January 20, 1988: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame holds its induction ceremony in the ballroom of The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The Hall of Fame building, selected to be built in Cleveland, would not open until 1995.
The Hall has one rule for eligibility for performers: The person or group must have released his or her first record at least 25 years earlier. This time, each having released their 1st record in 1962, and thus inducted in their 1st year of eligibility, were The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, and Bob Dylan. Not in their 1st year, but also inducted, were The Drifters.
Of The Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr showed up to claim their places in history. Representing John Lennon were his widow, Yoko Ono; and John’s sons Julian (whose mother was John's first wife, Cynthia Twist) and Sean (whose mother was Yoko). Julian and Yoko managed to put their differences aside for the sake of the occasion.
Paul McCartney did not show up, and it would take a few more years before he made peace with George and Ringo, and a few more to do so with Yoko.
But, for once, The Beatles were not the big story of the occasion. Nor was it that Diana Ross refused to come, and thus did not accept her award with fellow Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, and the daughters of the late Florence Ballard.
The big story was Mike Love, making a colossal jerk of himself with his induction speech. He spoke his mind, and in so doing, he vented his spleen.
The Beach Boys, from the suburbs of Los Angeles, burst onto the rock and roll scene in 1962, and from then until 1969, cranked out several great songs about girls, cars and surfing. With their usually upbeat lyrics, their superb harmonies, their Hawaiian shirts, and their connection with good times, especially in the Summer, they have been considered by many to be the greatest American rock band -- or, perhaps more accurately, the most American rock band.
They consisted of 3 brothers: Brian Wilson, the main songwriter and bass guitarist; Carl Wilson, the lead guitarist; and Dennis Wilson, the drummer; their 1st cousin, Mike Love, the lead singer; and Brian's best friend, Al Jardine, the rhythm guitarist. Bruce Johnston, who had filled in for Brian on bass for live performances from 1965 onward, was not included as an official inductee. Nor was actor John Stamos, who had drummed for the group since Dennis' death by drowning in 1983.
Love has become known as one of the few overt conservatives in rock music. (Johnston has as well, but the rest of the band stayed liberal.) But, despite it being the start of a Presidential election year, Love's anger on this night wasn't about politics. It was about music -- specifically, about performing it live. He compared his group's touring schedule with those of the ex-Beatles, of The Rolling Stones and their lead singer Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.
From its 1st in 1986, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony has concluded with a jam session, in which the inductees and the introducers take turns on the stage, cranking out their familiar tunes. Referring to this, Love said, "The Beach Boys 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."
At this point, Paul Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band, the house band for Late Night with David Letterman and for the ceremony, kicked into the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations," in an attempt to get Love to stop.
He wouldn't: "I wanna see Billy Joel, see if he can still tickle ivories. 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."
Since The Beatles were the headliners, they were the last act to be introduced, and Mick hadn't yet given his speech, to introduce them. But he was there, to give it. The Stones became eligible the next year, and were elected.
Springsteen was at the ceremony to introduce Dylan, and Joel was there to introduce The Drifters. The Beach Boys' introduction speech had been given by Elton John, who was certainly no slouch in the touring department, despite approaching the depth of substance abuse issues that he finally got free of in 1990. Love didn't mention Elton, or The Drifters, or The Supremes, and certainly not Diana Ross. The Supremes were introduced by 1986 charter inductee Little Richard. Love didn't mention him, either.
"Carl Wilson came up to me afterward," said Shaffer. "He handed me his award and said, 'Our career is over.'"
It wasn't. The Beach Boys still sold out arenas and stadiums. Carl Wilson died in 1998, and that led to a split between factions led by Mike and Brian, and a 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012, after which they split again.
In a 2013 interview with The Guardian, Love tried to explain himself. "I hadn't meditated that morning," he said. "It was so funny. Someone said to me, 'Hey, Mike, you're either meditating too much or not enough!'"
Funny? Funny how? Love didn't amuse me. He wasn't that kind of clown.
After Love finished his diatribe, Dylan was the next inductee, As always, there was an air of mystery about him. No one knew if he would say something controversial, or even if what he said would be understood. But he spoke clearly. For the most part, he avoided controversy. He thanked a few people, and added, "I'd also like to thank Mike Love, for not mentioning me!"
When people stopped laughing, Dylan said, referring to what's become known as his "Never Ending Tour," "I play a lot of dates every year, too. Peace, love and harmony is greatly important, indeed. But so is forgiveness, and we gotta have that too."
As usual, Dylan had a good point. But a lot of rock and roll fans still haven't forgive Mike Love for being an ass that night.
*
That night, January 20, 1988, was a Wednesday, Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between rounds of its Playoffs. There were 6 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, 108-96 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Xavier McDaniel led all scorers on the night with 41 points.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Golden State Warriors, 103-101 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns, 131-115 at the Boston Garden.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 110-98 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Utah Jazz, 120-117 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Karl Malone scored 39 in defeat for the Jazz.
* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-97 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
And there were 2 games in the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. And the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 8-3.
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