Thursday, March 11: 4:13 p.m.
The new rockhall.com homepage
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Big news today! We are proud to tell you that the newly-designed rockhall.com website is up and running. On any given day, more people connect with the Rock Hall via the website than in any other way. Our mission, as you know, is to educate visitors, fans and scholars about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. The new website brings that to life.
This new site encourages users to go deeper within the site, to stay longer on the site and to connect with us. It will be filled with exclusive artist interviews, induction videos, photo galleries, songs, transcripts of induction speeches and merchandise.
The redesigned site is fueled by a new content management system in which Rock Hall staffers can use one interface to post more quickly video, blogs, photo galleries and other content to different pages.
Amazing things happen here in Cleveland. Legendary artists tell stories you’ve never heard. New artists are discovered. People behind the scenes share different perspectives and history is both documented and made here.
The website and digital strategy was provided courtesy of a generous grant from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York ...
Tuesday, March 9: 5:28 p.m.
Students at Hawken School
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The Rock Hall Education Department teaches over 20,000 K-12 students every year through our Rockin’ the Schools programming. These hour-long classes, which cover topics from the history of hip-hop to the science of sound, teach the rich history of rock and roll, while meeting and exceeding educational content standards in areas like social studies, science, mathematics, and the language arts. It’s amazing to watch learning come alive for the students who visit us at the Museum.
A group of ten middle school students from Hawken School, led by teacher, Tim Desmond, worked in residence at the Rock Hall as part of an experimental Insights Course offered at the school. The students spent three full days at the Museum, attending Rockin’ the Schools classes, exploring exhibits, and working together on self-directed research projects. Participants even got the chance to interview members of the Education Department on topics ranging from hip-hop to heavy metal. These interviews were later used in short documentaries developed and produced by the students themselves.
It was an honor to work with such thoughtful and engaged students and exciting to watch their progress over the three days of their stay. I was continually impressed by the ...
Thursday, March 4: 4:56 p.m.
From the Library and Archives: Postcard to Ahmet Ertegun
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Andy Leach, director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Library and Archives, gives a behind the scenes look at the Library and Archives in downtown Cleveland.
Things are coming along at the Library and Archives. Our staff moved into our brand new facility in December, and since then, we’ve transferred about a third of our materials from offsite storage and have begun processing these collections in order to make them accessible to the public someday. We’re also in the midst of determining our needs for online systems and data storage and planning our in-house digitization and conversation labs for the long-term preservation of our collections. Behind the scenes, making all of this happen is a very talented and hard-working group of employees, interns, and volunteers. As we continue to interview job candidates and fill new positions, it is increasingly clear to me that by the time we open our doors to the public in late 2010, our Library and Archives will be staffed by a first-class group of music librarians and archivists.
Equally outstanding are the archival collections that ...
Tuesday, March 2: 12:44 p.m.
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In the spirit of rock and roll and pride for the Cleveland music scene, the Rock Hall frequently partners with area venues in celebration of rock and roll as an art form, and one such venue is the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern. In its now 10 year run, the Beachland has become one of the most renowned places to perform at and see live music. Rock Hall Assistant Curator Meredith Rutledge shares its history and hopes with Beachland co-owner Cindy Barber.
A local and national music treasure celebrates its 10th anniversary March 5. Cindy Barber, co-owner of the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, an anchor of Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood, is planning on commemorating this milestone with t-shirts sporting the slogan, “The Beachland – Celebrating 10 Years of Deficit Spending!” When asked about her inspiration for starting a music venue, Barber replies, “Insanity is what made me think of starting the Beachland!” Barber is only half-joking about the challenges that have faced the Beachland during its run as one of the nation’s premier and most eclectic venues. She had been working as co-founder and editor of the Cleveland Free Times, and at the end of the 1990s was offered another ...
Friday, February 12: 12 p.m.
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Assistant Curator Meredith Rutledge discusses late fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s influence on the look of rock and roll
When talking about rock and roll’s relationship to the world of fashion, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chief curator Jim Henke said, “virtually every artist defines (themselves) as much by the way they look as by the music they play.”
It’s been said that fashion and style are the natural visual counterparts to creative musical expression. Rock and roll artists have had a long relationship with the world of high fashion — picture Elvis Presley’s iconic gold lamé suit designed by Nudie, then fast forward to Madonna’s equally iconic gold bustier designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. Fashion designers like Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Gianni Versace have all become synonymous with the branding of rock stars like Madonna, Mick Jagger and Elton John. That’s why the tragic death of clothing designer Alexander McQueen, whom Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour called “one of the greatest talents of his generation,” has especially resonated here at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. McQueen was a favorite designer of the rock world, creating red carpet, stage and album cover looks ...
Thursday, February 11: 1:45 p.m.
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Frankie Sardo is not a rock and roll star. He never sold a million albums or reached the top of the charts. He is not a household name. However, he is a vital character in one of the most important chapters of rock and roll history. Frankie Sardo was the opening act for the 1959 Winter Dance Party at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, which was the last concert performance for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The three music legends were killed when their plane crashed following their performance at the Surf Ballroom on February 3, 1959. A little over 51 years after that fateful night, Frankie Sardo returned to the Surf Ballroom for the first time.
In a continuing partnership with the Surf Ballroom, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum co-sponsored a luncheon with the Surf as part of the Winter Dance Party event on February 6, 2010, in Clear Lake. The luncheon featured a one-on-one interview with Frankie Sardo. This interview was the first time Sardo has publicly spoken about his memories and stories surrounding the tour.
Sardo never wanted to be a rock and roll star. He was invited ...
Friday, February 5: 4:35 p.m.
Pete Seeger's banjo head arrived at the Rock Hall yesterday.
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Curatorial Director Howard Kramer shares insight on his conversation with Seeger and why he decided to put his infamous banjo head in the Museum instead of on auction.
On Monday, my co-worker in the membership department, Linda Worden, called me to say that she had Pete Seeger on the line and he wanted to speak with me about donating something. I could hear the excitement in her voice about having a conversation with a legend like Pete. It’s a wonderful perk of working at the Rock Hall. She transferred the call to me and there was Pete, spry and warm as usual. Last fall he celebrated his 90th birthday with a sold-out all-star show in his honor at Madison Square Garden. He has been a part of our lives for so long you could easily take for granted his contributions to music and society. Pete has been a leading force in American folk music long before there was any sort of folk revival. His tireless work for social justice and environmental causes is virtually unparalleled.
Back to the phone call. Pete explains to me that he was trying to raise money for the Haitian earthquake relief effort. He had ...
Thursday, January 28: 12 p.m.
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Guest blogger Caryn Rose shares her thoughts with us about her visit to see the Rock Hall’s special exhibit From Asbury Park to the Promised Land and her first tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It’s a funny thing to have watched Bruce Springsteen sitting at the Kennedy Center, with his rainbow ribbon award around his neck, and find yourself standing in front of that very award just a few weeks later, in his exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s even odder that that ribbon is in a room along with the legendary Esquire, and that you can get close enough to the guitar (inside its case, of course!) that you can see that the legend is true, that there’s more glue than wood in some places. It’s in a room with the very jeans that adorned the very ass that graced the cover of Born In The USA, the original handwritten lyrics to “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” (with the “freeze out” written in wriggly letters I assume was meant to convey ice), the very flannel shirt that was on the cover of The River (the cuffs so ...
