Rock hall adds a new class of acts

Do you prefer your rock dramas sentimental or surly? Michael Stipe of R.E.M. will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March with his music hero, Patti Smith, the singer sometimes called the poet laureate of punk; David Lee Roth, meanwhile, will get to share the stage at the New York induction ceremony with his estranged bandmates from Van Halen as well as Sammy Hagar, his replacement in the iconic rock outfit.

The class of 2007, announced Monday, also made history with its inclusion in the hall’s first pure hip-hop act, Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, the collective that brought credibility to the genre in the early 1980s with the social relevance of “The Message” and “White Lines.” Also inducted: the Ronettes, the female vocal group famous for its work with producer Phil Spector and the hits “Be My Baby” and “Baby I Love You.”

R.E.M. (the original lineup of Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills) is the only first-ballot inductee this year (acts are eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording). The fireworks at the March 12 induction dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria may come from politics (Smith and Stipe are strongly outspoken on the war in Iraq), but the most memorable hard feelings may belong to Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen) and their two bickering frontmen, Roth and Hagar. No, the band’s third singer, Gary Cherone, did not make the cut.

Geoff Boucher