AC/DC, Costello, Police, Clash In The RNR Hall Of Fame

11/08/02 4:30pm

by Pete Richards (CHARTattack)

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has named its inductees for 2003.

AC/DC, one of Australia's most popular exports, oldie rockers the Righteous Brothers, plus three British groups - Elvis Costello And The Attractions, The Police and The Clash - are now part of the Hall Of Fame.

This year's inductees were announced on Thursday (Nov. 7) and as in previous years, the artists cover a wide spectrum of classic rock and roll. Inductees are only eligible for nomination if their first album was released over 25 years ago.

The 18th annual Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will be held in New York on March 10 and will be aired on VH1 (and probably MuchMoreMusic) on a later date. It promises to be a memorable evening, as the ceremony will re-unite original members of bands who broke up on not-so-friendly terms.

Elvis Costello and Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas still bicker like English schoolgirls and both The Police and The Clash had some pretty ugly breakups back in the day (in fact, we highly recommend watching The Police edition of Behind The Music - it's very juicy).

The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame has never shied away from reuniting bands that now hate each other, which makes for some pretty great entertainment. Earlier this year, Talking Heads got together to perform at their induction despite bitterness between its members.

Sting, the former frontman for The Police, recently commented on the induction on his web site saying, "I am still very proud of the legacy of The Police. We were a damn good band and it still holds up."

That's all well and good, but we'd still pay good money to see him in a cage match with drummer Stuart Copeland.

There will also be inductees in the Sidemen and Non-performer categories, which will be announced by HOF representatives shortly.