Trivia Tour 1: Cleveland, OH
Trivia nugget: Cleveland was originally named Cleaveland, but was effectively renamed by a publisher so that his newspaper could fit the city’s name in the masthead.
Downtown Cleveland is deserted during the weekend, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has plenty of visitors.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame serves two main functions: choosing the people who have made a substantial contribution to the development of rock and roll and documenting the history of rock and roll.. As a consequence, the exhibits consist mostly of the music and paraphernalia from the dawn of rock and roll up to 15 years ago (so in 2007, up to about 1992). Although this gives the attraction a dated feeling, it gives the arbiters of worthiness sufficient time to assess the influence of inductees’ contributions.
The museum, which the Hall of Fame building essentially is, gives strong emphasis to those artists most popular with the Baby Boomers: namely, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones. Still, all eras are fairly well-represented and the contribution of seminal talents is noted in video, print, and exhibits.
I was most astonished by the number of artists inducted in the HoF with whom I was only vaguely familiar or that I did not know at all. Because of this unfamiliarity, which others may share, some may dispute whether some inductees deserve inclusion in the Hall of Fame. (LaVern Baker? The Drifters? The Ronettes?) But their candidacies did survive the inspection of a discerning committee.
Triviaworthiness: 5 out of 5 stars. An excellent way to shore up deficiencies in one’s knowledge of popular music of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. It names names and gives plenty of context.
One thing I learned: “Please, Mr. Postman” is sung by the Marvelettes.
technorati tags: game show, gameshow, rock and roll, audition, preparation, hall of fame, cleveland