Blondie's Heart Of Glass Seems More Like Heart Of Stone At Hall Of Fame Induction

03/14/06 7:30pm

There was a lot of tension in the air at Monday night's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Blondie, the most commercially successful band to emerge from New York's punk/new wave scene of the '70s, broke up in 1982 but reformed in 1998. The current incarnation of the group includes singer Deborah Harry, guitarist Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke. Former bassists Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison, who unsuccessfully sued to be part of the comeback lineup, and ex-bassist Gary Valentine, who's also battled the band, were also part of the Hall Of Fame induction. But they were barely acknowledged by their old bandmates.

Just before Blondie performed "Heart Of Glass," "Rapture" and "Call Me," the Associated Press reports that Infante asked if the ostracized trio could join in. He groaned into the microphone and walked off the stage with Harrison and Valentine after Harry replied, "Can't you see my band is up there?"

The Sex Pistols had declined their invitation to the ceremony and severely criticized the Hall in a well-publicized and typically snotty letter that compared the hall to "urine in wine" that Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner read on stage. He invited the group to pick up their trophies at the hall in Cleveland and said, "If they want to smash them into bits, they can do that, too."

Metallica's Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield inducted heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath. Singer Ozzy Osbourne had also previously admonished the hall for overlooking his band in the past, but he was all smiles when it finally happened.

Herbie Hancock inducted the late jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis, while southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd were also honoured. A&M Records founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were given a lifetime achievement award.