 after the VIP tables get set up on the floor.

The large venue will allow for the public sale of tickets to the event for the first time. Typically, when the ceremony is held in New York at the Waldorf Astoria, a seat will cost you at least $2000, if you can get invited. But here, the Rock Hall has mentioned that tickets should be available for under $100.

The event will be held on a yet to be determined day in March of 2009.

---

In this same article, Rock Hall president Terry Stewart emphasizes that the new Rock Hall Annex is not a precursor to the entire museum moving to New York City. It's also revealed that the Rock Hall may open an annex in Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf (in addition to the planned one in Memphis).

Future Rock Hall has announced its prediction of the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees: The Stooges, Chic, Metallica, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Hollies, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Kraftwerk and Donna Summer. Check out the full story here.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies used to be a lot more fun before they began televising them. Drunken, rambling speeches, insults and two-hour jam sessions were the norm. Take, for example, Mike Love's induction speech in 1988 with the Beach Boys:

And I think it's wonderful to be here tonight, but I also think it's sad that there are other people who aren't here tonight. And, uh, those are the people who have passed away, those are the obvious ones. But the other not-so-obvious ones are people like Paul McCartney, who couldn't be here tonight because he's in a lawsuit with Ringo and Yoko. That's what he sent a telegram to some, uh, high priced attorney in this room, you know. And that's a bummer, because we're talking about harmony, right, and the world. If we can't get it together in America and in England, and harmony within our groups. I mean, believe it, you can believe it the Beach Boys have their own [unintelligible] or whatever you call it, squabbles. But that's a bummer when Ms. Ross can't make it, you know?

The Beach Boys have continued to do, about, we did about 180 performances last year. I'd like to see the Mop-Tops match that! I'd like to see Mick Jagger get out on this stage and do "I Get Around" versus "Jumpin' Jack Flash", any day now. And I'd like to see some people kick out the jams, and I challenge the Boss to get up on stage and jam.

[during Mike's pause, someone in the house band plays the theremin line of "Good Vibrations" during the crowds tepid response] I wanna see Billy Joel, see if he can still tickle ivories, lemmee see. I know Mick Jagger won't be here tonight, he's gonna have to stay in England. But I'd like to see us in the Coliseum and he at Wembley Stadium because he's always been chickenshit to get on stage with the Beach Boys.

The video of the speech was on YouTube, but sadly it has been taken down. If anyone knows where it can be seen, let us know in the comments.

In 1989, when Stevie Wonder was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the age of 38, he became the youngest person ever to be honored. He held that distinction until 1997 when the Jackson Five were inducted. Like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson was also 38 when he was honored with his brothers, and Jackson is still the youngest person to ever be enshrined (he beats Stevie Wonder by a few months).

Given the minimum 25 year waiting period for eligibility, it's unlikely anyone will break Michael Jackson's record anytime soon. We can't think of anyone else who began their career at an age younger than 13 who has any chance at future induction. Any contenders out there?

The new Rainn Wilson movie, The Rocker, opened today, and a portion of the movie's plot involves the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Two years ago, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny used the Rock Hall prominently. Last year 30 Rock also had the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in its "Cleveland" episode.

Is the Rock Hall now iconic enough to find it's way into more mainstream Hollywood fare? Are there any other movies where the Rock Hall makes an appearance? Let us know in the comments.

In the same year that Cleveland will finally wrestled the Induction Ceremony back from New York, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced it is opening a new $12 million museum annex in SoHo.

“Establishing outposts like these is becoming a strategy of other major institutions,” said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Terry Stewart, citing the Guggenheim Museum of New York, Britain’s Tate Modern and the Louvre in Paris as examples. “These projects allow museums to extend their reach, but also provide space to travel exhibits and allow curators to display some of our priceless artifacts for the first time outside of Cleveland.”

The Rock Hall also plans to open other satellite museums in Las Vegas and Memphis.

You can check out the website for the Annex and apply for a job at RockAnnex.com.

Rush has been in the news a lot lately, thanks to a big summer tour and some high profile media appearances. One of these was the band's recent performance on the Colbert Report:

Stephen Colbert asked the band, "You are yet to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is there any chance that your next album will be titled That's Bullshit?"

Rush's exclusion from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a common thread through these media appearances and Wired's Listening Post is trying to get to the bottom of the issue. Wired's Scott Thill has a Rock Hall contact in Cleveland who will answer three questions about Rush and the induction process, and he is seeking input on what to ask.

Although it's unlikely Rush will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 (after 10 years of waiting), there are signs that this might be the best chance they've had in years. Never underestimate the Colbert Bump.